I watched the aquatic plants on the lake closely and my best guess is the record high temperatures in March allowed plants to get a early head start, so by the time we got the high water in May they had already grown some. The high water, though stained a reddish brown still allowed light to penetrate 3 to 4.5 feet. When the water receded a bit the leaves were floating on the surface, and were not troubled by algae and sediment churning in the water after mid-June. The water got low, but no lotus beds dried out completely and they took advantage of the heat to grow thick and large.
The Lotus Beds seemed to be the best I've seen in 20 years this past summer.
ReplyDeleteAny thought around this? We did have pretty high water through early June then the drought.
I watched the aquatic plants on the lake closely and my best guess is the record high temperatures in March allowed plants to get a early head start, so by the time we got the high water in May they had already grown some. The high water, though stained a reddish brown still allowed light to penetrate 3 to 4.5 feet. When the water receded a bit the leaves were floating on the surface, and were not troubled by algae and sediment churning in the water after mid-June. The water got low, but no lotus beds dried out completely and they took advantage of the heat to grow thick and large.
ReplyDelete