What I learned - seedlings are tough!
 

ON EDIT -

We are through a week of harrowing temperatures. For nearly a week, my seedlings were covered with a single layer of Reemay (it is all I had) - except when it was a cold, windy rain. It is Monday morning - all Reemay was removed this morning. We hit somewhere near 30 lat night - there was frost on my truck window. The plants probably experienced 3 nights total under 32 degrees.

The verdict - I will give a more thorough check when I get home from work and the plants have had a day in the sun and relative warmth (60 or so) - looks like I lost NO tomatillos or eggplant and just a few peppers. Losss of tomatoes was greater - perhaps 100 plants - but the total potential loss I feared did not happen. So, now on to more transplanting.

The original post:

My work schedule is insane this year, with far too much travel. With the warm streak we had in Raleigh, I took advantage of the time I did have and got quite a few of my transplants outside in my driveway - pretty much all of the hot and sweet peppers and eggplant and perhaps one third of the tomatoes - maybe 1500 or so seedlings. So now our weather turns cold, I am up here in Philly and my seedlings are down there in Raleigh. They've already had a few nights where it got close to freezing - in fact, one morning was exactly 32 degrees. The seedlings are covered with a single or double layer of Reemay (frost cloth is a synonym), and they are sitting on light colored concrete. The next two nights have forecasted lows in the upper 20's. There is no way the plants can be brought in for protection! So - there is an interesting experiment in progress. Will the Reemay protect the seedlings if the temp goes to 27 or 28 degrees? With the plants covered during the sunny days (and with the plants well watered due to rain the past few days), can the pots warm up in the sun then radiate the heat back out at night, thus creating a warmer microclimate for the seedlings? Same thing with the concrete surface - it should warm up during the day and radiate the heat up overnight - will it be enough???

Stay tuned for the outcome of this most unwelcomed experiment!

Wow, Craig...

I do hope they come out alright! So, this type thing has never happened in your 8-9 years of using this method? That would be rather amazing in itself.

Best wishes,
Lisa

Craig,

All I can do is hope for the best for you. Must be a sinking feeling.

Maybe you can get Lee to go over with some smug pots. The kind the orchard farmers use to keep the fruit trees warm. :lol:

jeesh craig what a prediciment!

as you probably know, remay is the material they use to make floating row covers. frc come in different weights, some will protect plants down to 27 degrees, some 32 and perhaps some to less than 25 degrees. i have the ultra light weight frc and they will protect against dew landing on the plant only.

do you know what weight the frc are? if they are 'heavy duty' they are good for heat retention or are they like mine, ultra light weight, for the heat of summer? do remember where you bought them perhaps the online catalog will jog your memory?

nobody could go over and put a tarp over them or bring them into a garage or porch?

you'd better drive down to nc tonight!

tom

How scary...not my kind of experiment.
I would try and bribe a neighbor to fill 20 or so gallon milk jugs with hot water and place strategically. Of course it would be nice if at about 2 am they could fill them up again with hot water....
Good luck.

Jeanne

Oh no! :shock: I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed hoping that your little fellas make it through safely!

I'd be a basket case...is there a neighbor or friend you could bribe with free plants to go over and help?

Craig, sorry to hear about your unwelcome experiment :( I know you have lots of seedlings and you must be awfully nervous. I'll bet they'll be ok though!

Same thing is happening to me tonight...been hardening off about 2 dozen plants, now it's going down to 32 degrees! What really makes me mad...is that the whole month of January was warmer than this!!! Phooey!!!

Jennifer

Same story here.
I transplanted 200 peppers and 400 tomatoes only to have it drop into the 30's with strong wind the day after. The tomato seedlings were on the small side to begin with. I've never transplanted them when they were this small before, but had to because I wouldn't get another chance for awhile. We bring them into our living room (up 2 flights of stairs) when I get home at night.

Poor things are doubled over like they've been shot (kind of how I feel).

Bill

YIKES :shock: If I lived within 2 hours I would drive and cover them with a tarp or something. I do hope they make it. What about your spouse? -Rena

So I'm driving out this morning and I notice the temp
gauge on the car.... 26F.

So what's the first thing I thought... I hope Craig's tomato plants made it! The sun was just coming up and within
5 minutes the temp had gone up to 30F.

So hopefully there was enough radiant heat to keep the little
guys safe for the night!

Lee

Craig, is there anyone who can throw a second layer of the frost cloth over them?

Val

I will be making the all important phone call home in a few min.....WRAL shows 36 degrees. We tend to be a bit warmer than what they report. So many variables....drum roll, please!

UPDATE - called Sue at 8:30. She peeked under the frost cloth at a sampling of peppers, eggplant and tomatoes - first indications are that all survived just fine. she will leave everything covered up until I come home, perhaps beyond (cold forecast Sat PM as well) - we appear to have had a lucky escape from disaster...

Glad that everything appears to be OK Craig. We had a dusting of snow overnight, and right now it's 33°. Our weatherman guaranteed that that will be our last snowfall of the winter. Not that we've had much, probably 3" total all winter. My plants are in the garage though, all snug as a bug.... of course... I don't have 1,500 of them either.
:lol:

!
 

Glad to hear that everything is ok with the seedlings Craig. I know that I would be pretty devestated after putting in all of that time and work to come home to dead babies!