I didn't cover and I haven't been out to see how they are.
I didn't cover not because I have any special wisdom or confidence about that, but just because I'm feeling fairly hopeless about this spring....
May just have to start all over if the weather finally normalizes at some point.
Among many other things, all this rain seems to be making a herd of huge slugs thrive! I was down planting on my hillside and saw a six inch long one sliding across a rock. And my pepper plants are all eaten up and it's too wet to get out and do much about it...
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rainbowgardener
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applestar
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Oooh... Sorry to hear that, Rainbow.
I know how that must feel.
But you know the sun will come out. Go read some of cynthia's slug hunting adventures for now. It might help you feel better.
I'm off to a slow start this spring, and falling behind. I feel like I'm drowning in seedlings that are over-ready to be up potted (finally did my last community mini seed flat of 6 varieties of tomatoes and two varieties of hot peppers, and were the roots ever entangled! -- probably set them back quite a bit.
), new ground that should have been prepared a month ago, and seeds that are burning holes in their seed packets. 
I know how that must feel.
But you know the sun will come out. Go read some of cynthia's slug hunting adventures for now. It might help you feel better.
I'm off to a slow start this spring, and falling behind. I feel like I'm drowning in seedlings that are over-ready to be up potted (finally did my last community mini seed flat of 6 varieties of tomatoes and two varieties of hot peppers, and were the roots ever entangled! -- probably set them back quite a bit.
), new ground that should have been prepared a month ago, and seeds that are burning holes in their seed packets. -
rainbowgardener
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My gardens are not at a very high elevation but I have sympathy for those above my 2,000 feet. And, then there are deserts . . . Wide temperature swings in just 12 hours . . . covering frost-tender plants must just become routine.
Hardening off makes a huge difference for the plants and that's true for sun and coolness. Last year, I moved tomato plants from a heated greenhouse into an unheated plastic tunnel (9' by 20'); the tomatoes sat across the center aisle.
The temperature in there fell to 37°F the next morning. Some varieties were unaffected. Others, lost the growing tips. Some, wilted so badly the plants died!
There had been no hardening-off before this move. I really didn't think it would drop so low that night but some of those plants were obviously too tender to go from 60° overnight to 37°.
Here is wishing Everyone the Best of Luck and Good Growing.
Steve
Hardening off makes a huge difference for the plants and that's true for sun and coolness. Last year, I moved tomato plants from a heated greenhouse into an unheated plastic tunnel (9' by 20'); the tomatoes sat across the center aisle.
The temperature in there fell to 37°F the next morning. Some varieties were unaffected. Others, lost the growing tips. Some, wilted so badly the plants died!
There had been no hardening-off before this move. I really didn't think it would drop so low that night but some of those plants were obviously too tender to go from 60° overnight to 37°.
Here is wishing Everyone the Best of Luck and Good Growing.
Steve
I don't know how cold it got here last night - I forgot to reset my thermometer, but the plants were not affected. They don't look great, but neither would you if you spent five days standing barefoot in cold mud!
But the sun is shining today, probably the only day of the week I can say that. Rain forecast every day through Tuesday.
I just got my cherry trees, strawberry plants and raspberry and blackberry bushes. The plastic is going over my ground!
Mike
But the sun is shining today, probably the only day of the week I can say that. Rain forecast every day through Tuesday.
I just got my cherry trees, strawberry plants and raspberry and blackberry bushes. The plastic is going over my ground!
Mike
That's probably why you can get away with it, when they forecast 38 degrees, you may be seeing 40 or 42 at your place.rainbowgardener wrote:...little tomato plants are vulnerable to frost kill.
But I'm where wordwiz is. My tomato plants are at least two feet tall and very thoroughly hardened off, since they've been in the ground almost a month. So I'm not covering them against the 38 degrees. Where I am in the city, we are usually a couple degrees warmer than the forecast...
Maybe I'm wrong (?), but it's been my experince that no tomato plant is frost-hardy, no matter how well it has been hardened off, or how large the plant is.
My garden is always colder than the local forecast. When they say 36 to 38 or colder, I am covering up tomatoes (etc...) ... even if they forecast 40 degrees, it's risky for me to not deploy some frost protection.
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applestar
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Same here. 2~3° below forecast is the norm for me.
I also discovered when someone posted the NOAA last frost map that I live in an anomalous pocket that remains colder for an extra week compared to surrounding areas.
It doesn't help with the forecasts (I don't think they generate their own, but get them from similar sources that don't necessarily match my location), but for current weather, I like the Weather Underground wundermap and the Weatherbug. In my Weatherbug map, I pinned the closest four stations surrounding my location so it's easy to see how the weather pattern is distributed around me.
I also discovered when someone posted the NOAA last frost map that I live in an anomalous pocket that remains colder for an extra week compared to surrounding areas.
It doesn't help with the forecasts (I don't think they generate their own, but get them from similar sources that don't necessarily match my location), but for current weather, I like the Weather Underground wundermap and the Weatherbug. In my Weatherbug map, I pinned the closest four stations surrounding my location so it's easy to see how the weather pattern is distributed around me.
Last edited by applestar on Thu May 05, 2011 11:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I was reading an old old old article on corn grown by Native American tribes in Wisconsin and it talked about crops frosting in forest clearings. Once the forests were cleared off corn could be grown much further north due to extended season.
After little more digging...reported air temp is determined at something like 5 ft off the ground, and cold air sinks so the temp at the ground can be several degrees colder than what the weather channel says/predicts. Add to that cold air flowing down hill and pooling in low spots and/or flowing down off of tree tops will get you frost. My main garden is at the base of a slope and abutts woods (from which the area was cleared).
On the other hand we have a brick house, which holds heat and so there tends to be a frost free zone out to about ten feet even for moderate frost days.
After little more digging...reported air temp is determined at something like 5 ft off the ground, and cold air sinks so the temp at the ground can be several degrees colder than what the weather channel says/predicts. Add to that cold air flowing down hill and pooling in low spots and/or flowing down off of tree tops will get you frost. My main garden is at the base of a slope and abutts woods (from which the area was cleared).
On the other hand we have a brick house, which holds heat and so there tends to be a frost free zone out to about ten feet even for moderate frost days.
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Gov't Mule
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gixxerific
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It has actually warmed up and dried out for the most part. Heck we are expecting 93 on Tue. Looks like 70' and 80's for a while with nighttime lows above 50. Of course we are expecting big storms tomorrow but I'm not letting that stop me. I have already been going hog wild and I'm not stopping now.
More tomatoes to plant tomorrow maybe some potatoes as well they should already be in the ground but I'm glad I didn't with all the rain we have had.
Peppers and other stuff to follow.
It has been another crazy year just like last year but different.
Ahh the life of a gardener, it's never cut and dry, always some kind of hurdle to jump. So let's get gardening and deal with what comes when it comes.
More tomatoes to plant tomorrow maybe some potatoes as well they should already be in the ground but I'm glad I didn't with all the rain we have had.
Peppers and other stuff to follow.
It has been another crazy year just like last year but different.
Ahh the life of a gardener, it's never cut and dry, always some kind of hurdle to jump. So let's get gardening and deal with what comes when it comes.
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rainbowgardener
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melissabeth2010
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gixxerific
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Was it this dog?wordwiz wrote:Steve,digitS' wrote: Blackening . . . looks like a big dog came thru and peed on them
Steve
That would have been one huge dog! The plants were on a shelf that is 4.5' tall!
Mike
https://www.union.k12.ms.us/myrtle/quick%20links/fourth%20web%20pages/WebsiteBradyH/gibson-worlds-Biggest-dog-bah.jpg
[img]https://www.union.k12.ms.us/myrtle/quick%20links/fourth%20web%20pages/WebsiteBradyH/gibson-worlds-Biggest-dog-bah.jpg[/img]