Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Old 25-05-2003, 05:20 PM
homer
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with tomato frost damage

I live in the Pacific NW (near Portland) and after hardening my tomatoes
off, planted them outside recently. About a week and a half ago, my area
suffered some very cold weather (frost was on my car windshield). Most, but
not all, of the tomatoes were hit pretty hard, with a lot of dead leaves and
branches.

What should I do at this point? Should I just leave them and see what
happens? Should I prune off the dead leaves and branches? Is it hopeless
(i.e. are frost damaged plants so handicapped that I should start over with
nursery starts)?

Thanks in advance.


  #2   Report Post  
Old 25-05-2003, 10:56 PM
Charles
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with tomato frost damage

On Sun, 25 May 2003 15:13:09 GMT, "homer"
wrote:

I live in the Pacific NW (near Portland) and after hardening my tomatoes
off, planted them outside recently. About a week and a half ago, my area
suffered some very cold weather (frost was on my car windshield). Most, but
not all, of the tomatoes were hit pretty hard, with a lot of dead leaves and
branches.

What should I do at this point? Should I just leave them and see what
happens? Should I prune off the dead leaves and branches? Is it hopeless
(i.e. are frost damaged plants so handicapped that I should start over with
nursery starts)?

Thanks in advance.



It's to late now for this advice, but next time it happens, try to
wash off the frost with water from the hose before the sun hits the
plants. This can reduce a lot of the damage.

Only for mild frost, of course, froze solid is a bit much.


_

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others
  #3   Report Post  
Old 26-05-2003, 12:08 AM
Kay Lancaster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with tomato frost damage

On Sun, 25 May 2003 15:13:09 GMT, homer wrote:

What should I do at this point? Should I just leave them and see what
happens? Should I prune off the dead leaves and branches? Is it hopeless
(i.e. are frost damaged plants so handicapped that I should start over with
nursery starts)?


Dead material should be removed. If they were 4" starts, and not many
of those, I'd be inclined to replant (I'm just S of you, about halfway
to Salem). I've got some that would be in 3 gallon cans if they were
potted, and those I'd probably just remove dead leaves from -- but I'd
had enough warning that I had cuddled them up under sheets with
gallon bottles of warm water. Last week's hail was harder on them
than the frost.

If you don't have a copy of the excellent book Growing Vegetables West
of the Cascades (Steve Solomon), hit the library... the section on
tomato growing in this climate is particularly useful.

Kay Lancaster

  #4   Report Post  
Old 26-05-2003, 07:20 AM
homer
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with tomato frost damage

Thanks. I do have Solomon's book. However, given the late terrible
weather, it wouldn't have been much help. I started these plants indoors in
March and they are a good 18 inches tall when I moved them to a hoop house
in April and by the time I removed the hoop house just after the first of
May, they were mostly around two feet tall, many with lots of tomatoes.

The whole scene is pretty depressing. I am tempted to simply tear out some
of the harder hit plants and replace them with store bought starts. My
girlfriend (who helped me nurse these babies along) won't have any of it,
more out of principal than anything else. My easiest solution right now is
to increase the size of the garden to fit the new starts (I will have home
grown tomatoes this year damnit).

Next year I won't start my seeds until April 1 and won't move them out until
the middle of may into the hoop house (which won't come down until june).

This seems to have been an unusually cold spring in the PNW.

Again, thanks for the help.

Jay

"Kay Lancaster" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 25 May 2003 15:13:09 GMT, homer wrote:

What should I do at this point? Should I just leave them and see what
happens? Should I prune off the dead leaves and branches? Is it

hopeless
(i.e. are frost damaged plants so handicapped that I should start over

with
nursery starts)?


Dead material should be removed. If they were 4" starts, and not many
of those, I'd be inclined to replant (I'm just S of you, about halfway
to Salem). I've got some that would be in 3 gallon cans if they were
potted, and those I'd probably just remove dead leaves from -- but I'd
had enough warning that I had cuddled them up under sheets with
gallon bottles of warm water. Last week's hail was harder on them
than the frost.

If you don't have a copy of the excellent book Growing Vegetables West
of the Cascades (Steve Solomon), hit the library... the section on
tomato growing in this climate is particularly useful.

Kay Lancaster




  #5   Report Post  
Old 27-05-2003, 04:08 AM
RWL
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with tomato frost damage

On Sun, 25 May 2003 15:13:09 GMT, "homer"
wrote:

About a week and a half ago, my area
suffered some very cold weather (frost was on my car windshield). Most, but
not all, of the tomatoes were hit pretty hard, with a lot of dead leaves and
branches.

What should I do at this point?


I had this problem last year in central PA. We had frosts on May
20th and 21st !! The smallest one looked like a goner, but I left it
in the garden since I didn't intend to replace it, and it regrew. A
replacement plant however would have grown faster. It didn't bear
till late in the summer.

RWL


******* Remove NOSPAM to reply *******



  #6   Report Post  
Old 28-05-2003, 05:08 AM
vincent p. norris
 
Posts: n/a
Default Help with tomato frost damage

I had this problem last year in central PA. We had frosts on May
20th and 21st !!


I live in central PA too, and we had a low of 28 on May 21, but lows
of 34 on May 19 and 20.

USUALLY, I start my tomato seeds in March, and put the seedlings in
the garden around April 27, the AVERAGE date of our last frost.

I plant them deep, so only the top leaves area above ground. I put a
gallon jug of water right next to the plant, to absorb warmth from the
sun all day. At sundown, uness the forecast low is above 50, I put a
six-gallon plastic bucket over both plant and jug.

That whole gallon of water would have to freeze before the temp inside
the bucket woud drop to 32. In fact, water has a high specific heat
and it keeps the temp inside the bucket well above the outside
temperature.

By the time the plants are too big to fit under the bucket, I no
longer need to cover them.

I have never lost a plant.

BUT THIS YEAR, I planted my tomatoes last Sunday, a month later than
usual. It's been a terribly cold spring. Many nights down in the 40s,
even last week (41 on May 22); and quite a few days barely reaching
the 50s. It has rained 23 of the 27 days in May.

vince norris
Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Water Damage Clean up & Fire Damage Restoration ssammyy roy Gardening 0 19-05-2012 09:15 AM
Does Frost Damage Kill Tomato Plants? kc Gardening 10 11-03-2011 10:07 PM
Garlic/onion frost damage Ed Edible Gardening 52 07-11-2008 04:03 PM
Garlic/onion frost damage Ed United Kingdom 56 07-11-2008 04:03 PM
Cordyline Red Star - Frost Damage les United Kingdom 8 18-02-2004 11:40 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:38 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 GardenBanter.co.uk.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Gardening"

 

Copyright © 2017