Every year, it happens...

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by imp

Well, we are having frost tonight. I just came in from stacking baskets and covering all the transplants.

Spring it may be, but a fickle season she is!

Imp, say it isn't so. I'm tired and my plants are outside. They're saying lows in the lower 40s here between DFW and Wacko...Waco.

[imp]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Imp, say it isn't so. I'm tired and my plants are outside. They're saying lows in the lower 40s here between DFW and Wacko...Waco.

I always wanted to buy a radio station in Waco and call my program something that ended with the tag line "From Wonderful Whacko!"- wasn't that a George Carlin line??

I don't know if you will get frost, as I am ( I think) north a bit and certainly west of you, but:

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick...7#.VviFTzF8rkc

Tonight
Areas of frost after 1am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 35. North northeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming south southeast after midnight.

Monday
Areas of frost before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 70. South southeast wind 6 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.



So, My baskets are stacked up a bit ( nice that they stack!) and covered with plastic, and tucked in. My tomato starts are not growing fast, which is annoying, but good since I could stack them and cover easily enough by myself.

The yard REALLY looks weird now though!

Glad it didn't take that long to do, since I had to do the Wal-Mart shuffle again and man, there were BARE shelves in WM! And still had a huge crowd, too. Rob was out of nasty snack cakes and we needed a couple other things, so off I went.

I am barefoot right now. <grin>

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Someone walks into the greenhouse on good Friday or on Saturday and wants tomato and pepper plants. There is only one problem. We are 20 days before the frost free date. In 2007, we had a 22 degree freeze on April 7th. In 2015, we had a 30 degree night on April 15th. Even skilled gardeners lost plants last year after planting too early. Please folks, learn the proper dates to set out tomatoes and peppers for your area and wait until the right date and time! It is very frustrating for me as a plant supplier for someone to buy plants, then come back a week later to buy replacements.

probably get a free pass this year in bama. 15 day forecast shows no frost in future. I usually lose plants to hail damage, as not tough to cover a few small mater plants (I only do 30).

truthfully more concerned about the summer heat wrecking havoc round here. warm dry spring maybe preheating the oven.

is the "frost free date" the same as "last frost date" which actually denotes a 50/50 picture.

figure bama is lower on the grid than me, and I got down in the ground Saturday for the first batch. Next batch getting warmed up and hardened and likely be dropped this weekend.

I usually ended up giving away by backup supply, but most who know me would rather just come pick my tomatoes rather than do their own. mostly family and close friends so no biggee.

do you just sell plants from the house?

Heard Nick Saban knows how to grow 'em down there. RTR

[Gardeneer]

With nowadays forecast , nobody should get a surprise frost. Even then you have to be prepared if you plant early right around your LFD.

Gardeneer

[imp]

I guess it's from a lot of years ranching and farming, but checking the weather site is something I do usually a couple times a day during spring jere. Spring in Texas is not very stable and storms can blow up, sometimes really bad ones fast.

[eldemila]

BIGVANVADER, we met you and your wife last year at the Little Mountain Tomato Festival and tried your Wes tomato. Do you have any seed, or preferably starter plants available?? Trying to locate some (locally) and would like to see if you have some. Was doing a search and recognized you and your wife on a thread mentioning Wes.

Couldn't figure how to P/M you on here.

Thanks!

[JohnJones]

I finally learned another lesson of early plantings last year. I grow in containers and was careful with my early set outs to make sure I didn't lose them; however, the wet and chilly weather served to ensure stunted growth and dropped blossoms galore.

The plants I started in April quickly caught and then outpaced the early birds. Craig emphasizes this in Epic Tomatoes and is correctumundo.

[zeuspaul]

I like to buy early. The nurseries seem to want to make the plants available when it is time to plant so they are hard to find.

I only go to town about every two weeks which makes it difficult to get plants at the optimum time. I can't predict the weather so I plant a few before I am supposed to. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't but I want to take the risk.

Some go in containers and they usually work better for early plantings.

The rest are potted up and do fine waiting for a better time to plant in the garden.

[ScottinAtlanta]

In our Urban Gardening group, we send out Plant emails to everyone when it is time to plant: Plant Peas now! Plant pole beans now! Plant tomatoes now! The newbies really appreciate the alerts.

[jhp]

I don't really buy veggie seedlings, not often anyway, as I grow my own. But I do buy stuff for the garden early because the shops don't stock enough and if I were to wait, there wouldn't be any left. This is something I've learned the hard way over the years. So being that way, I'm sure if I did buy tomato seedlings, I would buy them early, so that I could get the ones I want. Lucky me, I'm able to grow my own.

Some folks like to buy their seedlings early and then they can take care of them until the time is just right, then plant out. It makes them feel like they're "doing something". Even though you planted the seed, raised, and cared for that seedling. They want to do their part too. Some might have a greenhouse, or want to grow it in their kitchen window for a while so they can stare at it and dream of the yummy tomatoes while doing dishes. Some like to gamble and plant out early. Add a little excitement to growing a garden. I could go on and on, but the way I see it, there's lots of reasons to buy your seedlings too early to plant.

Jen

[Clint M]

On the other hand those planting to sell vegetables will make way more if they get a early crop in, and it may be worth a loss or a simple replant of lost plants. From my experience tomatoes will just sit idle in the soil until it gets to a temp they like and bam they grow like wildcats. So planting early is worthless, however I have planted corn up 2" have a light frost and no harm done, and many years lost acres of corn just because that need of an early crop. Sweet corn is way more expensive than tomatoes, and I was always dealing with the gamble... I also have seen those who want to plant when it's warm, I hope it's many new gardeners and they learn from the experience, or they are willing to except a loss. Most of the gambling in the USA is not in Los Vegas, but in the corn/wheat belts and all the other farmers trying to make it this year.

[oakley]

We have had a mild winter and early Spring in the NEast...but not so fast Lucy...after a few weeks of record highs hitting 80, a snow fall and melt in one day, then 75 today...now next week is predicted to go down to 20.

Last year, the worst winter in my memory...snow cover halloween through March.....had a very mild Spring soon after. Flip a coin. I have hesitated doing much in the garden except peas. And will poke in another batch after next week. Expected and no tears as i have many seeds. I like a gamble with weather...hated that hail storm last year

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Clint M

On the other hand those planting to sell vegetables will make way more if they get a early crop in, and it may be worth a loss or a simple replant of lost plants. From my experience tomatoes will just sit idle in the soil until it gets to a temp they like and bam they grow like wildcats. So planting early is worthless, however I have planted corn up 2" have a light frost and no harm done, and many years lost acres of corn just because that need of an early crop. Sweet corn is way more expensive than tomatoes, and I was always dealing with the gamble... I also have seen those who want to plant when it's warm, I hope it's many new gardeners and they learn from the experience, or they are willing to except a loss. Most of the gambling in the USA is not in Los Vegas, but in the corn/wheat belts and all the other farmers trying to make it this year.

You've got that right when speaking to having stuff early,b/c that's when the prices were highest at the commercial market where we took our stuff as did all the farmers in our area..

I was raised on what we call a truck farm here in the East,and just speaking of tomatoes,the ones that went out first were ones that were raised in the greenhouses, those put out later were direct sowed outside and then we had to go out there and kneel and pull them,throwing out the runts,packing the m into 3 peck baskets and covering with wet burlap,taking them to near the plant setter and away we'd go.

But being a farmer was all about weather.The hail storms that came in June,that put dents in the tomatoes ,squash,you name it, the late frosts when my father would piles of old tires in the fields and ignite them with kero,the Colorado beetles that were hard to control,no good stuff to help with that.So my father would give my brother and myself a can of kerosene and we hand picked them from the plants,except the CPB's would fall off the plants into the soil and burrow down deeply.

And if we didn 't squash the CPB orange egg masses under the leaves we heard about that as well.

I got a penny for each beetle I had in the kero can.

so some years we did good and other years a wipeout,especially in the Fall when the peaches were ripening up,we had several orchards of peaches and pears and plums and some ancient apple trees,,and a hurricane would come our way from the south or East and knock the fruits off the trees.

Carolyn

[berryman]

Where I live it is impossible to guess about the spring weather. We have had killing frosts in every month of the year historically--yes, in July even.
That is why I built a nice greenhouse years ago and when I order stuff from nurseries I tell them to just send it asap. and then I keep it in there.
Right now I have arctic kiwi's, a bunch of hazelnuts, schizandra vines, roses and other tender stuff that is safe till later.
There are also two garter snakes hangin out in there. They are very cute.

bob

[Fusion_power]

I keep a black snake in my greenhouse. He loves to crawl around the house and yard. I almost stepped on him on my front steps last week. He was just sunning with his eyes closed. Yes folks, this is the best way I've found to keep mice out of the greenhouse. Once in a while I get to show him to one of my customers and explain that he is one reason why I can grow such nice seedlings.