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| Tomato plant after a frosty night! |
This is not a healthy tomato plant. This little Green Grape Cherry Tomato just spent its first night out in the ground without covers on. I thought it was cold last evening but did not realize that frost was predicted in some areas. I did not cover any of the new plants that were planted in my own yard yesterday during the Big Give-Away.
This morning all the house roofs on our street were white. The cars were white. It was 30 F. Frost was on everything. I felt sick. First aid measures suggested on the internet were to spray off the frost before the sun hit. It was not helpful for most of the affected tomatoes and cucumbers. About ten plants bit the ice (or were fatally bitten by it).
Fortunately, no one yet had laid claim to the remains I crowed about in yesterday's blog, and as I was walking home from Tai Chi, I saw that moms from our local elementary school were selling plants for the PTA. They had Black Cherry, Green Zebra, Valencia and Japanese Black Trifle tomatoes. So the most delightful of Things I get to do today is buy four of these big, healthy plants. One of the recipients in yesterday's Big Give-Away had given me a bit of cash. It went to the PTA for tomatoes. All's well that ends well.
Life just has twists and turns, doesn't it.
ReplyDeleteJust hang on! It's going to be a gloriously fun and wild ride!
DeleteIt was 50 degrees here this morning! This roller coaster weather sure is confusing!
ReplyDeleteNancy
www.liveasavorylife.com
Right you are. Where is "here" for you? So we had frost on Wednesday night and Sunday it is supposed to be 87 F. Guess we need to look sharp and pay attention.
DeleteSorry to hear about the frost and your poor tomato plants. Thank heaven for fund-raisers.
ReplyDeleteYou bet! And the cool thing was that they had replacements for the two kinds I lost plus some other VERY fun ones--Japanese Black Trifle. Are you familiar with that one? I can hardly sleep nights waiting for it to flower, fruit and ripen! Thanks again for stopping by. Hope you have a fun ride here.
DeleteSo sorry you lost the plants to frost. I'm in Camas, and the weather reports are saying 39 degrees for the next two nights--yikes! If you've already planted warm-season stuff, you might want to try putting some pvc pipe over them to create hoops, and then cover them all with clear plastic. If they are already in tomato cages, just cover the cages with a big piece of clear plastic, and secure the edges with rocks or bricks. This helps to raise the night temperatures a few degrees, which is just what we need on these colder nights. That's how I grow all of my tomatoes throughout the growing season here--it protects them from rain, which damages the fruit a lot, and it warms the air and soil up around them. I only open the plastic to water, harvest, or when it gets to 80 degrees and above. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the double tip! I'll prepare. The other one just snuck up on me. Won't happen again especially since your were kind enough to give me fair and full warning! Thanks for stopping by.
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