Rain
I'm going to put out some tomatoes this weekend. It won't be that big of a gamble as I have plenty of backups. I had put out some Uminami Cucumbers early this week and they are gone as I forgot to harden them off. For some reason I only thought tomatoes needed hardening off. Live and learn.
Jim

I'm planting some tomoorow if I can get the time.

If danger come a small hoops house is suprisingly effective
and easy to put up.
cut pvc, cut rebar, drape plastic, grab a beer, done.

or put clear garbage bag over the cage, done.

Hmmm. Live and learn. You're right, Jim. Still have a few spares, so will plant what I can "afford" to lose.

Might try your plastic bag over the cage advice, elskunkito. Garden brew is a given! I only drink beer in three situations: While waterskiing, when in Mexico and after a hot and heavy gardening session.

Prost, cin cin and l'chaim,

Rain

Rain
Check out www.consolidatedfoam.com for their Guardian Plant Protectors. I was able to purchase 32 of the standard type for $0.50 each(on sale) at Walmart. I recently saw them at Walmart for $0.75

Jim

not me! I probably won't buy any transplants until the end of May, this winter/spring has been horrible so far and I just don't trust the weather. Although today was pretty nice, it's forecasted to get colder in the week to the 50's, and the nighttime temps are still hovering around 40 or so. Does anyone have an inkling what kind of summer we're supposed to have? I don't want to plant a bunch of tomatoes if it's going to be too cool...

I will transplant into the GHs, but will wait until May 5-10 to put tomatoes into the open ground. The weather is a way too volatile here this year :(

Tania

I took a chance in Eastern Oregon on two Mortgage Lifters that were huge. I will cover them each night and if they die I have more. It's a big risk I guess but it's going to be 76 today & I may pull it off. Only time will tell. We had snow last week. I see 34 coming next Wednesday.....I think covering them will keep them warm enough and then it will warm up and fast. We get to 115 in the summer which is gross heat.

I've given mine some outside time the past few days, hoping to get the hardening off started at least. If I'm lucky they'll tolerate the cooling to come and I can leave them out. I have a few WOWs I got on sale at the end of last season, but have never tried them. I will resort to them if necessary. My plants are embarrasingly big, too big to stay indoors much longer. I've repotted most of them into large yogurt containers, and a couple had to go into gallon pots (and won't fit directly under the lights any more).

Definitely starting them later next year.

MA

Does anyone have an inkling what kind of summer we're supposed to have? I don't want to plant a bunch of tomatoes if it's going to be too cool

farmers almanac says hotter, dryer, longer thasn normal.

aside: I saw some good starts at fred meyers. nothing paticularly exotic, but they were large and healthy.

lowes has carries a few black prince.

dang, noaa somewhat says the opposite
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/fxus05.html

I am no longer in the beautiful PNW, but gardened there for several years. Having come from Texas (back there now) I was unclear on just how "not hot" summers get for those heat loving tomatoes and peppers. I found a way to get a bumper crop, harvesting 3-4 weeks before all of my local gardening friends and having vine ripened tomatoes right up through November or more.

It's pretty simple really. I used .6mm plastic around the bottom 18 inches of my plants and left if there from start to finish. This seemed to be just enough to help the heat stay near the plants to make them stronger and produce better. First and last of the season I also attached that plastic sheeting over some fencing and made a formable tent (short early season and quite tall late season) to protect from frosts. If you can add plastic jugs full of hot water inside the enclosure, it really helps during the colder times too. Way cheaper than WOW and works well. I find the plastic sheeting easier to work with when it's attached to the fencing. I used 1/2 inch electrical conduit for supports, as it's cheap (under $2 for 10 foot sections at Home Depot) and easy to cut.

Again, this seems simple, but for years, it increased my production to the astonishment of long time local gardeners. Nice part is the plastic is reusable season to season, so it's only a first year expense/time consumer.

Here, in central (hill country area) Texas, with the warm spring we are having so far, I have tomatoes that are already up to 36 inches tall with many small fruits and flowers. Instead of protecting from the cold (though we are getting down to the mid 40s tonight) I'm covering with sheets to protect from the brutal spring hail storms predicted this week.

JWR6406 - Thanks for sharing info on the Guardian Plant Protectors. Might check them out for next years early planting.

Thanks for the information, Jim and squarespot!

I'll check out the GPP's for sure.

Squarespot, can you elaborate a bit more on your system? You write about using plastic and say you find it easier to use it with fencing. What kind of fencing? Do you staple it over something like chicken wire? I have a few sacrificial lambs out there and would like to toss something over them for quick protection.

Hearing the silence of the lambs,

Rain

Hail no!

But tonight is a real turning point and I hope to get 'em out with protection by the 10th of May or so, 3 wks earlier than my neighbor ever would.

We hail from a cool zone of the wet side of Oregon so we really have to work it to ripen fruit and deer-proof with vigilance.

I have tried variations on the theme of Squarespot's as well but really like his idea and also would like to hear details.

Squarespot are you out there?

Vine

Hey, Vine.

That was Squarespot's very first post, so we may or may not hear back. The method sounded simple and I'm all for simple!

Rain

(and buckets of it this gloomy Monday)

Sorry to have disappeared. Had to travel out of town for work. So here are some details.

I used the welded wire fencing as it is sturdy enough to stand up but flexible enough to be bent/cut easily. To save your hands get a decent pair of wire cutters. You can buy this in 25-100 foot rolls at anywhere from 3ft to 6ft tall. Depends on how much you think you will use as to which size you buy. Also, how much cutting you want to do. Three foot sections give you perfect 1/2 cut (one cut to give you the 18inches) and still works well for the tent sides to use at the beginning and end of season. I use the 6 mil clear plastic sheeting and would fold it over a few times at the edges where I would attach it to the fencing. I usually used a hole punch to put a hole in the folded plastic then used string (anything that will stand up to the outdoors) to tie the plastic onto the fencing. You could use twist ties, zip ties, light weight wire. I think I tried staples and they ripped through the plastic, so something you can "tie" around the wired fence works best. Depending on how your plant layout goes, will depend on whether you need to do one around each plant or one long wrap around a whole area. I gardened using the square foot method in most cases, so I used long sections of the plastic lined fencing around up to 10 plants at a time. If you use the conduit for supports, you can either cut them to just stick up enough to support the surround (after they are stuck in the ground as deep as you can) or you can make them taller and use them to support the tent lid later. If you have a windy area, you may wish to tie the surround to the supports. If you have the supports sticking up at least 4-6 inches over the side fencing, you can slip the tent over those support poles and use that to hold the tent up. Picture a dog house. The surrounds are the walls and the tent is the lid.

You just cut a small hole in the plastic right where it will go onto the lower support poles and you are set. You can also use the parts sticking up to open the tent, by setting the tent on top of the supports (not through the holes) to give some ventilation on warmer days. I wish I had photos of this set up to share, but so far I have not found any in my BOXES and CDs of photos. I'll keep looking though. The two years I did the tent over my tomatoes, I had grown them against the south wall of our house, then shed, so I hung a lean-to top (one sided) from overhang of the house instead of "tenting". I did use the tent method over my peppers though.

Again, the great part about this system is it's fairly cheap and is reusable for years and years. I don't mind spending the first year to get things going, but I like to reuse as much as I can. Good luck and if I find some photos, I'll post them.

Thank you, squarespot!

I've clipped your instructions and will attempt to follow them without any photos. Remember as a kid when you would retort to any dumb *ss question, "What do you want me to do, draw you a picture?" Sadly, yes, I do seem to need them.

Here's hoping the hail isn't hellish for you in TX,

Rain

Good growing folks! I hope your tomatoes are doing great.

I planted first batch (35 plants) today. 300+ more to go...

The nights seem to be warming up finally, and I hope the weather stays warm.

Tania

Wow, Tania.

Either you're a commercial grower, you have a huge family or you reeeeeeaally like spaghetti sauce!

Rain

finally getting to planting.
getting my first ripe tomato from a totem.
Its been hardening off for about 3 weeks.