Weird Weather!

Originally Posted by Dewayne mater

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

And you have all those airplanes going over you spraying heat and toilet water down on your garden.



Ted

[Dewayne mater]

Ha! Well, I hope not Ted! We are not in the flight path, but ya never know for sure what the wind will blow in. I figure the typically brown air in the Metroplex is a bigger source of yuck I don't want my plants exposed to than the possible plane toilet water. I know all those pollutants are making us sick...the increase in respiratory disease alone in the US is staggering. That's one of several motivations I have for growing as free of pesticides, etc. as possible.

Dewayne mater

[emcd124]

grumble grumble Texas grumble. Here in Northern Indiana 32 is the HIGH most days.

[Tania]

wow, I am so amazed with the weather patterns...

We have a colder than usual spring here in PNW, but definitely sunnier than usual, with chilly winds. It is OK, as we do not plant anything (except peas and potatoes) now... But the interesting thing is we have not had any freezes for a while, which is unusual. So my garlics are already 6" tall and weeds are growing like crazy in the garden.

Never sure what to expect from the weather... the weather forecasts are not very reliable here, unless they forecast cool and rainy

[Stvrob]

Even here in NE florida, we are told to expect an inland freeze tonight. My plants have been in the ground about 3 weeks and are past the point of being able to just put a bucket over them.
Fortunately, my garden is about 1/2 way down a southeast facing slope. I think the coldest air slips down the hillside and past the garden, it usually gives me 3 or so degrees warmer than the surrounding area

[Worth1]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.aWc&cad=rja

I hope for you this is the right forecast.

Worth

[b54red]

Here in LA it got below freezing last night and will do so again. I just went out and took off my buckets and all was well. It is only going to get in the low 50s if that today so I hope the buckets will handle the freeze tonight. It is good and sunny so I will put the buckets back on when there are still a couple of hours of sun to warm them a bit extra before the sun goes down.

Weather Underground is by far the most accurate for my garden. Usually there is no more than one degree difference in what they predict and my own thermometers. They were forecasting these freezes 10 days ago while the others were saying mid to upper 30s. I also like the way they frequently adjust their forecasts helping me decide what to do planting wise a little earlier.

Bill

"Fortunately, my garden is about 1/2 way down a southeast facing slope. I think the coldest air slips down the hillside and past the garden, it usually gives me 3 or so degrees warmer than the surrounding area"

Your right. Cold air acts just like water. It always seeks the lowest levels unless the low levels are protected by a hillside or some other obstacle which prevents the flow. Even in my garden, some small areas are protected by an obstacle and the coldest air can't reach them. My cucumber plants have sprouted, but are protected on the north side by a long 2" X 4" board at the bottom of a trellis. I didn't lose any of them in two nights of freezing weather and they didn't have any kind of cover over them.

I have lucked out. One of the guys I gave a lot of my extra seedlings too called. He decided too not plant out until he is sure no more freezes are ahead. He will bring the plants back that I gave him so I can replace the nine plants that were frozen. I gave him a lot more plants than he can use so he and I will both be able to grow the desired plants.

Ted

[sio2rocks]

It was 21 F here in Norman, OK last night but I didn't lose a single plant. I do have half my plants in a homemade high tunnel with heavy plastic over them. The others I covered with frost cloth held up with little stakes and then over that I placed a large tarp held down with rocks. They seem just fine too. I guess I lucked out. Now in the next few days I can put out the remaining plants I have under my lights. Yay.

Colin

[chastom]

Is there any chance my tomatoe plants will survive ,they look melted
or should i just pull up and plant again

i went to the nursery today and got 100 or more plants ,
so I'm ready again.

Originally Posted by chastom

Is there any chance my tomatoe plants will survive ,they look melted
or should i just pull up and plant again

i went to the nursery today and got 100 or more plants ,
so I'm ready again.

I would say "not a chance". I have experienced regrowth from the base a few times in the past, but it isn't worth the growing time lost waiting for them to recover. For me, it has always been more productive to replace them asap. I have a few plants that were damaged but not killed. I will probably replace those for the same reason.

Ted

[WVTomatoMan]

It snowed here yesterday and I'm south of the Mason/Dixon line. Not by much, but still. Last year at about this time I had my cool season stuff in the ground. This year I might get it in by April 15th. Of course I don't warm season crops (tomatoes, peppers, etc.) until May 15th.

Good luck on this colder than usual spring.

Randy

[Stvrob]

the NWS just replaced our freeze watch with a freeze warning. I love how they tend to do that late in the afternoon. They have done this many times this winter.

Interestingly, weatherunderground has a predicted low of 36

[jillybeantx]

Chastom - I am sharing in your pain, I lost almost all of mine last night too. We were at 24 degrees at sunrise. I'm trying to decide if I should buy and replant, or just do beans now and try for tomatoes for canning in the fall. (But I learned an important lesson about starting more plants than I need!)

Weather Underground predicted this freezing weather ten days ago. Accu Weather was much slower to predict it and I was hoping they were right. Now Underground is predicting 21 degrees for next Tuesday night. Accu Weather is forecasting the same night in the forties. Our evening news forecaster only predicts a "cool spell" for next Tuesday. I will replant the few varieties I lost and try to do a better job of protecting them next week if necessary. The sad thing is my tomato plants were blooming this time last year. This year, they are struggling to survive.

Ted