Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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March 25, 2013 | #1 |
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Weird Weather!
I planted my tomatoes in the garden on March 1 last year. I may have covered one time to protect from a light frost. This year, I planted out on March 3 and have covered on average twice per week.
In Texas, we differentiate between frosts, freezes, and hard freezes. We had a hard freeze last night and expect another tonight. It was 26 degrees F at midnight and got colder through the night. My plants were well protected, but I may have lost two or three out of forty. Sometimes, they look wilted; but still recover. I had one pepper plant earlier this month that looked totally lost, but recovered back to it's original condition after a few days of warm weather. I'm hoping to make it through tonight's freeze and will be in good shape with no more freezes or frosts. I really feel sorry for the retailers who have a huge inventory of tender plants. They have lost a lot of plants this month. The good thing about the weather is it should or may delay the onset of insect problems in the garden. Ted Last edited by tedln; March 25, 2013 at 12:57 PM. |
March 25, 2013 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
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Ted I planted out the first week of March last year and didn't have to cover once. This year I only put out my first plants on the 17th and have been wanting to set out more but I don't have enough buckets to cover any more plants than the ones already set out so I am just going to have to wait. My seedlings are starting to get really tall now and since most of the ones I will be setting out are grafts they will not be planted deep so keeping them upright may be a problem in the wind we keep having. I lost one of my plants yesterday; it got snapped off at the graft. Out of 22 in the garden I have only lost that one so I guess so far so good. The nights this week are going to be really cold with at least one good freeze if not more. I hope the buckets are enough.
I had nearly forgotten what a real spring felt like. For most of the last 10 years we have only had summer and fall with no real winter or spring. |
March 25, 2013 | #3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2008
Location: DFW, Texas
Posts: 1,212
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Ted - I am amazed at how much more extreme you weather is just a little northwest of me! We got down to 32 this morning in a northwest suburb of Dallas. Seems like no matter how cold or hot we get, you've always got it worse!
I had row cover over plants last night and moved the tainers into the garage that only got down to 48 inside. Tonight should be the last freeze of the year for us. These are the growing pains of planting early and are pain to deal with, but, with temps in the 70's starting Weds through the foreseeable future, that extra time in ground should have the plants ready to start leaping up on a daily basis! Love that. Dewayne Mater |
March 25, 2013 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: stephenville tx
Posts: 73
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we hit 30 in stephenville tx last nite ,i hope for only one more nite of freezing ,and we are out of the woods.
although we always have the normal easter snap . i just had to plant early this year,and got a cold reward ,but the row cover should be enough to save the crop. |
March 25, 2013 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: DFW area, TX
Posts: 40
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We were at 26 this morning outside of Cleburne. I used upside down buckets and then a row cover over the buckets. The row cover was for warmth as much as to hold the buckets down. Nice "breeze." One more night....
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March 25, 2013 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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I feel the occasional protecting of plants far outweighs the advantage you get from the wonderful weather we have had.
Think of all of that new growth out in the sunshine for more blooms that will set before it gets too hot. You just never know what you will get here. All of my tender plants have made it all winter long. Even my Pride of Barbados has new growth coming out of stems that are usually frozen back. Worth |
March 25, 2013 | #7 |
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Dewayne,
Anyone gardening within a few miles of the DFW metroplex and connecting highways benefits from the heat sink properties of the area. All the concrete and asphalt slowly releases heat through a cold night modifying atmospheric temperatures by four or five degrees. Even the huge subdivisions with homes crowded against each other with dark roofs release heat into the atmosphere at night. It makes a huge difference. My home benefits from having a large lake within 1/4 mile on three sides. We pay little attention to the lows and highs predicted by local television weather casters. Their predictions are directed at residents within the metroplex and are not at all accurate twenty miles from DFW. We live within fifteen miles of the Oklahoma border but must rely on the television stations on Direct TV or cable that are deemed "local" by the broadcasters. Southern Oklahoma weather forecasts would be more accurate for our area than DFW forecasts. Even forecast differences between Accu Weather and Weather Underground on the internet usually are quite different for the same zip code. Underground was forecasting 21 degrees last night while Accu Weather was forecasting 27 degrees. It actually dropped to 23 or 24 degrees. It doesn't sound like much difference, but it is important when trying to protect tender garden plants. Ted |
March 25, 2013 | #8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Norman, Oklahoma Zone 7b
Posts: 67
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I just can't believe that north Texas got that cold last night. Here in central Oklahoma we were forecast for those temps. 24-26 F, but it only got down to 31 F at my house and 30 F at the national weather service office in Norman, OK. Crazy what the weather is like these days. And Ohio has an APB out for Puxatawny Phil lol.
Though tonight we are forecast for 21-23 F so I hope once again the weathermen are wrong. Good luck to everyone and survival of all plants, Colin |
March 25, 2013 | #9 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: zone 5
Posts: 821
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Quote:
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March 25, 2013 | #10 | |
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Quote:
If you garden in my area, you can't rely on the forecasters so you better prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Ted |
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March 26, 2013 | #11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: stephenville tx
Posts: 73
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well ,i just checked my plants, 30 of them FROZE , even with medium agribon row cover ,we must have been colder than the weatherman said in stephenville tx
I still don't understand how this happened? |
March 26, 2013 | #12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 377
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It's even cold here in central Florida! My citrus trees look terrible and potatoes don't look much better. Wundergound seems to have the most accurate forecast for where I live and we're expecting mid 30s here for the next three nights. I've already covered plants more than twice as often as I did last year and I still have a few tomatoes , peppers and eggplants to set out. Like others have said, I don't have enough buckets to protect any more plants in the ground so they'll just have to wait. Now I'm hoping they'll be in the ground long enough to produce before our hot summer sets in.
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Jerry - You only get old if you're lucky. |
March 26, 2013 | #13 |
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I've lost a total of nine plants so far. I haven't even checked to see if I have any losses from last night. It's only 27 degrees right now, so I don't want to uncover them yet to check on losses. I triple covered them last night with a small container with a few oak leaves in the container. I put a layer of freeze protection cloth over the container, a Walmart bag with a few leaves in it over the freeze protection cloth, and a larger container with some oak leaves in it over the Walmart bag. I'm hoping I didn't lose any more. The oak leaves have always worked well for me in the past. They create little pockets of warmer air plus they keep the layers of protection separated. The cold will eventually penetrate all that, but usually not in one night.
We are supposed to only have a light frost tonight, so a container alone should protect them. After tonight, it should be clear sailing into summer. Now I only have to worry about hail storms. Ted Last edited by tedln; March 26, 2013 at 10:21 AM. |
March 26, 2013 | #14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Cincinnati
Posts: 212
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March 26, 2013 | #15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2008
Location: DFW, Texas
Posts: 1,212
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Ted - I'm always thankful for the heat island effect this time of year. Now, summer on the other hand is miserable. Those extra few degrees you cool off at night, it just stays hot here and feels like an open oven door in the city. I'm close to the airport, which means concrete everywhere runways, taxiways and all roads leading the airport surround me. Only hit 34 last night and already is 40. Frozen plants avoided! (I too used row cover.)
Sorry for your losses Chastom, that's harsh! Dewayne Mater |
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