Friday night it got down to about 35 degrees, but wind chill was in the 20's. I did not cover tom's, pep's or taters. Saturday night it was in the low 30's. I covered the tom's and pep's Saturday night. This morning, Sunday, I uncovered them. All seem to be wilted, even the taters, though not as bad as the tom's and pep's. Do I need to start over on all of them? Aren't the taters suppossed to survive into the winter? Should I cut back the green on the taters? Should I wait a couple of days and see what happens? Sorry for all of the questions. Thanks in advance,
Mike
Frost damage - Potato's tomatoes, peppers
Potaoes will come back when frost bitten, Tomatoes and peppers will not. Wilting is ok, but if the damaged plants turn black, you have no choice with tomatoes and peppers but to start over. 35 degrees wind chill or not should not kill them.
Thanks Farmerdill. Should I protect them from sun?
The potatoes should be fine and if you want, you can trim off the ugly or leave it on.
If you have green stems left with leaf nodes, the toms and peppers should live. I had 4 Early Wonder tomato seedlings. I planted 3 of them and held 1 back in the GH. The 3 got their growth tip fried. I figured they were trash and ignored them. Several weeks later I noticed they were coming on strong. The 1 from the GH is 15" and has one bloom cluster. The three frosted ones put out new stems at every leaf node and each of those has bloom clusters larger than the single on the 1 plant. They were busy making lots of root growth and are almost as tall as the other one. Next year if the frost doesn't do it for me, I'll pinch the tips on a few just to speed things up.
I had aphids a couple weeks ago and one seedling was so damaged it lost all its' leaves. I didn't plant it and just left it in the 4" pot. Now it has perfect new leaves starting at every old leaf node. I think it will make some branches too.
You're very right to be worried but don't panic unless they are really dead.
Thanks Twiggy. Should I go ahead and cut back the tops all of the way until there is no damage? Should I cover up the potatoes with more dirt?
This message was edited Mar 30, 2009 8:06 AM
I'd leave the uglies on the potatoes for at least awhile until new growth can come on. The smaller leaves will keep growing even with half of it dead. I left mine on and they're ugly but growing very well. The reason I say leave it on is that they are actively trying to grow and need their leaves for photosynthesis. Most people say to cover potatoes every time you get 6-8" new growth leaving just the top leaves exposed. I add soil even if I can only do a couple inches. When you have a nice mound just let them go. I add a little fert every time I add soil. Mine are in pots and I stop when the pot gets full.
My fried tomatoes just ignored the burnt tip and soon had so much new growth I cant see it. I think it dried up and fell off.
My little naked stem pepper I mentioned above is really looking good with new little leaves. It might turn out better looking than the rest because right now they are pitiful looking from aphids and then flea beetles.
Good luck and come back and let us know how they do. If they have enough water and temps into the 60s you should see new life by the end of the week.
#1 Advice I can give?
Buy row cover. $10-15 for 50 feet by 5 feet wide. It can be reused several times for many years if taken care of. Will provide several degrees of protection especially if applied during the day to trap warmth.
We spend a fortune preparing soil, buying or growing plants, fertilizing them.
Thanks twiggy. I will mark this as unread and try to remember to post again in a week or so. I did not do a garden last year. Year before last, I lost everything but okra. We had so much rain that my garden stayed saturated. It is about 65' X 160'. I had three 75' rows of yukon gold potatoes. They rotted in the ground the first week or 2 after I planted them. Last year I brung in over 60CY of horse manure and shavings plus I added alot of dirt from a huge mound on my property from when the county cut drainage through the middle of my property. I should have the drainage problem fixed. It really did not look that low in the middle, and with the rain we usually get it does okay. After I went back and looked after the rains of 2007, it does look low in the middle. So far this year I only planted about 9 tomatoes and peppers combined and about 25 or so potatoes. I made a small raised garden area close to the ditch in my side pasture area.
Thanks feldon. I have thought off and on about those row covers. It definately would have helped if I would have used them. I usually do not plant tom's and pep's this early, and did not realize that frost would hurt them. I have only done a garden on my own in 2005, 06, and 07. When I was a teenager, I used to help my step-dad with his garden a little, but did not really pay that much attention to any details. I remember us putting large coffee cans and cut milk jugs on seedlings before a frost. In my first garden in 2005 I planted two gardens, about 1/4 acre combined. I figured that I would just plant a bunch and see what made it. Some corn did okay, other than alot of earworms. My cucumbers and cantaloupes were excellent. I watered but did not weed ar do anything for insects. My cucumbers eventually wilted and died which led to my discovery of the wonderful spotted cucumber beetle. In 2006 I tried to stay on top of the bugs and the weeds. I built some sprinklers out of a 4-way hose connector, hoses and pvc with sprinkler heads attached. As the garden grew, the nearest plants to the sprinklers grabbed all of the water and weeds were a constant battle, especially around the sprinklers. In 2007, I bought a huge roll of plastic mulch and a under row watering system with emitter holes every 12". Field mice moved under the sheeting and kept digging up the watermelon and cantaloupe seeds as I planted them. Probably only water 3 or 4 times as we had so much rain. The plastic mulch kept the weeds down other that where I cut holes for plants and between rows where not overlapped, other than nutsedge that pokes through it. I think that the plastic mulch probably contributed to the deluge we had that year.
All of that really has nothing to do with the subject, I just got long winded. I might eventually get those row covers, but most likely I will just plant later as we have plenty long of a summer, but then again I remember reading that earlier plantings of crops such as corn are not as afflicted by pests like the earworms as those planted later.
I am not sure if I am going to plant a garden this year, other than what I already have. I have been thinking about corn and cantaloupe though. I always liked to see rows of corn, but those earworms are terrible around here.
Wow, well that gives me more perspective certainly.
I started my gardening adventure in 2006 and have tried to learn as fast as I can.
One thing I would say is coffee cans can be a problem because they are typically metal and metal rapidly conducts temperature changes. Milk jugs are great though. I used upside down plastic pots and had no problems. I have heard of folks using metal containers and the plants froze anyway even thought it was only 32 or 33.
You can also use sprinklers during the night if it's going to potentially be a frost/freeze. You will increase your chance of fungal infections later on, but save the plants as water coming out of the hose is often 40+ degrees so the mist will warm up the surrounding air and prevent a freeze.
Mike there are answers to many of your problems and your success will improve with experience and motivation. I learn something of value almost every day here at DG on one forum or another. The more I learn the more I realize how challenging it can be to bring in decent results.
I rushed to put out half my peppers only to see them decimated by aphids and then flea beetles. Next year I'll hold back awhile. I found a cure for aphids here at DG but the flea beetles just have to run their course they too shall pass.
I also got hasty with my tomatoes but so far that is paying off. There's still a chance of a freeze but if my luck prevails I'll be eating lots of toms in early May. I carefully picked varieties that make smaller plants and so far it's extremely interesting to compare their progress. I adapted a very productive means of growing in pots because my nematode infested, acidic sand barely supports weeds in some places.
My potatoes made it and have new growth. My tomatoes and peppers still have green stems, but no new growth.
All of my plums fell off of the trees. I guess the late freezes we had took its toll on them. My peaches and pears are still on the trees. Think they will make it?