Plants getting killed by this weather!

[WinglessAngel]

Ugh! So I have the high majority of my plants and seedlings kept in my greenhouse out on my back deck and we've had a few nights of extremely cold weather. The first night it got down to 22! So ok I can understand my greenhouse wouldn't be able to handle that well it's been getting into the low 30's and I am still losing more plants and seedlings to the cold weather. Hubby and I tried putting a white and clear colored tarp over the two tiny windows in the greenhouse and I just checked it again this morning and still having plants dying. If this keeps up I'm going to have to bring everything indoors until it's nicer out. My new flat of tomato plants are 3/4 dead now, those are now indoors under my grow lights in the hopes I might be able to bring them back from the brink of death. They still (on many) have intact and ok looking new growth in the crooks of the branches of leaves that died. My new Basil plants are frost bitten too so those are now covered with empty plant pots to try to save them.

The only plants that are doing ok are my soy beans (had a couple die) and my kholerabi and brussel sprouts. Surprisingly my pumpkin seedlings are seemingly thriving on this weather. I wish Mummy Nature would quit messing with us here in Ohio!

It would appear that nature is not wanting me to garden this year. SMH

[gixxerific]

Sorry to hear hope things turn around for you. It has been a rough ride this year for many of us. I lost all my basil outside, and one tomato plant. I really need to get stuff outside this weekend but now it looks I may be held off another week.

[WinglessAngel]

Same to you Gix, I really hope it turns around. Every time I check the weather outlook it changes almost daily for the projected forecast. Makes me wonder if the weather people really learned anything going to school for their jobs lol

[joed2323]

This spring has been rough in my eyes especially comparing it to last years wonderful early spring start for most of us...

Ive been itching to get my plants that I'm currently growing out of my spare bathtub and into my greenhouse as well, I'm just not exactly sure what temps plants can survive outside in the greenhouse? I would think anything below 35-32 would be flirting with disaster...

One thing ive learned is to not try and rush mother nature or she will beat you every time. Tomato plants are somewhat tough, they can bounce back on most occasions as long as they do not suffer from a hard freeze

This weekend like you, I'm putting my greenhouse outside in hopes of moving my plants from my bathtub to the greenhouse... I'm hoping they can survive the cold nights... This may sound ruthless but when I put plants outside and if they die, well then they didnt deserve to be in my garden, I only want the strong ones

[WinglessAngel]

LOL Joed, very true about Mummy Nature and about the hardiest plant-lings We've just had some freakishly strange weather here. If it does it again everything is coming indoors and will be put out in my patio and what I can fit under my grow lights will go there, the rest in sunny places. For now it's a wait and see. According to the weather (no counting on it though!) there are not supposed to be anymore nights in the 30's. What my problem where I live is weather says one thing and the actual temp drops far lower of late >.<

[WinglessAngel]

It would appear that the cold nights (fingers crossed) are over now. My basil survived having stayed under extra plastic plant pots on each one of the three. The rest did ok. Still unable to tell if hubby's Marigolds are sprouting or if what is sprouted in there did ok. Lost a few more Soy Bean plants but have enough to keep up propagation. My Streamline Runner Beans were indoors anyway, they're still sprouting in the containers they will grow in permanently and haven't been put outside as of yet. The Kholerabi and my 5 Brussels Sprout seedlings doing great, no surprise there. Cantaloupes not broken through the dirt so those were good what did surprise me though is my Pumpkins are still thriving so well. Ask me why I decided to grow so many this year and I couldn't give you an answer lol. But my flat of tomato plants will most likely need replacing

[jal_ut]

WinglessAngel:

We've just had some freakishly strange weather here.

Yep! Seems we are all the time complaining about the weather. How nice it would be if we could order it up just the way we like it?

Here it was wet and cold for so long and never wanted to warm up. Now it is finally a bit warmer, but dry. things are looking like they need water, yet the irrigation is not in the pipes yet. A little shower would be nice. Clouds yesterday, but not a drop of rain. Too much area here to use any culinary water for irrigation. The extended forecast shows no rain either.

Oh well......... we do the best we can and sometimes we start over. It has never been any different. If my early crops make it, fine. If not I will replant when we get the irrigation water. At least I see my onion seeds are coming up. Perhaps all I need is time and patience?

[WinglessAngel]

lol My patience is wearing thin. We've been pounded now with rain for a few days here. I just barely managed to get the fields haphazardly mowed with our tractor the afternoon before it started down pouring. We had to let them dry out before we could run the tractor over it as it was too squishy. As it was I couldn't do the back field only the front two and the front yard lol.

[WinglessAngel]

And now after spending the entire afternoon and evening building our baby ferret her new house we went outside to water the plants and close the greenhouse and it had given out! Luckily my plants are ok but the greenhouse has seen it's last we think. Tomorrow we will figure out a solution but for now we have them covered for the night on the back deck. I'm starting to think a permanent built greenhouse may be in the future for next year These store bought smaller ones just don't stand up worth a junk.

[erins327]

I don't think I ever remember Central Texas having a low of 44 in May....ever.

And now I have 50 or so vegetable plants that are not gonna like it tonight!

The tomatos that are all together seem to do ok, I guess they insulate themselves. I have 2 that have blossom drop though I assume from the high of 90 one day, and then a low of 44 the next...

I've never had to protect tomato and pepper plants that are already 3' or so tall. Any advice? Or just let it ride out and hope for not too much stress?

(And sigh, I know most of you are saying 'cry me a river' with my complaints about it being ONLY 44 degrees! ha! )

[mattie g]

Not to worry. I can't imagine that a random night of mid-40s would hurt peppers and tomatoes much, if at all.

[WinglessAngel]

Well I went out back and looked at the greenhouse, definitely in my opinion beyond saving, but I think we can manage for the rest of the season, might be at most another week to week and a half I would need it anyway. So for now I assessed what could handle being planted and moved out from the greenhouse. The runner beans are looking awesome and already have the second set of leaves unfolding and growing well so those I think are going to be left out in their permanent place later on today. My young sprouts I have going for the kholerabi and brussel sprouts actually seemed to love the colder temperatures when they were younger so those may actually be fine but will still cover them anyway at night for now. The basil I am going to put out and just cover when the nights get below 55 for the time being. Celery will get planted later on. My soy bean plants I think are ok to plant so am going to container those in a giant (I mean giant, like 3 foot across and 4 foot down lol) old pot we have and fill it with dirt and use that, beavers and bunnies eat your hearts out because you won't get my soy beans this year. lol My cantaloupes still need growing time as the first set of leaves are not out yet on those. Pumpkins I think I will be planting either today or tomorrow. My marigold seedlings still need covering. So with all that being figured out I figure what's left that needs covering is small enough I can just cover like we did last night. My flat of tomatoes don't seem to be recovering very well so a new flat it will be along with getting my marjoram and thyme plants then as well and they will go directly in ground when we get them.

[rainbowgardener]

Don't worry about covering the cool weather stuff, they like temps in the 40's. That would include the kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, celery. The marigolds will also be fine. But as mattie said even the tomatoes and peppers will be fine at mid-40's. This time of year, when the days are warmer, the temperature would really only be in the 40's a few hours.

The only things I would worry about is the real summer stuff like squash, melons.

[WinglessAngel]

Ok, I worry about my marigolds though, they are already struggling. I think I only counted about 12 seedlings, hard to tell as the weeds we get here look like them as sprouts.