my poor seedlings

[Suze]

I've decided I'll be waiting until Tuesday to start planting.

Duane, if you can get your hands on some row cover, wrap the bottom of your cages with it. It also helps to fill some plastic soda bottles or milk jugs with hot water and set around the plants. Good luck...

[duajones]

I wrapped most of the plants with sheets and blankets tonight, mainly because of the high north winds expected tomorrow when i wont be here. Winds up to 30 mph plus and then of course the low temps Saturday night. Suze, will have to see how many jugs I can get my hands on before tomorrow night to fill with the warm water. Hopefully, all will be well

[Suze]

Duane, use anything you have that you can fill with hot water -- buckets, etc.

Good idea on going ahead and covering now. A common mistake made is that folks will wait to cover after it is already cool. By doing so, they aren't trapping any heat in.

[duajones]

looks like around 39 for the low last night, not too terrible

[bydsign]

Originally Posted by duajones

looks like around 39 for the low last night, not too terrible

Yikes!


...the l'il Tropigal 8)

[Suze]

Originally Posted by duajones

looks like around 39 for the low last night, not too terrible

National Weather Service says 35 for tonight in Corpus, but Weather Underground says 34.

It could get down to 29 here tonight depending on what forecast I go by, so I'm sure glad I've not planted yet.

Again, good luck.

[duajones]

I am hoping for the best, paper forecast low of 40 tonight and that was the last I saw early sunday morning. It changed over the next few hours without me knowing about it. Hopefully it wont be bad enough to cause me any plants. Nothing I can do about it now, so will just have to wait and see

[Suze]

Do you have backups?

Hopefully you won't need them -- just curious.

[dice]

Who was that lady that said she surrounded
her transplants in the garden with little ad hoc
brick chimneys, both as a heat sink and wind
break? (If it was going to freeze, she could just
put a top of saran wrap on them and weight
it down with a couple more bricks.)

I like gallon plastic milk jugs with the bottoms
cut out for 1-plant greenhouses (with the cap
removed in the daytime), but if your seedlings
are too tall for that, ...

The occasional day under a blanket or tarp without
enough light won't hurt seedlings, by the way (did
not bother mine last year when I left them inside
all day to avoid a downpour on a shelf by a smallish
window with no artificial light). As long as you
don't leave the cover on there for a week or something
like that, they should be ok.

[duajones]

unforunately I dont have back ups, they are all in the ground. I actually gave a few away that maybe I should have kept. Woke up to 34 this morning at 7:30 am , not sure what the low actually was. I removed the covers off of the top of the plants so they could get some light today as the forecast is low 70s, but left the sides on for protection for maybe another night or two

[feldon30]

Looks like the low was 33F. Hopefully the cloth you put around each plant was enough protection. And if I am understanding you right, you also put the cloth over the top of each cage in the afternoon to hold in the heat overnight? If so they should be in good shape. It's too bad good remote thermometers are so expensive. I've been eying one that's about $150 for the main unit and 2 remotes and you can add up to 5 remotes total. Each remote stores high/low and humidity.

Some yellowing of the lower leaves will be normal. Hopefully that's all that happens.

[duajones]

I sure hope it was enough. I had all of the plants covered around the sides, but ran out of sheets, blankets etc., so I didnt have all of the tops covered. I even used some containers that I put down through the top of the cage to act as a cover on the ones that I could. They look to be ok but time will tell. The poona kheera and diva seedlings look to be ok as well.

[feldon30]

Suze and I have been talking quite a bit about cucumbers.

Dr. Randall's book about Houston Gardening says to put off starting cucumber seeds well into April, and then to plant every 4-6 weeks through August, so that even if the cucumber beetles get bad, you will still have a crop.

I am going to "push it" and plant cucumbers early March, depending on when bed #7 is ready.

[duajones]

I have Diva that I direct sowed in the ground, PK that I started indoors and are in a container. While they both look ok, the Direct sowed plants look greener and healthier overall. I have another container prepared for lemon cukes and a spot in the ground ready for boothby's blonde.

[Worth1]

This is after the plant has been out for 2 days in full sun
in cold weather and wind.

It stayed indoors under lights and is about 2 weeks old.

There is no damage to the plant I just treat them like a red headed step child and they do great.

this is my first attempt with my new camera and the new forum format so bare with me.



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