Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old February 27, 2019   #1
greenthumbomaha
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Omaha Zone 5
Posts: 2,514
Default Is the cold weather changing your Seed Starting schedule?

All over the state , air temps are running 20 degrees below normal and there's a snowpack of 2 feet on the eastern side where the blizzard hit hard. Soil temp is 31F at 4 inches.
Tomatoes and peppers are hopefully going in on time, but what about Spinach , lettuce, cabbage and the rest of the cole crops ? What will be the time delay in soil temps catching up to warmer air temps? What is the adjustment for this?
The ground will be mucky too. No complaining after 7 years of drought though.

I'm afraid that I'm going to miss pea season, darn darn darn!

- Lisa
greenthumbomaha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 27, 2019   #2
bjbebs
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: illinois
Posts: 281
Default

It's way to early to worry about spring planting. Once the frost goes out of the ground things can dry out quickly. With some wind and sun in March, we could be looking at dry conditions in April.
April in 2018 started cold and wet. By mid month the farmers were concerned about delays in planting. It all changed quickly and 80% of the corn was in the ground by the last week.
Also, our melt off and rains don't penetrate the frost line. We'll be below zero by Sunday night, but have finally started to dry out. Don't fret, you'll be sinking seeds in April.
bjbebs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 27, 2019   #3
Nan_PA_6b
Tomatovillian™
 
Nan_PA_6b's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
Default

Not having an exceptionally cold year here; but it is too wet. We still have March to dry out in.
Nan_PA_6b is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #4
Gardeneer
Tomatovillian™
 
Gardeneer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7
Posts: 4,909
Default

Well, i don,t go by todays temperatures to start my seed. There will be 6 to 8 weeks window of time until i plant out. And there is no way to know how the weather will be then except for the statistical weather data. I use WEATHER UNDERGOUND to get the data.
That is the best one can do.
__________________
Gardeneer

Happy Gardening !
Gardeneer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #5
PlainJane
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In N. Florida we are having an unusually warm and wet year. Nothing close to the chill hours we had last year, so I’m concerned that my apple and pluot harvest will be zilch.
And the humidity has me concerned for the coming tomato season. Winter/Spring is about the only dry air we get here ...
  Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #6
PaulF
Tomatovillian™
 
PaulF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Brownville, Ne
Posts: 3,276
Default

Lisa, downriver from you a few miles the temps are back up into the 50s and the snow is all gone and flowers are blooming, the birds all singing and everything is great...NOT!

The peppers have been in the soilless mix for ten days and tomatoes will be started this weekend right on schedule for May 5-10 planting outside. It is a struggle to remember what the garden looked like without a foot or two of snow covering. I am sticking to the normal schedule for seed starting just in case we ever get out of the polar express.
__________________
there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes.
PaulF is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #7
DonDuck
Tomatovillian™
 
DonDuck's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Corinth, texas
Posts: 1,784
Default

I have plants ready to start hardening off outside. Right now it is cloudy and thirty degrees F. I looked ahead at some forecasts for all of March and it mostly shows cloudy, becoming cloudy, or partly cloudy for most of the month. It also shows many morning temps in the teens and twenties. When we do get some sunny days, I really need to take advantage of them and set some plants outside for a few hours.


I also look forward to watering them quickly with a sprayer on my garden hose as they sit in their flats. When I know the nights will be warm enough, I will let them have a garden party and a sleep over outside. I need to be careful though. One year, the forecast for the night was temps in the mid forties. I got out of bed and all my plants were dead from a light frost. A frost can sneak up on you.

Last edited by DonDuck; February 28, 2019 at 01:06 PM.
DonDuck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #8
Nan_PA_6b
Tomatovillian™
 
Nan_PA_6b's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by DonDuck View Post
I have plants ready to start hardening off outside. Right now it is cloudy and thirty degrees F. I looked ahead at some forecasts for all of March and it mostly shows cloudy, becoming cloudy, or partly cloudy for most of the month. It also shows many morning temps in the teens and twenties. When we do get some sunny days, I relly need to take advantage of them and set some plants outside for a few hours.
That sounds like Pittsburgh weather.
Nan_PA_6b is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #9
Tormato
Tomatovillian™
 
Tormato's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: MA
Posts: 4,958
Default

For in the ground sowing, I'll start worrying in another month. For tomatoes, I start only a few in about a month, the bulk in 2 months (about May 1st). That's when I need good weather, as I start tomatoes (the day of their germination) outside.



Last year, no early spring sowing, as it snowed 9 of the first 16 days of April.
Tormato is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #10
DonDuck
Tomatovillian™
 
DonDuck's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Corinth, texas
Posts: 1,784
Default

I planted some herb seeds outside in large containers about ten days ago. I expected them to germinate when the soil is warm enough in late March. I noticed yesterday some were already germinating. It got down to the high twenties last night so I expect those to be goners. I planted all of them heavily at different depths and expect some of them to survive the future cold weather, germinate and grow. If they don't I will reseed and wait for them to germinate.
DonDuck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #11
Worth1
Tomatovillian™
 
Worth1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
Default

Not yet because I'm not starting seeds inside.
Got my mind on growing corn maybe this year.
Garden went fallow for a year.
Weather is horrible supposed to be 27 F this coming Monday.
Rainy as we speak.
Worth1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #12
SpookyShoe
Tomatovillian™
 
SpookyShoe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: El Lago, Texas
Posts: 1,100
Default

My tomato plants have been out a couple of weeks, but it's been nothing but rain and very little sun. I'm worried about summer bulbs and rhizomes rotting and my newly planted annuals drowning, especially things in pots.
__________________
Donna, Zone 9, Texas Gulf Coast
SpookyShoe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 28, 2019   #13
oakley
Tomatovillian™
 
oakley's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: NewYork 5a
Posts: 2,303
Default

I grow year round so no winter blues. Started testing that method a couple years ago and
often go straight to the back room before my coat comes off. Good therapy after a crazy
work day.

Did a tom germination test early January and they looked so good I potted up a dozen.
(dwarfs and micros since they behave and do not bolt)
Started leeks a couple weeks ago. Early beet starts last weekend. Potting up peppers in 4inch
pots this weekend.

Snowfall last night. Massive garden in my grow room. One four foot shelf, LED and t5...
dancing in a south window that is more often grey overcast skies. (massive haha)
Fresh cut salads so it is always in succession. 3-4 trays out/up and into the kitchen...3-4 trays
under light....rotation.
oakley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 1, 2019   #14
salix
Tomatovillian™
 
salix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: north central B.C.
Posts: 2,310
Default

Looking out at the large snowbanks, and still experiencing -26 C overnight temperatures; instinct tells me to delay starting but logic tells me to stay on the regular schedule. The end of the season can come just as suddenly as mid August, so they will need all the start time available. High temperature today (March 1st) was -9 C with a vicious north wind, but there is a lot of heat in the sun in a sheltered area.
__________________
"He who has a library and a garden wants for nothing." -Cicero
salix is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 1, 2019   #15
JoParrott
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

We were having a very mild winter until about a month ago, so I started my pepper & tomato seeds inside, also lettuce & bok choi. Then we started getting snow, and have broken a 113 year snow record- we have gotten 25" so far (annual average is about 3") I have 5ft snowbanks in my back yard where my garden should go ! I can't guess when I will be able to make my garden--- there's a LOT of snow that has to melt first, and out night lows will be in single digits for some time--
  Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:16 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★