36 degrees tonight should I be worried???????

[gixxerific]

Supposed to be around 36 tonight I have tomatoes out and and am worried about them. I have stuff to cover them but to tell the truth I really don't want to. I have a feeling that it won't be bad. I also have a bunch of extras in case things go bad though some of the variety's I have out there I don't have extras of. It is supposed to be in the 70's and rising for nest 5 day's so I'm thinking if there isn't too much damage they may come back. That is if there is any damage.

I am at a bad point and not quit sure what to do.

[applestar]

I would cover them if it's going to be in the mid-30's. I might as well since I'll end up going out around 11PM if I don't. I won't be able to sleep otherwise.

[wordwiz]

We are suppose to get to 38 tonight. I'm not going to do anything except sow more seeds upstairs! The ground is so wet, and moderately warm, that I'm going to hope nothing bad happens. And I have Agribon sitting in the closet!

Mike

[hit or miss]

If I was home tonight I could give you a report on what frost did to mine last night. I'm not sure what the temp got down to but at 6:45 this morning my maters and peppers were covered with a lovely (not) coating of frost. They are all run of the mill varieties so if they die I'll just replant and go on.

My wife says they're dead.

[img]https://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e391/hom1/DeadMater.jpg[/img]

[rainbowgardener]

yup, sorry, but if there were supposed to be plants in that picture, they are dead.... 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 anyway, since the forecast is for the airport. So, the plants are struggling and not doing much, but I don't think they will get killed.

[johnny123]

Yes, I would be worried.
If it is still getting that cold at night where you are I wouldn't even have them in the ground yet.

[gixxerific]

I covered the non caged ones with agribon and the caged ones with a tarp. The caged ones have been in the ground at least 2 weeks. They are all 2 foot or bigger and fully hardened off to sun, rain and heavy winds.

I probably would have been alright but the heck.

[Bobberman]

If its a clear sky I would be worried but if its cloudy it might be better!

[rainbowgardener]

"If it is still getting that cold at night where you are I wouldn't even have them in the ground yet."

It's really not still, it's again. After a long spell of much warmer temps we are having an unexpected late cold (and wet!!) snap. Here is is going down to 38 tonight, usual would be 50.

[applestar]

Yeah, that 38 is coming to us tomorrow night, and today, it was up in the 80's.

[BrianIllinois]

I'm in the same boat, Gix. I covered my tomatoes and other young plants up with whatever I could find: 5-gallon buckets, plant containers, even a minnow bucket I had sitting around.
Funny, I know exactly where you're located, and I remember it was you a couple of weeks ago who was warning about the possibility of a late frost. With the weather we'd been having, I figured you were wrong, that there was no way we'd have another threat. Maybe we both should have listened to your advice!
Anyway, I'm crossing my fingers, and I'm thinking we'll be OK. Best of luck!

[rainbowgardener]

I haven't been outside yet today to check on things; it's still pretty chilly. But I have one more night of this to get through and then temps go back to normal, 50's and 60's at night and 70's in the day time. But still not many sunny days in the 10 day forecast and more rain.

[gixxerific]

Well so far so good. I just uncovered my tomatoes and they seem fine so far. There is a frost on the roofs but the ground is warm enough it battled hard against the frost. Even the grass is just wet. I also have 2 Black cherry tomatoes in pots that were left uncovered and they seem fine.

It has been warm here and the ground temp is good for tomatoes so we shall see. It is supposed to be 68 today gradually rising to around 80 by Sun.

[splat42069]

I planted my plants almost 2 weeks ago and iv had a couple mid 30 nights and they are still doin great.. don't kno what to tell you. just pray I guess thats what I'v been doing. Tonight is supposed to be around 39-42 and hopeing they make it threw the night. If not Homedepot is just down the road

[wordwiz]

I haven't been outside yet today to check on things; it's still pretty chilly. But I have one more night of this to get through and then temps go back to normal, 50's and 60's at night and 70's in the day time. But still not many sunny days in the 10 day forecast and more rain.

Hey RBG,

You covering up tonight? About three inches off the ground, at 11:15 pm, I'm reading 46 degrees.

I'm gonna ride this evening out, unless the forecast says the temps will drop another 12 degrees from what it is now.

I'll let you know tomorrow if I was lazy or wise. OK, not lazy - I built a hydro raft system for some lettuce and chard and even placed a dozen plants in it. Plus sowed some basil seeds.

I don't know why - I think it is going to rain every day for the rest of the year, or at least often enough that I won't be able to work any ground until the Fourth of July!

Mike

[rainbowgardener]

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...

[applestar]

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.

[rainbowgardener]

Yup... I still have flats of seedlings on my deck and two last trays of seedlings STILL under the lights in my basement. Squash plants with flower buds under the light, just because there hasn't been good planting weather. And lots of bareroot wildflowers still waiting as well....

[digitS']

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

[wordwiz]

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

[farmerlon]

...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...

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.
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.

[applestar]

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.

[Bobberman]

Even in different areas of my garden there is as much as a 5 degree temp difference!

[TZ -OH6]

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.

[Gov't Mule]

rainbowgardener, I feel your pain with this WET and cooler than normal Spring. I live just east of you in Hurricane, WV. April was the rainiest month on record!!! It's KILLIN me!!

[gixxerific]

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.

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, finally a beautiful day! Tomatoes came through fine, garlic is huge, peppers are struggling, but at least now I can get out there and do something about the slugs. Lots of stuff still to plant! YAY sunshine!

[wordwiz]

As it turned out, I had some basil seedlings that were affected. Not killed, but spots on the leaves were brown/black - typical frost damage. Not that these leaves count - they will fall off way before I'm ready to harvest anything.

They got transplanted today.

Mike

[digitS']

Mike, basil doesn't need frost to suffer damage. It is very cold sensitive.

Blackening . . . looks like a big dog came thru and peed on them !

Strangely, even basil can toughen up a little under the right circumstances. But still, it just doesn't like the cold.

Steve

[wordwiz]

Blackening . . . looks like a big dog came thru and peed on them !


Steve

Steve,

That would have been one huge dog! The plants were on a shelf that is 4.5' tall!

Mike

[melissabeth2010]

Yes I agree whith Jhony123 that tempriture will kill any tomato that is in the ground. I have never even tryed to plant until the temps get to be in the 50's at night all the time. I don't know if even covering the plants would be enough. by

[gixxerific]

Blackening . . . looks like a big dog came thru and peed on them !


Steve

Steve,

That would have been one huge dog! The plants were on a shelf that is 4.5' tall!

Mike

Was it this dog?

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]

[digitS']

I am sure it was, Gix'!

Those spots! They are a dead give-away!

Steve