Just want to make sure....temperature question

[Francis Barnswallow]

Wunderground.com is forecasting 41 degrees in my area monday night. I think they're overdoing it a bit, but it will be a clear night. Is this going to affect my still growing peppers/tomatoes? The peppers are about a foot tall and the tomatoes are about 2.5 feet tall with tons of tomatoes.

Hard to believe will be that cold so soon, then again they did predict my state to be colder and wetter than normal this winter.

[applestar]

In my garden, if they forecast 41°F for the local zip code, I would prepare for the temps to drop into the 30's and typically, I would wake to 38°F at best -- sometimes lower. What is the usual outcome for you?

Anything under 45° I think it would be less of a shock to them if you cover them -- above frost temps, anything will do and I just pull out floating covers, old nylon shower curtains, old sheets, etc. These kinds of dips followed by warmer temps are the worst because they can stop the plants while still in their prime. Almost always, I regret it if I don't take steps to protect them.

[Francis Barnswallow]

Lets say during the colder months in Orlando they'd predict a low of around 34 in Orlando. I'm a little north of Orlando and usually its 2 degrees cooler where I'm at, especially during the night. That's usually how we figure out if we need to cover plants or not.

I'm thinking it's going to be the upper 40's very low 50's. Wunderground and The Weather Channel tend to go a little overboard with low temperature forecasts during the winter.........at least in my area.

[rainbowgardener]

Applestar is right (as usual ) about covering your plants. Temps in the 40's will not kill your plants, but will slow them down and stop production for awhile.

[gixxerific]

I would give them suckers a good covering. You never know how low it will go. Not worth the risk with such small plants.