The forecast here calls for a low of 38. The temps are only suppose to be below 40 for only about an hour at mos. I think I am going to gamble and leave it as is.

Robert

Still, the temps aren't very helpful...

I'm starting to believe that I live in zone 5, instead of 7b

I keep seeing 38 forecasted. anything below 40 gets my attention this time of year. I dont think It will get to bad but Im not taking chances on some stuff.

im bringing in all my plumeria and other tropicals. My citrus trees will stay under a big cedar. My veggies are on their own. I have back ups of the toms and peppers just for this reason. Corn and beans just shot up yesterday so if they get frosted ill just replant. I held off on cukes and melons so Ill put them in this weekend when its 90!! crazy Oklahoma.

mike

I'll cover up tomatoes and peppers. Everything else is on its own, but we're only forecast to go to 40 degrees here, so at worst we might hit 37. Last night our forecast was for 46 and we went to 43. That's fairly typical for our place at this time of the year.

Our mesonet station at Burneyville is forecast to hit 39. If I lived near it, I'd expect 36 and patchy frost and I'll cover up everything I could. They were three degrees colder than us last night.

Often, my decision about covering up vs. not covering up plants when frost threatens hinges on if we'll be clear or cloudy, and if the wind is expected to blow all night. I might gamble with plants on a cloudy night with some wind, but I won't gamble with them on a clear, calm night.

If they lower our forecast low another 2 or 3 degrees, I might change my mind and cover up more plants.

I hate, hate, hate all the time involved in covering up plants, but I hate damaged plants more. The first two rows of tomato plants that I put in the ground in March and have covered up on any night I expected our overnight low to drop below 40 degrees are almost waist high and several have fruit at the breaker stage and beyond. I look at those big (big for this time of the year), happy and healthy plants and am glad I planted early and spent time covering and uncovering them as needed. However, the idea of planting the entire garden that early and having to cover and uncover it as often as I've had to do this year just makes me cringe.

Mike, This has been happening at our house since 2006 or 2007. We get our first 90 degree day while still having an occasional frosty night. Drives me clear up the wall. I'm just leaving my potted citrus trees and brugmansias in their pots underneath some post oaks and red oaks with dense foliage and hoping the foliage above them shelters them from the frost, if any forms.

Dawn

If the wind has not blown my 14 plants away I will cover. The weather in this hole I live is too unstable to take chances, that is the reason I have waited so long about planting summer crops. I hope to plant beans this afternoon, more tomatoes in a day or two, and peppers a little later.

I'll cover up my tomatoes and peppers too. I didn't cover all this time to lose them now.

Leslie

It all evens out. Last couple years we lived in zone 8. I think the only reason we got labeled with zone 7 in the first place was based on someone averaging the different years. What we actually live in is zone 5-8.

Its getting up in the upper 90's after this........ don't ya jus love ridin' the roller coaster?

The dust in the air is terrible, gotta dust off the cars again.

The wind could stay up long enough tonight to keep most of the frost away. However, those sheltered areas (like Dawn's) that typically get a little colder may see some frost tonight. I'm covering my stuff, just in case. All it takes is a couple of hours of ideal conditions for the frost to form. I'd bet there are scattered areas of frost across much of the state.

Lee

Local news in OKC is now predicting 35 tonight. I covered the tomatoes, but am leaving the potatoes and garlic to fend for themselves. Luckily, I've been putting off planting the hot peppers so I just brought them inside for one more night. Mike Morgan is suggesting that frost might be a concern tomorrow night also.

last year I had to cover plants on May 2. I am holding out planting my swap plants till Sunday.

Last years May 2 picture:

conditions are just right for me to get frost. Ft. smith says 55 degrees, it is 45 degrees here now and very still. If it drops another 10 degrees I expect to have enough frost to kill the flowers. My tomatoes, squash and ornamental sweet potatoes are covered. It seems as though I am never safe till the first week of May.

it is calm here also. I covered the tomatoes and green beans. may have to go in late to work if it is frosty in the morning.
I used weed barrier cloth to cover everything so I will have to uncover it or it will get too hot underneath it when the sun pops out.

Looks great here at 6:00, 36 degrees, calm, dew, no frost. It should start warming within an hour or so. I hope the nights will be warmer for the next 6 months.

The sun is coming up here. Three different thermometers in three different places on the property read 50 or 51. My min/max thermometer recorded a low of 44. Looks like I am safe for now.

42 degrees in the garden just at sunrise. No frost and everything appears to be just fine.

Mike

Same as Slowpoke. Looks all clear!

Apparently you guys don't live in a cold microclimate. (grin)

It is cold and frosty here and I will be going outside in a few minutes to uncover everything. Our Min-Max thermometer shows a low of 35 degrees here. Our Mesonet station dropped to 32. We do have some frost here but I bet folks near the Mesonet station have more.

It already has warmed up to 37 here but I won't start uncovering plants until it hits 40.

I wouldn't mind the cold microclimate so much if only it would keep is cooler in summer. Sadly, it doesn't seem to work that way.

No frost here in frost pocket Arkansas.

Our Mesonet dropped to 33 degrees. No frost because frost is frozen water and we're not allowed to have water here. lol I guess that's a good thing.

Leslie

Now I can start worrying about the triple digit heat and keeping things from drying out.

Robert

My thermometer never got below 42 here in S. Tulsa, but I know the Bixby mesonet just a few miles away got down to 34.

I hope everyone's plants made it.

Lee

No joke, Totem. Monday and Tuesday are both supposed to be 100+ degrees. At least it waited until May this year.

Leslie