A late winter storm took out my tomato crop -PICS- - Page 2

stephenk · April 27, 2013

The comments about planting too early are fair. But, I was prepared for normal spring frosts after the final frost date, which is generally the most you can expect this time of year.

Kansas State University has the average final frost date at April 20th for my community. The last two years I planted around that date. One year I had to cover the plants one or two nights. I was prepared to do that again this year if needed.

Unfortunately, we had a freak late storm that was ice and snow, not just a normal frost, so there was really not much I could do to protect the plants.

Long story short, I planted because I was prepared to deal with frost if I needed to and I wasn't too concerned about losing plants because I had extras. It just turned out we had an unexpected storm that was unusually severe and cold for this time or year.

Oh well. We'll plant our replacements soon and forge ahead.

barkeater · April 28, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbaron

Eggplant update. Some how, not sure how, but my eggplant came back from the dead!!!!!

It seems impossible. Never saw anything like it. I think I may be going crazy actually. But today I looked in the low tunnel and there it was almost perfect. Just a little damage around the tips and edges of the leaves!

RedBaron,

You didn't plant the eggplant variety "Casper" by any chance did you?

If so you may want to touch it and make sure it is really there!

stephenk · May 1, 2013

I was planning on planting my replacements last weekend, but a close look at the forecast shows we could receive another snow around May 3rd. That's incredibly unusual for this time of year here.

The plants continue to wait in their pots, but they're getting bigger and look great.

So I'm hoping I can plant them early next week after this storm has passed.

April 27, 2013	#16
stephenk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Plains Posts: 5	The comments about planting too early are fair. But, I was prepared for normal spring frosts after the final frost date, which is generally the most you can expect this time of year. Kansas State University has the average final frost date at April 20th for my community. The last two years I planted around that date. One year I had to cover the plants one or two nights. I was prepared to do that again this year if needed. Unfortunately, we had a freak late storm that was ice and snow, not just a normal frost, so there was really not much I could do to protect the plants. Long story short, I planted because I was prepared to deal with frost if I needed to and I wasn't too concerned about losing plants because I had extras. It just turned out we had an unexpected storm that was unusually severe and cold for this time or year. Oh well. We'll plant our replacements soon and forge ahead. Last edited by stephenk; April 27, 2013 at 01:10 AM.

May 1, 2013	#18
stephenk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Plains Posts: 5	I was planning on planting my replacements last weekend, but a close look at the forecast shows we could receive another snow around May 3rd. That's incredibly unusual for this time of year here. The plants continue to wait in their pots, but they're getting bigger and look great. So I'm hoping I can plant them early next week after this storm has passed.