Print

[GrowerAndaShower]

Hey all, considering moving from Indiana to Charlotte NC around January. Not set in stone yet, but we'd been considering it. My question is, does anyone know what the climate is like around there? I'd like to be able to grow plants like Salvia and Psychotria in the ground, but did not know if 7b was warm enough for this. I'm sure I could mess around with the microclimate a bit(stone walls to store heat and such), so if it's close I'll just keep a couple of each as houseplants just in case.
So, how's the growing conditions down in that neck of the woods, does anyone live near there and have some personal experience?

[Ian Morris]

Come on down brother!

I grew up in Eastern NC and have lived in Charlotte (and surrounding areas) for the last 5 years.  It is the best big city (16th in US) I have ever lived in.  We have a crazy liberal government right now but NC is a solid purple state with abundant natural resources, for instance in 2.5 hours I can be on the Appalachin Trail or the white sand beaches.  I live in a smaller suburb of Cornelius, very solid area with high median income thanks to being on a large man made lake and well planned since.  If you have kids you will need to be particular where you live because in general NC public primary education is shit but in my area and in South Charlotte, the public education is A+. 

We are a solid 7b, lots of rain, check my grow list for specific things growing here.  I will say that hops sent from Europe have really not done well here but from my understanding the NC grown hops is mostly in the mountains.  I don't grow Salvia but I think it does alright here.  When I get set up, I plan on trying a P. Nexus to see if it can survive if shielded.  Honestly I remain envious of our FL and HI growers but I love this state and can't imagine myself elsewhere.

Panthers always play the Colts so you can see them once a year!

Feel free to ask me anything, I would love to help bring a STSer to the area.   

[Frog Pajamas]

I used to live in that area too, and you def can't plant most entheos in the ground in Charlotte.

[GrowerAndaShower]

Good to know. Greenhouse it is then! at least I won't have to heat it like I would probably have to here in Indy. No kids, but I'm not a huge fan of the indoctrination that goes on in public schools anyway, so when I do eventually get to that point I'll probably end up sending them to a private school or do homeschooling(I was homeschooled until high school).
It has just been an idea I and the GF have been kicking around for awhile. I want so badly to get out of this state, and NC looks and sounds pretty great. I'll definitely ask questions as they come up. How's the IT job market down there? I've worked IT since i was 15 or 16, and that's what I went to school for.

[Ian Morris]

I sound like a recuriter and in full disclosure, our firm gets work through the Chamber of Commerce.

Charlotte is positioning itself to become a FinTech center because of the banking industry.  IT is huge here because of the banks, this article I read yesterday, points out that the startup scene is actually hampered by the fact that banks are willing to pay more for qualified IT professionals.  http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2016/07/13/as-charlotte-s-fintech-community-grows-up-the.html

Honestly its a great field anywhere and we have a particularly large workforce because of the banking industry in town.

For the kidless I would recommend the Plaza-Midwood or NoDa neighborhoods, I had a great big garden there and its a really fun part of town, the only problem is the gays and young adults don't care about schools so they are absolute garbage.

Take care,
Ian