you are preaching to the choir my friend, I got my tomatoes out thinking things would be alright, now I am wondering if that was a wise move. The wind ripped one right in half! I staked them today, all be it, too early to be staking them..better that then wind whipped I figure!

ezzirah011 - M think most of us cage or stack our tomatoes the day we plant them, so it's never too early. Now too early to plant is a different story...........

When I plant my tomatoes I use a post hole digger and dig a hole depending on the plant 8-12" deep. Then fill it in a few inches with whatever I want to add that year. Then put the plant in and cover the stem up to the first leaves and deeper on extremely leggy plants. Then put a 5 gallon plastic bucket around them till they grow to the top. This gives them protection from the wind and lets them harden off before I remove the bucket. Jay

Holy smokes, our temp dropped a bunch! We were wearing coats out in the garden this afternoon and lit a fire this evening. Sheesh. Forecast says 43 tonight and tomorrow so at least it won't frost but the peppers are not going to be happy.

Diane

Well I don't think we are going to be as cold as some of you, but the temp was a little crazy today. I ran outside this morning to do one quick thing, and remembered that I needed to hill up the potatoes. I was in a t-shirt with short sleeves and didn't get cold. A couple of hours later I went out to move a few things so I could mow, and had to come get a jacket. Now there is just something wrong when I am mowing my lawn (not the first time) and I have to wear a coat. In addition, I could hear the heat pump kicking on to warm the house. Would somebody please tell Mother Nature, to put her winter wardrobe away and let it be summer.

Carol,

It is wrong to have to wear a coat while mowing.

Our weather didn't turn cold until about an hour before sunset, and then it got really cold really fast. I knew then that we'd get colder than our forecast low of 47 and we did....it went down to 41 degrees. That has me concerned about tonight's forecast low of 40 degrees because if we go six degrees lower again, my warm-season plants will not be happy.

I guess I'll watch the weather very carefully today because I need to decide by 7 p.m. if I'll cover up anything or not.

I'd ready for May to get here because 9 years out of 10, the cold nights end here when May arrives. This had better not be that 1 year out of 10 when the cold nights continue into May.

Dawn

Here's the emergency fix I used to give peppers protection last night. I used buckets that I planted tomatoes in last year. I enlarged one drainage hole and slid the bucket down over the bamboo stake. Hope it worked.

Was 41 here at 5:30. Is 35 now and sure it will drop a few more degrees before it heads back up. Hope this is the last real cold morning. Although they are saying around 40 Friday night. So hoping around May 5th I can start dropping a few in the ground. Jay

This is absolutely crazy weather. Yesterday I went through three changes of clothes. I started the day in a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops and progressed to ending the day with sweats, socks and tennis shoes.

Lynn

Lynn,

I agree. It doesn't matter what clothing you put on first thing in the morning, you're going to want to change it later. It's too bad the plants can't dress to protect themselves from the weather.

Dawn

I don't care what they said last nite about the forecast low.....ours was supposed to be 41. As I was driving to work @ 7am, my vehicle said it was 37. DH brought in a blade of grass and showed me the frost.....DANG IT! We covered all the tomatoes and peppers already in the ground with milkjugs last night. Forgot to bring in the banana tree from the front porch....so I'll survey the damage when I get home from work.

It's forecast a low of 46 tonite....I may still leave everything covered....

We ended up only getting down to 48 last night and that was only for a short bit. Tonight is forecast for 42 and I'm hoping they're wrong (in our favor) again.

Diane

Looks like tonight is the last that is supposed to drop into the 40's for central OK. After that it should be fine temps for those early blossoms.

Seedmama - crafty..I like it!!

I went out this afternoon and everything looks like it survived ok...so here's to hoping for one more night....

Ha! I came home from work and DH had uncovered all the maters & peppers!!! (duh...he didn't listen when I said we ought to leave them, go figure!) It's 9:30pm right now and it's still 61 outside. I'm praying it doesn't get as chilly as they're forecasting....but if it does, it does.

Right now we're battling over where to plant what and when. Seems like we're really late getting things in the ground this year, doesn't it? Is it just me? LOL!

I don't think you're late, Paula. It is always better to plant a week late than a week early because the COLD NIGHTS can hurt early plantings. Heck, I never stop planting. As soon as something finishes, I plant something else in its place. I plant something pretty much every week all spring and summer. It is a logistical nightmare sometimes, but I always try to have a plan to put "X' in a bed when "Y" finishes, etc.

Most people plant okra, southern peas and sweet potatoes too early, for example. I don't....but it usually is because I'm running out of space and have to figure out where in the world to put them.