Snow in Reno!

[RobinB]

Joan is up higher than us and I think we are slightly more protected from the crazy winds than she is! My plants are all larger than they were last week, but I tried as best I can to stuff them once again into plastic. 8 out of 12 of my plants in one bed have tomatoes on them. Some of the tomatoes are down inside the WOWs, but the Malachite Box is really tall and has a cluster of 5 tomatoes above the WOW. Hopefully, they won't die.

Yesterday was 89 for the high. Today's high happened before noon and it was 73. Then the cold front came through and by 5:00 it was 43. The TV weather guy called it a "sharp" cold front. Tonight is gonna be cold. Tomorrow's high is projected to be in the mid-50s, one more really cold night tomorrow night, then back to the 80s, with lows in the 50s by the end of the week. I don't have a greenhouse, or any kind of hoop house. I wish I did! The WOWs are all I have in my arsenal! Most of my tomatoes are still in cups and won't go in the ground until the weekend of the 16th. Sigh.

[Rockporter]

Robin you can cover with a blanket and use soil pins to hold the blanket down from the wind. If you use cardboard boxes over the plants and cover those with a big blanket and use the soil pins you can give them protection from the wind and any possible rain or snow that happens on them. Of course if it snows a few inches you'd probably be in trouble. Good luck with such strange weather.

[RobinB]

I don't have any boxes the right size! Plus, with all the really strong winds I'm worried about creating a larger mass for the wind to catch on. I've really only got to worry about that part of each plant that has grown outside of the WOWs which are 18" tall. I've got the plastic bags covering the tops of the shorter plants (those that are only 24" tall overall), and a "garden quilt" white polyester fabric, wrapped around the top of the 36" tall plant. The plants won't die, the tops sticking out of the WOWs might need to be pruned. It will be hard to take if I lose my little green tomatoes, but this is by far a record for me. There will be more tomatoes on these plants, and I bet I still beat my record! I don't usually get my first tomatoes until late July to early August. I have some Blonde Boars that are really big, and one Plucky from the Dwarf Tomato Project that is just covered with tomatoes! There are smaller tomatoes just starting on my Arbuznyi, Black from Tula, Green Zebra Cherry, Black & Brown Boar, Select Blue, Malachite Box. Hey, I'm really lucky to be this far ahead.

[POAJoan]

30° in the hoop house this morning, but evidently all of the dwarfs-22-seemed to be OK. After I get up I will go out and check for myself. But I had both fans running at full speed and that usually keeps everything OK down to about 27°.
Everything else is covered up with sheets. I agree with Robin, securing things down in our winds is nearly impossible. I am amazed that she can keep WOWs standing up. We have tried numerous times with three stakes for support triangled, and the wind will be strong enough to force the water out the top on the windward side! I have used WOWs in the hoop house with great success but did not do so this year as it was so warm. There is snow approximately 500 feet higher than we are, and more predicted for tonight, with snow level at 5200 feet. Brrr
Joan

[RobinB]

I got lucky again. It got down to 33 here last night. It's "up to" 44 out there, so I removed the covers. I knocked off a couple of blossoms, but the plants are fine. ONE MORE NIGHT. This time.

I don't have my own anemometer, but I could hear the wind all night. I think we are a little bit more protected from the wind than Joan is though. I live in a subdivision. WOWs work here and haven't fallen down. Yet. Gardening in Reno is like gardening in a wind tunnel, though!