Good Morning 2025

[lolotsung]

So I left the Teenage Mutant Ninja Tomatoes out last night and they don't look good. They are in a sheltered area facing north. I took them into the garage.today around 2:30 pm. Is there a temperature that I should move them in e.g., below 5 degrees? Looks like it will drop to 6 degrees tonight.

[labradors]

@lolotsung Just one more night of cold, then they can be planted tomorrow! Hooray! Hopefully, the temps will be good after tonight. My tomatoes are planted (after I hardened them off), the eggplants are in too, and were nibbled by rabbits. I still have to plant my sweet peppers which are loaded with flowers and fruit, and I don't want to lose any of that, so I've been waiting for temps to be above 50F at night.

Good luck! You did harden them off first didn't you? That's just putting them in a shady spot, out of the wind for a couple of days before exposing them to burning sunshine......

[lolotsung]

I was reading about hardening and one person said 2 hours outside, 4 hours, 8 hours, then all day. Another said put in protected area without direct sun for 2 to 3 weeks. Another said 1 to 2 weeks. It all seemed like mission impossible for me. I am at work at 7 am and finish at 5 pm. Sooooo I left work early to move my plants outside at around 5 pm. Then made the decision to skip 4 hours and 8 hours and go straight to all day outside. Hope they survive. LOL. They are still in a shaded area protected from the west wind.They look better today. Fingers crossed. The reason I ask this forum is there are too many opinions on the internet and I know that PTO advice is good. I will buy frost protectors and see if they help inprove yields and protect from frost. FOR SCIENCE

[lolotsung]

Few gardeners can resist trying to get tender seedlings like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant into the ground ahead of schedule.

These frost protectors allow you to do this by lengthening the growing season by up to 8 weeks. Basically a series of joined, flexible plastic tubes that are filled with water to make a freestanding cylinder 18" across, they protect newly transplanted seedlings with a wall of water that not only insulates, but actually releases warmth – yet still provides sufficient ventilation to keep daytime temperatures from soaring too high.

Even if an unusually late or early frost hits, the part of the plant inside the protector will be undamaged by freezing temperatures down to 16°F (-9°C).

They are a real assist to that coveted first tomato.

Sold in packages of three.

[Killerbunny]

OK Ijust stick 'em out and use $store plastic domes for protection of needed.

[labradors]

I'm lucky to have a sun room. We don't heat it, but it benefits from windows on 3 sides and is like an attached greenhouse.

I no longer grow "early" tomatoes because they don't taste very good. I've tried the "Wall of Waters" too. The problem is that the ground is cold, and really has to warm up a bit before good growth can happen.

I have a couple of varieties that are compact and taste good. I start them in mid-Feb and keep them inside until the weather is reliable. They grow in 3 gallon containers and I get ripe tomatoes in June.

As for hardening off, I think we can usually get away with not worrying too much about it here. I try to leave them out in the shade on a nice calm day (or two) before planting. The hazy sunshine is perfect because it will not burn them. Now if I lived in TX it would be a whole different thing!!!!

[lolotsung]

Would a sunroom have enough light for tomatoes to grow all year? We have a sunroom too, heated. Would we get tomatoes if we left them in the sunroom or do they need to go outside?