zone 5a iowa, 39° uh oh. cover em up?

wally mcgee · May 13, 2014

Its predicted to have a low of 39° Thursday night here in southern iowa. I have 30 nice tomato plants out in garden beds. Do I need to cover them? It would be a lot of work, but I don't want to see months of babying go to waste.

??

Stvrob · May 13, 2014

Wait till Thursday and see what the forecast is then.

wally mcgee · May 13, 2014

Sounds like good advice.

ginger2778 · May 13, 2014

We grow in the winter here. Once in a while it gets that low. I personally don't cover em unless a freeze is predicted. They usually recover very well. But that's here......
I will point out that they are planted out in September, and our cold doesn't come until at least late December, so the plants are very well established by then.

Marsha

PA_Julia · May 13, 2014

Last season I planted out on May 6th with a 32 F low two days later.
All I did was to take cheap plastic shrub and plant pots that commercial nurseries use for retail sales and place them over the plants before night fall.

All was well with no ill effects. At 39 F I truly believe you're just fine not even covering them

bughunter99 · May 13, 2014

Anything below 40 and I cover them. Particularly if the forecast is for clear skies. The peace of mind and lack of regrets is worth the few minutes it takes to throw some row cover over them.

Stacy

pondgardener · May 13, 2014

You may want to pay attention to what the dew point is on that particular night. Here is an interesting article about predicting frost. Here in Colorado, 39 degrees at night would seem warm to me, but I have less humidity than what you may have.

http://www.organicgardening.com/lear...edicting-frost

Good luck,
George

jmhammRN · May 13, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by pondgardener

You may want to pay attention to what the dew point is on that particular night. Here is an interesting article about predicting frost. Here in Colorado, 39 degrees at night would seem warm to me, but I have less humidity than what you may have.

http://www.organicgardening.com/lear...edicting-frost

Good luck,
George

Good link George. I recently heard the weather man here recommend that people water their plants one night when a frost was predicted.

Now I know the science behind it!!!!

May 13, 2014	#1
wally mcgee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: peru, Iowa zone 5a Posts: 167	zone 5a iowa, 39° uh oh. cover em up? Its predicted to have a low of 39° Thursday night here in southern iowa. I have 30 nice tomato plants out in garden beds. Do I need to cover them? It would be a lot of work, but I don't want to see months of babying go to waste. ?? __________________ Rob

May 13, 2014	#3
wally mcgee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: peru, Iowa zone 5a Posts: 167	Sounds like good advice. __________________ Rob

May 13, 2014	#5
PA_Julia Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Princeton, Ky Zone 7A Posts: 2,208	Last season I planted out on May 6th with a 32 F low two days later. All I did was to take cheap plastic shrub and plant pots that commercial nurseries use for retail sales and place them over the plants before night fall. All was well with no ill effects. At 39 F I truly believe you're just fine not even covering them __________________ Personal Best- 4.46 LB Big Zac 2013

May 13, 2014	#7
pondgardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Colorado Posts: 361	You may want to pay attention to what the dew point is on that particular night. Here is an interesting article about predicting frost. Here in Colorado, 39 degrees at night would seem warm to me, but I have less humidity than what you may have. http://www.organicgardening.com/lear...edicting-frost Good luck, George __________________ “Live as if you'll die tomorrow, but farm as if you'll live forever.” Old Proverb

May 13, 2014	#2
Stvrob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 1,413	Wait till Thursday and see what the forecast is then.

May 13, 2014	#4
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	We grow in the winter here. Once in a while it gets that low. I personally don't cover em unless a freeze is predicted. They usually recover very well. But that's here...... I will point out that they are planted out in September, and our cold doesn't come until at least late December, so the plants are very well established by then. Marsha

May 13, 2014	#6
bughunter99 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: zone 5 Posts: 821	Anything below 40 and I cover them. Particularly if the forecast is for clear skies. The peace of mind and lack of regrets is worth the few minutes it takes to throw some row cover over them. Stacy