How's Your Weather in Texas?

Polar_Lace · March 12, 2009

I live in Terrell, the weather here has been chilly. It's been raining, windy and cold. The wind chills have down near 32 degrees.

I've had to bring some smaller tomato plants back in because the tops were melting off some of the 10 inch tall plants, same with the basil. One 'spicy bush' basil was so frozen down all you can see is the very lower leaves at the base yet the stem was left there so I could see the base leaves. The tops were mushy on the tomatoes too. So I put them under lights in the cold garage. The tops will have to be cut off; as they are dead (frozen) but I'm glad they'll survive.

Will this stunt the tomato growth in the long run? I guess they'll have to grow with 2 stems for now as the main stem is melted. Does anyone ever leave one plant with 2 stems?

Anyone have ideas?

~* Robin

fourtgn · March 12, 2009

I live in Elgin and the temp right now is 42 where I am. Just caught the edge of that front that you got. Many of my tomatoes are shielded from direct wind, fortunately. The rest seem to be alright as of now. I did cover the smaller ones so they would get through the night alright.

Don't know about the frozen ones. Sorry I can't help.

Hope it doesn't get as cold as predicted. Of course, I say that no matter what when it is below 50.

Fourtgn

sfmathews · March 12, 2009

Robin,
I live in Mesquite, just 30 minutes from you! We should get together some time!

I was going to plant out last Sunday, but decided against it once I saw the forecast for the week. I am hoping to plant out this Sunday. The ground will be wet, but at least next week wil be much warmer.
Wish I had some advice for you. Good luck, hope everything makes it.

robin303 · March 12, 2009

I got 3" last night and it battered my poor plants pretty bad. Half are lying on the ground. I'm glad I still have about 30 plants that are left overs on porch. The good thing all my rain buckets are topped off.

FlipTX · March 12, 2009

It's drizzly and chilly here in SE Houston. No expected frost though. It'll get to low 40s tomorrow night.

Polar_Lace · March 12, 2009

I forgot to say that it was so windy last night (winds at 20 to 28 MPH) that the re-may (garden fabric) got the clips, clothespins and garden pins undone; and the plants were left unprotected without my knowledge.

There was 2" of rain last night; frozen because of the cold wind from the North East.

sfmathews, where did you get your "forecast for the week" from? Is it a reliable source?

~* Robin

feldon30 · March 12, 2009

Cold and Wet like a dog's nose for the next 3 days.

duajones · March 12, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by feldon30

Cold and Wet like a dog's nose for the next 3 days.

Same here in Corpus but not as cold as some of you folks will have to deal with. Hope all goes well

newgardener_tx · March 12, 2009

38 tomorrow night in Austin. Watching it closely. Didn't cover all the plants. Also wandering will 3mm plastic protect the plants anyway?

Tex · March 13, 2009

It has been down to 35 degrees the last two days here near Texarkana with at least two inches of rain. I had about 150 tomato and pepper plants (planned to give most of them away) planted up in styrofoam cups on a rack made of welded pipes. I covered the rack with re-may and put a heat lamp underneath. A few have been lost but most appear to be alright. Time will tell.

Polar_Lace · March 13, 2009

From NOAA:

Terrell Municipal Airport
Lat: 32.71 Lon: -96.27 Elev: 472
Last Update on Mar 13, 2:53 am CDT
Currently:
Overcast: 39 °F, (4 °C)
Humidity: 89 %
Wind Speed: N 7 MPH
Barometer: 30.25" (1024.3 mb)
Dewpoint: 36 °F (2 °C)
Wind Chill: 34 °F (1 °C)

From the weather channel:

Rain will return, especially to eastern Texas on Friday.

Across the South, a stalled frontal boundary will combine with a series of weather disturbances to produce widespread rain across the region.

Over the next couple of days, heavy rain will slide eastward out of Texas to southern Arkansas northeastward to eastern Kentucky,and down to north Georgia and the Carolinas. By Sunday, the heavier rain will sag southward toward the northern Gulf Coast and eastward toward the Carolina coast.

From along the Arkansas-Louisiana border to the southern Appalachians, snow locations may see over 4 inches of rain.

Snow and sleet will fall from Kentucky to Virginia overnight but amounts will be light.

Finally, look for some significant snow overnight into Friday across the mountains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.

Not good!

~* Robin

Dewayne mater · March 13, 2009

3.6 inches of rain officially on Weds at DFW airport near me. Temps hovering around 38 and never got lower than 36. I put most everything out over the previous two weeks and on Tuesday, covered everything with thick clear plastic and a few with 5 gallon buckets. Right now, they don't seem unhappy and I suspect the warm weather we had got the ground temp up and the covering is keeping them warmer than the ambient air temp. We shall see this weekend when sunny and 67 is predicted and the cover comes off!

Polar_Lace · March 13, 2009

From NOAA:

Terrell Municipal Airport
Lat: 32.71 Lon: -96.27 Elev: 472
Last Update on Mar 13, 8:53 am CDT

Light Snow Fog/Mist (Waaaat?)

38 °F
(3 °C)
Humidity: 93 %
Wind Speed: NE 9 G 20 MPH
Barometer: 30.21" (1022.9 mb)
Dewpoint: 36 °F (2 °C)
Wind Chill: 32 °F (0 °C)
Visibility: 3.00 mi.

~Robin

sfmathews · March 13, 2009

Robin, they lowered the temps a bit for Sunday, but still looks good. This is from Weather Underground for Mesquite.
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/...chType=WEATHER

newatthiskat · March 13, 2009

Today near Tyler it is a high of 40 with a low of 36 this am. I am probably going to plant out on Monday. I think!
Kat

March 12, 2009	#1
Polar_Lace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Z8b, Texas Posts: 657	How's Your Weather in Texas? I live in Terrell, the weather here has been chilly. It's been raining, windy and cold. The wind chills have down near 32 degrees. I've had to bring some smaller tomato plants back in because the tops were melting off some of the 10 inch tall plants, same with the basil. One 'spicy bush' basil was so frozen down all you can see is the very lower leaves at the base yet the stem was left there so I could see the base leaves. The tops were mushy on the tomatoes too. So I put them under lights in the cold garage. The tops will have to be cut off; as they are dead (frozen) but I'm glad they'll survive. Will this stunt the tomato growth in the long run? I guess they'll have to grow with 2 stems for now as the main stem is melted. Does anyone ever leave one plant with 2 stems? Anyone have ideas? ~* Robin __________________ It's not how many seeds you sow. Nor how many plants you transplant. It's about how many of them can survive your treatment of them.

March 12, 2009	#6
Polar_Lace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Z8b, Texas Posts: 657	I forgot to say that it was so windy last night (winds at 20 to 28 MPH) that the re-may (garden fabric) got the clips, clothespins and garden pins undone; and the plants were left unprotected without my knowledge. There was 2" of rain last night; frozen because of the cold wind from the North East. sfmathews, where did you get your "forecast for the week" from? Is it a reliable source? ~* Robin __________________ It's not how many seeds you sow. Nor how many plants you transplant. It's about how many of them can survive your treatment of them.

March 12, 2009	#7
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Cold and Wet like a dog's nose for the next 3 days. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

March 13, 2009	#11
Polar_Lace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Z8b, Texas Posts: 657	From NOAA: Terrell Municipal Airport Lat: 32.71 Lon: -96.27 Elev: 472 Last Update on Mar 13, 2:53 am CDT Currently: Overcast: 39 °F, (4 °C) Humidity: 89 % Wind Speed: N 7 MPH Barometer: 30.25" (1024.3 mb) Dewpoint: 36 °F (2 °C) Wind Chill: 34 °F (1 °C) From the weather channel: Rain will return, especially to eastern Texas on Friday. Across the South, a stalled frontal boundary will combine with a series of weather disturbances to produce widespread rain across the region. Over the next couple of days, heavy rain will slide eastward out of Texas to southern Arkansas northeastward to eastern Kentucky,and down to north Georgia and the Carolinas. By Sunday, the heavier rain will sag southward toward the northern Gulf Coast and eastward toward the Carolina coast. From along the Arkansas-Louisiana border to the southern Appalachians, snow locations may see over 4 inches of rain. Snow and sleet will fall from Kentucky to Virginia overnight but amounts will be light. Finally, look for some significant snow overnight into Friday across the mountains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. Not good! ~* Robin __________________ It's not how many seeds you sow. Nor how many plants you transplant. It's about how many of them can survive your treatment of them.

March 13, 2009	#13
Polar_Lace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Z8b, Texas Posts: 657	From NOAA: Terrell Municipal Airport Lat: 32.71 Lon: -96.27 Elev: 472 Last Update on Mar 13, 8:53 am CDT Light Snow Fog/Mist (Waaaat?) 38 °F (3 °C) Humidity: 93 % Wind Speed: NE 9 G 20 MPH Barometer: 30.21" (1022.9 mb) Dewpoint: 36 °F (2 °C) Wind Chill: 32 °F (0 °C) Visibility: 3.00 mi. ~Robin __________________ It's not how many seeds you sow. Nor how many plants you transplant. It's about how many of them can survive your treatment of them.

March 12, 2009	#2
fourtgn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Northern Indiana Posts: 75	I live in Elgin and the temp right now is 42 where I am. Just caught the edge of that front that you got. Many of my tomatoes are shielded from direct wind, fortunately. The rest seem to be alright as of now. I did cover the smaller ones so they would get through the night alright. Don't know about the frozen ones. Sorry I can't help. Hope it doesn't get as cold as predicted. Of course, I say that no matter what when it is below 50. Fourtgn

March 12, 2009	#3
sfmathews Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Allen, TX Posts: 398	Robin, I live in Mesquite, just 30 minutes from you! We should get together some time! I was going to plant out last Sunday, but decided against it once I saw the forecast for the week. I am hoping to plant out this Sunday. The ground will be wet, but at least next week wil be much warmer. Wish I had some advice for you. Good luck, hope everything makes it.

March 12, 2009	#4
robin303 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Austin, TX Zone 8b Posts: 531	I got 3" last night and it battered my poor plants pretty bad. Half are lying on the ground. I'm glad I still have about 30 plants that are left overs on porch. The good thing all my rain buckets are topped off.

March 12, 2009	#5
FlipTX Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 271	It's drizzly and chilly here in SE Houston. No expected frost though. It'll get to low 40s tomorrow night.

March 12, 2009	#9
newgardener_tx Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: austin, tx Posts: 249	38 tomorrow night in Austin. Watching it closely. Didn't cover all the plants. Also wandering will 3mm plastic protect the plants anyway?

March 13, 2009	#10
Tex Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: East Texas Posts: 14	It has been down to 35 degrees the last two days here near Texarkana with at least two inches of rain. I had about 150 tomato and pepper plants (planned to give most of them away) planted up in styrofoam cups on a rack made of welded pipes. I covered the rack with re-may and put a heat lamp underneath. A few have been lost but most appear to be alright. Time will tell.

March 13, 2009	#12
Dewayne mater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2008 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 1,212	3.6 inches of rain officially on Weds at DFW airport near me. Temps hovering around 38 and never got lower than 36. I put most everything out over the previous two weeks and on Tuesday, covered everything with thick clear plastic and a few with 5 gallon buckets. Right now, they don't seem unhappy and I suspect the warm weather we had got the ground temp up and the covering is keeping them warmer than the ambient air temp. We shall see this weekend when sunny and 67 is predicted and the cover comes off!

March 13, 2009	#15
newatthiskat Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: texas Posts: 1,451	reply Today near Tyler it is a high of 40 with a low of 36 this am. I am probably going to plant out on Monday. I think! Kat