Last night in Long Island

Elliot · May 15, 2008

Its after Mothers Day and I started putting in my tomato plants. The problem is that last night it was really cold and saw some of the bottom leaves on my tomato plants turning yellow. Because it is early in the season, should I worry about it and buy new plants or should wait and see what happens? I sprayed them with Messenger which is supposed to boost plant immunity

Elliot
Long Island, New York

Gobig_or_Gohome_toms · May 15, 2008

How cold is really cold? I got mine out the other day and it got down to 40 degrees and only one plant stem was looking a little purple but no yellow leaves. I am unfamiliar with what frost bitten tomatoes look like though.

feldon30 · May 15, 2008

The calendar is only a suggestion of when to plant. Reliable weather websites (WU, NOAA) should be your guiding force before planting.

Looks like you are not getting below 45 at night. If you purchased your plants or grew them yourself and properly hardened them off, then 45 degrees alone would not cause them to have problems. Although you are getting a LOT of rain. I would probably not have planted if I saw that much rain in the forecast.

elkwc36 · May 15, 2008

Personally I imagine you are fine. Mine have seen colder since they have went out. The wind has been a lot harder on them that the cold weather. I did put the ones not in a cold frame under a carport with some protection or up under low trees. But otherwise they just tough it. You can always use plastic buckets and put over them also. Unless you see a them taking a nose dive I wouldn't worry about a few yellow leaves at the bottom. They will grow out of it and in 2 weeks you probably will never know it. JD

where_with_all · May 20, 2008

Elliot,

I just planted my tomatoes in the ground on Sunday. It was cold last week. It is cold today. Your plant leaves are probably dried out from the wind. They should recover. It has been a real tough year to get the tomatoes out.

Elliot · May 22, 2008

I see you too are from Long Island. What the hecks with our weather. I don't remember having such miserable weather here right before Memorial day weekend
Elliot

May 15, 2008	#1
Elliot Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Hicksville, New York Posts: 503	Last night in Long Island Its after Mothers Day and I started putting in my tomato plants. The problem is that last night it was really cold and saw some of the bottom leaves on my tomato plants turning yellow. Because it is early in the season, should I worry about it and buy new plants or should wait and see what happens? I sprayed them with Messenger which is supposed to boost plant immunity Elliot Long Island, New York

May 15, 2008	#3
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	The calendar is only a suggestion of when to plant. Reliable weather websites (WU, NOAA) should be your guiding force before planting. Looks like you are not getting below 45 at night. If you purchased your plants or grew them yourself and properly hardened them off, then 45 degrees alone would not cause them to have problems. Although you are getting a LOT of rain. I would probably not have planted if I saw that much rain in the forecast. __________________ [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]

May 20, 2008	#5
where_with_all Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 152	Elliot, I just planted my tomatoes in the ground on Sunday. It was cold last week. It is cold today. Your plant leaves are probably dried out from the wind. They should recover. It has been a real tough year to get the tomatoes out. __________________ Where With All on Long Island

May 15, 2008	#2
Gobig_or_Gohome_toms Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Zone 4 Lake Minnetonka, MN Posts: 967	How cold is really cold? I got mine out the other day and it got down to 40 degrees and only one plant stem was looking a little purple but no yellow leaves. I am unfamiliar with what frost bitten tomatoes look like though.

May 15, 2008	#4
elkwc36 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: SW Kansas Posts: 339	Personally I imagine you are fine. Mine have seen colder since they have went out. The wind has been a lot harder on them that the cold weather. I did put the ones not in a cold frame under a carport with some protection or up under low trees. But otherwise they just tough it. You can always use plastic buckets and put over them also. Unless you see a them taking a nose dive I wouldn't worry about a few yellow leaves at the bottom. They will grow out of it and in 2 weeks you probably will never know it. JD

May 22, 2008	#6
Elliot Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Hicksville, New York Posts: 503	I see you too are from Long Island. What the hecks with our weather. I don't remember having such miserable weather here right before Memorial day weekend Elliot