jmiller1534
Newly Registered
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2010 5:49 pm
Location: Livermore, CA

When to cover

I just put in a raised garden bed, 6'x3', set directly on the ground. My biggest fear is loosing all of my transplants to a cold night or two. In short, when should us folk in the San Francisco Bay Area cover our plants for the night. And will burlap work??

cynthia_h
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 7500
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 7:02 pm
Location: El Cerrito, CA

We should cover our plants whenever 1) it's going to rain so hard on just-planted seeds that they may be washed out (like three nights ago) or 2) it's going to freeze/go below survivable temps for a given plant.

Other than that, spare yourself the effort! :D

I would be remiss, however, were I not to recommend Sunset's Western Garden Book to you. Even though you and I are only 45 or so minutes apart, the plants we can grow are quite different, esp. with regard to warm-weather veggies. :( Elsewhere on the forum I whine about not being able to grow eggplant, zukes, cukes, or most tomatoes in my raised beds due to my specific microclimate. Sunset will help you select cultivars most likely to succeed in Sunset climate zone 14, which Livermore shares with Sacramento, Davis, and much of the northern Central Valley.

Welcome to The Helpful Gardener, too! :D

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9



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