How do you protect your garden from a freeze in this wind?

Hello! There must be other gardeners experiencing this gusty wind right now. Do you have any ideas about how to protect tender plants from the expected freeze tonight when the wind is blowing so hard? Row covers and even blankets or buckets will get blown off the plants in this wind. Any ideas are welcome! Thank you!

I think the wind is going to do more damage than expected temps. Looks like Iowa Park is low tonight of 39º on weather.com. Our low is supposed to be 44º. But we are having wind gusts right now to 49 mph, and it seems more like constant instead of "gusts," and supposed to keep that up all night. It is whipping my tomatoes to the point they are wilting pretty badly. I really don't think there's anything that can be done except make sure the ground doesn't dry out too much because it is amazing how fast this wind dries things.

And from the haze and red dirt in the sky all around, I expect to see my friends from Eastern New Mexico come flying over just about any minute now!! This is AWFUL. Just pray there's no fire. I was in Cleburne a while ago and someone in the car in front of me threw out a burning cigarette that rolled around in the street. Made me want to lynch them!

I hear ya Dogs, The sky is orange here too from the flying dirt/sand. It IS awful. There are fires north of here near Burkburnett. We are praying for the firefighters and people/homes in the path of the fires.
Okay, I'll keep the garden watered and hopefully it won't freeze.

Ok here is my solution to freezing cold and wind My tomatos are grown in a tubelike structure made from left over metal roofing ,and somewhere I know I must have a pic of it and today when most of the plants have topped out over it I invert a bucket over it and weigh it down with a heavy rock or piece of concrete the smaller plants I cover with leftover plant pots (cheap plastic ) and a shovel of wet soil on top of the pot It may not be 100% effective but if it saves the biggest share of the plants then I am calling it a job well done

39 isn't a freeze, plants will be fine, the winds, are another matter, diffusing the wind will help, stakes or t posts around them then wrap with anything you can hang on to long enuff to circle them, even picket fencing-used to have some in the old lumber yards, or even lattice panels with plastic drop cloth wrapped, most of the plants can survive the winds, tomatoes like ruff treatment, and will rebound after the sun drops if you water. All this may foretell the summer we will have and the loss of plants. Hope you guys hang in there.

Thanks for the ideas. : )

Sometimes the weatherman says it will only get down to upper 30's and then the next day I go out to find frost and damaged plants (so I only trust the weather people to a certain point.)

Now they are saying there are even more fires, and they are very hard to control with this wind. Sure hope this isn't the kind of summer we will be having!

grits...picture didn't post for some reason.

Sorry Sheila it didn't post cause I couldn't find it ..I had taken some pix of that system last spring but my Grand children/great grandchildren were here for spring break and of course they took over my puter as non of their fancy wireless would work back here in the mountains so I am missing a month of garden pix..Now of course there is about a hundred of them on here which is fine with me ...

I went out to the garden and took these as soon as i could first is the entire row of Tomatos

Second is the two largest plants still covered

Now the same two uncovered

This shows a little bit of the construction of the sleeve or what ever to call it

Wow! Grits, those are some beautiful tomato plants you have there. And the "sleeves" are a great idea. We have some of that kind of metal left over from a shed construction that I could use. So how are the ends of the metal held together so that it stays in a circle (sleeve shape)? (bolts, maybe?) Do you only put those on during cold weather (or windy weather) or do you leave them on all the time?

Looks like the idea worked well for you. They look very healthy.

The sleeves could stay on, seems like it also stops some critters from crawling across to each plant, protects from winds, increases moisture to where it is needed, great thinking

The sleeves are held together with self tapping sheet metal screws,first I clamp each end with vise grips then insert the screws,the coolest part of the whole thing is I fill the sleeves with garden soil or compost as the plant grows I keep adding more filler and the plants keep rooting along the buried stem ..I generally quit adding when they begin to set fruit or at the point they become 3/4 full..Was just looking for a way to cover from freezing to start with but now do it to as many maters as I have material at present that is 9 sleeves and am thinking about doing the same thing with wooden planks ( scrap of course)

Yep, cut worms would certainly have trouble getting to the plants!

Okay, so clamp the two ends together and use the drill to put self tapping screws in to hold them together. Got it! Good idea about adding soil to let the plant keep rooting along the stem. Thanks!

Couldn't you built a tube using 2"x4" welded wire, either 3' or 4' tall, wrapped 6 mil palstic around it, then staple it to the ground using ground staples? The top can be left open, so the plants cannot be overheated. When the plastic covering is not needed anymore or it has fallen apart, you still can use the frame for plant support (like tomato cage)

Another method is to use "Cloud Cover" but it is a bit more expensive. Hope this helps.

Sita

The problem with the welded wire is that when you reach thru to pick the maters it is fine untill you close your fist then can't get the mater back thru .Been there done that at that point the only maters you can pick are the upper ones ..When I tried that method the DW called it her Dh trap she knows I am not about to let go of the mater until it is eaten..

Yes, I can see your point, but my posting mainly addresses the problem of the wind. You can always store the contraption to be used another time for the same purpose or to cover
plants in winter with additional protection such as blankets.
.
I really don't know much about growing tomatoes, I just buy them......:(

Sita

Thanks Sita - a person could cut the wire in a couple of places to make the holes big enough for the tomatoes to pass through, eh? I'm curious to know the best method of securing the plastic to the "cage" so it won't blow off. Do you tie it (plastic) to the cage on the ends or tape it or use string/cord to hold it on?

I'm sold on concrete reinforcement wire cages wrapped with stretch wrap, aka mover's wrap, a lot easier than dealing with sheet plastic. Will not protect from really low temp but late spring slight freezes it works great.

Photo is March 21, 2011. Will post another photo of now.

This photo is today, exactly one month from the previous photo -- after many weeks of hot wind up to 50 mph almost constantly some days.

This message was edited Apr 21, 2011 9:00 AM

Your system is obviously working beautifully, Dogs! (And it looks like the holes in the wire are already plenty big for getting the tomatoes through.) I will look into getting some of that movers wrap. Bet it would work good for young pepper plants too... Thanks for the pictures!

Yes, the mover's wrap/stretch wrap works great for smaller cages, too. It does help to have two people because that stretch wrap really tangles and sticks to itself if you're not careful.

In this photo you can see what we made for small things like peppers, flowers, etc. The wind has been so horrible for the last month, I don't think I would have had anything left if we hadn't made these cages. We are "out in the country" and don't have the wind protection from a lot of close neighboring houses like those in the city.

Ladypearl,

seems like you got your answer already......:). The system pictured looks very good and easier than trying to attach plastic to the wire. Also, that 4x4 (or maybe 6x6) wire is much cheaper than the 2x4 welded wire. I have used it for fencing, but didn't get good result.

Myself, I am sort of lucky. Live in a small farm, with many old trees, which to my surprise didn't topple down. My potted plants are kept in enclosed area with 10' wall on the north and west side, so they are not bothered by the wind. But then of course, they are not tomato plants......:(

Sita

Yes, there are some very workable ideas here which I will be trying. We also live in a relatively open area so there is nothing to slow the wind down. (Although we have planted a hedge of arbor vitae which will hopefully slow it down in a few years.)
This has been the windiest spring since we have moved back to Texas! It has beat up the trees and garden, and that's why I wanted to know what other gardeners were doing about it. Thank you everybody for the ideas.
Sure would like to have some old trees like that for the shade in the hot Texas summers......

Man your tomatos sure look so nice and neat nothing in my garden is ever neat LOl least of all me ..I use some cages made of the reinforcing wire that I bought from a man that was going out of the tomato growing business and they are about perfect except my plants get way over the top as he only made them for a commercial type plant so now I double them up ...seems like everytime I get my garden all neat I think up some other hairbrained scheme to build and that is the end of neatness for another year..

Well, our place is always a work in progress too. I've been putting my back yard together for 3 years. My neighbor thinks we should rest more. LOL. She called my garden setup a "fortress." In this wind, we actually needed a fortress, that's for sure. This spring has reminded me of the 1950's in New Mexico. I certainly hope this is not the new normal.

This was a stray post that was meant to be posted here maybe??

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1175069/

Dogs
Please tell me where you bought your concrete reinforcement wire used in making your cages. I spent a lot of time trying back in January-February trying to find that exact CRW in the Dallas area but never could.

Wow Glenna, I am impressed with your setup!! You should have brought some of that movers wrap to cover the end of the pavillion yesterday at RU!!!

LOL!
FYI ...I found CRW in several gauges in 10-16 foot sizes at Tractor Supply. Used mine for a three sided tall trellis for passiflora vines.

Sheila, those are welded wire livestock panels at Tractor Supply. They have those of all sizes at TS but I don't think they have the rolls of actual concrete reinforcement wire like builders put in concrete sidewalks, etc., which is what we make the tomato cages out of. It comes in 50 or 150 foot rolls, rolled up REAL tight, not in sheets like the welded wire panels. The wire panels are much larger gauge and galvanized so they don't rust. Much more expensive and you need a bolt cutter to cut them. We've got a bunch of those that we made goat and llama corrals out of about 15 years ago and no longer used. Some day part of them are going to make their way to the yard to function as trellises. LOL.

Oh....that makes sense. I had to get the bolt cutters after mine too but they were flat when I bought them and are welded as you said.

Sheila,

Home Depot and Lowe's have somethng called "wire-mesh", which is actually the CRW mentioned above. It is sold in rolls of 150', 5' tall, cost around $90. It is not galvanized, so cheaper than the 2"x4" welded wire. If I remember correctly the holes are about 4x4, maybe larger. Look for it in the concrete area

Last weekend I planted 16 empress trees (pauwlonia) and 20 catalpa. As I didn't have time to build the cages, I just wrapped them with fabrics and held the fabrics together using clothes pins. I think they will survive that way, because that's how my plants are protected in winter.


BTW, the clothes pins can be used for holding plastic to the cages also.

Sita

Here is what the concrete reinforcement wire cages look like close up. Plenty of room to put your hand through to pick tomatoes yet very supportive. Wired to a piece of rebar so it doesn't blow over in the wind like the purchased type cages.

Squares are 6 inches.

This message was edited May 2, 2011 5:07 PM

Dogs_N_Petunias
How many feet and inches did you roll out the CRW before cutting it which determines what the diameter is of each cage?