Hi Bill,
If the plastic is only on the plants overnight and only a few times, is
that material
still a problem? What is the downside of using plastic vs. cloth? The
plastic does not
totally cover the plants over this short period of time. Can cloth do an
adequate job of
protection from the cold? We are expecting temperatures in the low 40's.
My plants
have been in a cold frame for 2 days and in the ground for a week. Are they
sufficiently cold hardened to take those temperatures, or should I cover
them for the
overnight lows?

Sherwin D.

Bill R wrote:

sherwindu wrote:

I put my tomato plants outside here in the Midwest last week and they
have been doing well with our unusual warm spell. Now they are
predicting night time temperatures of the low 40's. I will try and
cover them with plastic, but am curious
to how much cold these tomato plants can survive.


First of all you should NEVER cover ANY plant with plastic to protect it
from the cold. You should use cloth instead.

As to how cold you plants can stand it depends a lot on the variety and
how well developed they are. Most "early" varieties can stand
temperatures into the 40s but for small plants the cold shock can really
stunt them (it takes a long time for them to catch up to plants that are
planted when it is "safe" -- temperatures into the 50s at night).

There are some varieties that have been developed to withstand cold (but
not frost or freezing). Some of those varieties are Glacier, Oregon
Spring V, Manitoba, and Siberian. Seeds for those varieties can be
obtained from several vendors.
--
Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A)

Gardening Since 1969

To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen

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