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Well.. Are we in the clear.

The Weather channel's 10 day forecast shows tonight's low to be the lowest (43) for the next 10 days. I know we had frost in May of last year but I have feeling the cold is done.

Anyone else think we are safe to plant warm stuff if the soil temps are right?

Saturday looks like a great day to plant tomatoes with rain on Sunday and 80's next week. That would make them grow I would think.

Comments (12)

  • HarvestTime
    9 years ago

    My maters and some peppers go in the garden on Friday. I will still keep my extras under the lights just in case.

    Can't wait to plant em!

    Michael

  • HarvestTime
    9 years ago

    (Sorry for the double post, not sure what happened lol)

    This post was edited by HarvestTime on Wed, Apr 16, 14 at 17:29

  • slowpoke_gardener
    9 years ago

    My plants are so thread bare from dragging them in and out, and from the wind that they may not even grow.

  • TotemWolf
    9 years ago

    I hope so. As of today I have all my spring planting done except for my eggplant that won't be ready to transplant for about another week.

    Oh and one more variety of corn that I will plant next week for a staggered harvest.

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    9 years ago

    Is "probably" a good enough answer, Mike?

    Every time I think we are in the clear, here comes one more frosty night, so I never really and truly believe we are in the clear unless it is late April, and our last frost was early March and the weather has been perfect. At that point, I probably do truly believe we're in the clear.

    This is our 16th spring here. My average last frost date is March 28th. So how has that worked out? In seven years we have had our last frost in May at our house (2013, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2005, 2004 and 2000). Keep in mind that a frost is not the same as a freeze. You can get a frost at temperatures above 32, and I often have frost when the official air temp is 33 thru 38 degrees.

    So, about the only years I really thought we werecompletely out of the woods for a late frost or freeze in May were 2012, when the last frost at our house was March 10th, and 2009, when our last really cold night was around April 7th. In reality, though, in the years when we didn't have a May frost or freeze, our last frost or freeze hit around mid-April. So, I think we're pretty safe now, but I won't feel confident about that until May 5th or 6th.

    I already have almost 3 dozen tomato plants in the ground and was going to plant a lot more today, but the wind was gusting up into the upper 30s, so I decided to wait until tomorrow.

    You need to plant when you feel it is safe to do so. None of us has a crystal ball and can predict when the late cold nights are over, especially given that we have had so many late frosts in recent years. It is hard enough to try to guess what will happen in our own gardens. Guessing what is going to happen in somebody else's? Oh, let's not even go there. (grin)

    Next year instead of planting a couple dozen plants early and covering them up on cold nights, I am going to plant a lot of them and cover them up. I get so tired of waiting for the late cold nights to finally end, and the ones I put in the ground last month are knee-high, about as wide as they are tall, and full of fruit and flowers. Looking at them makes me wish I'd planted all my tomatoes that early.

    We go from cold to hot so quickly here that I'd rather take a risk and plant early than plant late.

    I don't have my entire garden planted. It was 28 degrees here the night before last and I know better than to push too hard. I've just been waiting for this last cold spell (if it is the last one, and I kinda think it is...at least in my county) to get here, do its thing, and leave. Now that it has, I'll be planting something pretty much every day that the weather allows until I get it all done. I have oodles of fenced garden space, so it takes me a while to get it all done.

  • MiaOKC
    9 years ago

    I've got to start hardening plants off (and possibly pot up some tomatoes - it's a race to see if they get too big before they get acclimated) but will start as soon as I can.

  • slowpoke_gardener
    9 years ago

    I have pushed my plants too hard trying to harden them off, but I will still have plenty of good plants to put in the ground. I was planning on having 16 plants for regular planting and 4 for late planting. I think I want to try a couple of pot plantings also. I don't ever remember trying to grow vegetables in a pot.

    I think that the freeze damage is too great on many of my cabbage and broccoli, and it may be better to just remove them and plant green beans. I think I goofed by adding some high "N" fertilizer in the cole crop area.

  • wxcrawler
    9 years ago

    Mike,

    I am cautiously optimistic that we are finished with the 30's here in Tulsa (tonight will be close). I am planting out tomorrow.

    Lee

  • Cynthiann
    9 years ago

    I'm going to plant the rest of my tomatoes, green beans, and herbs now. I think I will try some cucumbers too since they are so easy to replant if they get hit by frost. I'm going to wait for this weekend to plant the rest of my transplants(peppers and eggplants) if my 10 day forecast looks good.

    Cynthia

  • Nancy Fryhover
    9 years ago

    Looks like spring starts next week.....then summer, the following week....my husband laughed then agreed with me.

  • dulahey
    9 years ago

    I just came in from planting my largest tomatoes and green bean seeds. Tomorrow I hope to do even more tomatoes and cucumbers.

    Should I wait for peppers? After tonight, the 7day doesn't even have 40's for the lows. All 50+.

  • Okiedawn OK Zone 7
    9 years ago

    Momfryhover, Isn't that how it always happens? I agree with you too. The flowers are way behind and blooming late, so maybe some heat will perk them up.

    Cynthia, Oh come on and plant them now. You know you want to. My ten-day forecast looks great. I hope yours does too.

    Dulahey, I put the first sweet pepper plants in the ground today and will plant more tomorrow. I likely won't put hot pepper plants or ornamental pepper plants into the ground for a while, but that's because I started those seeds later than the sweet peppers and those plants still are pretty small. I think it probably is safe to go ahead and plant them if your forecast looks good.

    Now that our (hopefully) last very cold spell of the season has passed, it wouldn't surprise me if we warm up really quickly. When working in the front flower bed this morning, I was surprised at how warm the soil already feels. My fingers weren't even freezing.

    Dawn