Quote:
Originally Posted by lorax
European hardiness zones are measured differently from North American ones, Jack. You have to look at (and compare) the minimum temperatures between them for more accuracy. The US zones are even different from the South American ones (ie I'm in US Zone 13, and Ecuador Zone 5, and Australia heat zone 7. You can see how this could become confusing.)
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That's why I prefer Koppen-Geiger climate map (which isn't specialized for any part fo the world), as you can see the value in my profile (zone), it's THE best climate map in the world, as it doesn't only consider the minimal temperatures (like USDA), but also annual precipation, summer extremes, winter extremes, speed of winds, tornados, humidity, huricanes and other dangerous elements, elevation... and after evaluating them, the map connects the places in the world, where the climate is so similar, that almost any crop grown in one place, can also be grown in other places with the same assignment.
To see the Koppen-Geiger map explanation, see
Köppen climate classification - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
To get a picture of high-res map click
here. Individual descriptions of individual areas are detaily explained
here or
here.
Please note, that this map is supposed to advice, what climate is identical, it doesn't consider biological factors, such as bacteria, viruses, which could affect the ability of individual plants to adapt and/or grow. In general, places coloured the same are supposed to be able to grow the same things. That's the main point of this climate classification.
USDA is made for USA, however the world is much more diverse, some places are hotter, less humid, winters are different, that's the problem and that's why I generally don't use that classification for other puroposes, than to demonstrate the lowest winter temperatures (annualy about -12°C, sometimes more, sometimes less).
Cheers to Ecuador...
