I woke up all during the night to look at Mesonet on my phone .

But I really wasn't worried .......... or nothin ;)

I hope everyone's plants made it through without damage.

We were forecast to drop to 34 but only dropped to 38, and that was around sunrise. It really stayed at 39 or 40 degrees from sunset until right before sunrise, not that I woke up once or twice during the night and checked the thermometer or anything. (The Min-Max Thermometer has the thermometer itself outdoors but sends the info to the other half of it that is indoors, which is a handy-dandy feature until the batteries get low and you start getting some really weird readings. : ) Now, tonight's forecast is for 38, but I'll cover up the plants anyway because our weather ignores the forecast and does its own thing, so we might drop to 34 or 32. Tomorrow night is supposed to be colder than tonight, but I'm hoping that will be the last potentially cold one. There is not snow or mixed wintery precip in our forecast.

I started out with row covers that were more narrow when I first started buying them, but the last two rolls of them that I bought were 8' and 10' wide, and I wish I'd bought 12' wide to fully cover caged tomato plants, but I didn't. This is the year I just didn't want to deal with late cold on top of all the mud so I planted really, really late for me, and still am having to cover up the plants on 3 consecutive nights now. If I'd planted at my usual early time, I think I would have had to cover up plants on at least 6 nights though.

Oklahoma is full of other weather hazards like tornadoes, strong wind and hail, so it isn't like we just automatically get to stop worrying after the last cold night is over. We just get to move on and worry about other things.

I really did care about the hydrangeas out front. They were doing SO well--gorgeous, growing great, was going to be a banner year for them. I ordered a heavy frost blanket at the last minute, 10x20 feet. Should have been 14x20 feet. Nonetheless, it mostly covered the four hydrangeas. Garry helped me put the blanket over them, and since we couldn't anchor the blanket, we leaned all the rakes we had up against the blanket, 6 in all. It mostly/kinda worked, I think. We did this in the pitch dark last night and it was windy. Tonight we got it done much earlier, and we were very proud of our handiwork. Here's last night's effort at 8 am this morning. Thankfully, it didn't get lower than 34. :).

I was just laughing so hard. Everyone except US would see this thread and they'd know we are a bunch of absolute freaks. We know better, right?

LOL! Nancy, we gotta do what we gotta do!

We DO, HJ!! LOL

Nancy, It is a work of art! Lol.

One year just as I finished putting tomato transplants into the ground, big black skies to the southwest signaled an approaching thunderstorm on what was supposed to be a clear, quiet day. Tim and I frantically carried lawn chairs and other patio furniture, including a couple of folding tables to the garden and lined them up over the rows of tomato plants. Then we threw old quilts (some of them really nice handmade family quilts), blankets and bedspreads over the tables and chairs and quickly weighted them down with bricks and anything else we could find. We had maybe 10 or 15 minutes to do this before the hail hit. We were running into the house as the hail arrived. The poor garden looked like a spontaneous garage sale had erupted in the garden.....and we didn't lose a single plant! You do what you've got to do!

Dawn

LOLOLOL, Dawn, I've done that, too! but mostly with plants transplanted in hot weather, so go grab a bunch of lawn chairs for shade. GDW asked me 3 or more hours ago if I wanted to go cover up the hydrangeas, and I asked if we could wait til it was nearly dark so no one would see us. I don't know if you remember but I think it was last year that I ran out with freezing rain and threw polar fleece throws over onions, We should all acknowledge and laugh our butts off about how funny we all are, all of us gardening freaks.

And I was way ahead in 2017, in fact, this makes me wonder if Amazon has their dates correct

Tonight is supposed to be the worst freeze, if it clears off tonight the temps could drop down to around 30* or so.

HU

We've dodged a freeze at our house so far, HU. It's gotten too close though. Right now, my phone app is showing a low of 33 tonight/tomorrow morning. That's a little too close for comfort though!

Lynn, I like how Amazon Photo sends "memories" that way. It's sorta like how FB shows posts of "this day" in past years. The ones from 11 years ago are the best. FB was different back then and I was such a dork.

Love your plants in 2017! I think we were ahead in 2017. I remember my tomatoes doing very well that year and my apple trees too!

I think tonight/in the morning will be the worst freeze . If it clears off the temps could very well drop to 30 or thereabouts.

Might need to think about venting the tunnel tomorrow after it starts warming back up.

Hopefully that will be the end of it.

HU

NWS tabular forecast for Norman says sky cover should be gone by 9 pm.

Tabular forecast

Then it'll be radiative cooling tonight . I see a low of 31* for in the morning.

And the wind will be light too. It'll most likely frost in the morning.

HU

HU, the tunnel is still sealed up tight so should be good for the frost tonight. I peeked to see if anything has sprouted yet. Nothing. A few of the radishes that I put in the raised beds last week is all.

I will go to work in the morning and should be home by 1:30. I can vent the tunnel then.

I'm excited to see the tomato plants tomorrow.

Now we just need it to dry out a bit so we can plant the beans!

I'm not taking any chances tonight and with little to no wind, was a good time to give the Agribon a trial run. Its pretty rough. I will refine this for next year. Already got a lot of improvements in mind .

Now that's the way to go.

HU

Well, that was a strange one, I'm exactly between two Mesonet stations, OKC East and Norman. OKC was 32 and Norman 31 ........ and we have a frost here.

But Lake Texoma is at 27. Looking at Mesonet minimum temps, it was very spotty.

Frost is frost , one degree doesn't make much of a difference.

I think Norman bottomed out at 31 around 3 am this morning and bounced around between 32 and 34 . Mesonet here says 33* now. There's definitely a frost here.

HU

Lynn, What weight is your Agribon and how much cold protection does it give?

I had my tomato plants covered up last night with DeWitt Supreme that gives 6-8 degrees of frost protection. It weighs 1.5 oz. I have the DeWitt Ultimate that gives 10 degrees (and I have found as much as 14 degrees with a double layer) of protection and weighs 2.5 oz, but didn't use it because I thought that would be overkill.

Our forecast was for 32 degrees. My Min-Max thermometer shows we only dropped to 31. However, our Mesonet station, which is several miles W/NW of us dropped to 27. All of us here along the Red River tend to have cold microclimates so cannot really trust our forecasts because we'll often drop quite a bit colder than forecast. A few of my gardening friends who live right off Lake Texoma generally stay warmer because the lake serves as a big heat sink for them.

We have frost, but it isn't real heavy and also is patchy. We had moderate fog earlier, but it is starting to burn off now that the sun has come up, and we've warmed up all the way to 33 degrees. (grin) It isn't much of a warmup yet, but more warmth will be along directly and then I'll uncover the tomato plants.

Dawn

The frost is burning off pretty quick , it's 37 here now.

HU

Dawn, I have Agribon 19 , it claims to protect to 28 *

Agribon on Amazon

I bought it just for that late freeze we just experienced. I've thought about trying to put plants in the ground earlier in March , which would mean I need a heavier row cover or a greenhouse type plastic.

Next year, I will go to PVC instead of polytubing. And my clamps made from cut up old garden hose were iffy. Some lost their elasticity, some did not. I think PVC clips will be better. I also think I'm gonna anchor the edges with landscape timbers. I had some old timbers I'd used for fence post and they worked really well and were easy to put in place. I still need to figure out the ends. I need to cut down the length a little to get a better fit. And I used 6" landscape staples, I think maybe the 12" would be better.

Still don't think it would have survived that wind we had last Saturday, dang, we had some gusts that made the house creak.

I just saw a forecast of 33* for Sat morning.

Son of a b**tch.

HU

I stored everything away today, I ain't goin through this again

David Payne put 33 * on his 9 Day forecast. I don't believe it . NWS has 38 .

I'm going to go with the buckets and just draping plastic over the buckets and that's it .I'm not putting up the hoop tunnel again. I just got through taking it down. What a PITA.

HU

Channel 9 says 33* Sat morning

Channel 4 says 37*.https://newcdn.tribtv.com/kfor/weather/7day.jpg

So which is it ? Hmmm?

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HU

Lynn, I think Agribon-19 tends to perform as they say it will, and I have doubled it and had it give even better protection, but I haven't used Agribon-19 in a while. I think the last Agribon I used for cold protection was Agribon-30. Our winds are hard on all the lighter weight fabrics, so now the only ones I really use are the heavier ones I mentioned above. As long as I have them well-anchored, they can withstand winds in the 50s...although I do zip-tie them to the low tunnel hoops or the tomato cages if wind that strong is expected.

HU, It will be whichever one you do not prepare for. If I go with the lower forecast, then it never happens and we stay warmer and I feel like I did all that work for nothing. But, if I go with the higher forecast and don't cover plants, then we'll get the lower temperatures. A gardener can't win for at this time of the year.

So far, they're only showing 40 for us, and my criteria is that I usually cover up plants out of an abundance of caution if we're going to be 40 or below. I do that because we're in a cold microclimate and often drop a few degrees lower than forecast at this time of the year. So, if our forecast stays at 40, I'll throw frost blankets over the plants after dinner on Friday evening. If the forecast goes up to 42, I probably won't bother.

The wind is out of the south today, so I think we'll be fine down here tonight. It usually is when the wind is coming out of the north and bringing colder air that things get a little more complicated, and I'm pretty sure the wind will be coming back out of the north down here by some time Friday.

One thing I've noticed with cold Aprils is that they don't end abruptly. If we are getting cold nights in mid-April, we often still will get a very cold night at least once a week until May. It is totally different from those year when the last cold night (at least down here this far south) is in early March. When that happens, we tend to stay warm. Sadly this is not one of those years.

Dawn

Well 35 is better than 33 but it bares watching.Maybe the 35 will stay north of here but I'll cover up for it some.

Dawn you're absolutely right. I'll go with the other ,... probably the other.

HU

Yep , I covered up with buckets only this time.

HU

I guess I will drag the buckets out tonight, better safe than sorry, but I might wait till after the 5pm weather reports.

I had some leaf damage to three plants. I really don't understand that. I don't think we went under freezing the first two nights. And that last night I'd doubled up with buckets and Agribon. The plants will be OK, the leaves just look burned on some stems.

One more night: Several National Weather Service offices have issued a Frost Advisory and Freeze Warnings for counties in and near NE OK and NW AR and surrounding areas for tonight. Maybe tonight will be the last dangerously cold night this spring.

Here's the webpage of NWS-Tulsa. You can click on any county on the pictured map to see the forecast for that area, and the forecasts will contain links to applicable watches, warnings or advisories in order to read them.

NWS-Tulsa

News 9's David Payne has a frost warning for most of central Oklahoma, he says the winds will die down enough for frost.

Hopefully it'll be the last frost.

HU

31°. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

OKC East hit 31 and Norman hit 32 , but Yukon's low was 34, as was Minco. Really odd night and I'm glad I covered the plants

Our forecast said 40 and the low on our Min-Max thermometer shows we dropped down exactly to 40. People at the western end of our county had a forecast around 39 or 40, and the OK Mesonet station out west shows an actual low of 31, so I hope the gardeners out west covered up their tender vegetation. The ones I know who garden out there usually do because they are in a pretty cold microclimate that usually drops colder than forecast much of the time.

Hopefully this was the last night like this for everyone.

Me too, Dawn. I'm not sure what happened at our house. I woke up at 2 am and we were at 34 and the app at that time said a low of 33. When I woke at 7, it was 33. However, it looks like we might have gotten a very light frost for a very short time. I'm not worried about the squash and tomatoes--they are covered. The only thing is my little pet trees. We will see. They have the tiniest fruit on them. I didn't even notice the fruit yesterday, but didn't really study them like I did this morning.

Marleigh--sorry! :(

It was 31° when I woke, and 29° half an hour later. Definite frost and not light. I haven’t been out to check yet, since I won’t be able to see the extent of the damage until it melts. At least I hadn’t put my tomatoes out yet, but I have a feeling my blossoming blackberries, leafing grape, and my fruit trees are probably not going to look like much.

It was 30* at my house at 4 AM. Tomatoes in tubs were covered with a blanket and little greenhouse zipped up. Definitely had frost and still visible at 8:30. The cilantro looked fine from a distance. Frost on broccoli leaves. I didn't think we would get that cold.

I have not been out, but all my plants are inside except 3 pots of basil. My plants have really taken a beating the past several days, they sat in a dark room for several days, then on the deck in strong cold wind for days. I expect to lose a few, but I have several extra. I will hold back a few because I dont have a spot ready anyway. I am thinking that I want to revise one of my cattle panel trellises by cutting it in two pieces, length wise, and making it to where it will "hinge " up high enough to run the mower or tiller under it. That way I can swing it up to work the soil, or place a bucket or mineral tub over the plant if we have an unexpected cold spell. I think that our forecast calls for a lowest of 48* for the next 10 days.

I am still waiting on the carburetor for my tiller. I also waiting on another package of seeds, .I think I will be set for seed for a few years, just in case things really turn bad before next year. I dont think the economy will be that bad, but I want to prepare for it anyway. I think our economy will mostly decline for a while, maybe for a long while. I think that I have enough plants that I can save seed from no matter how had the economy gets.

Madge just came in and told me that my basil is gone, so it must have gotten much lower here than was forecasted for Ft. Smith, so I guess I can just put catnip in those pots for my granddaughters and start more basil for them.

Basil's like one of the first to go, right?! It never did get below 34 here (on the deck, at least) the past 3 possible freezes. I had basil and peppers inside for all 3, or so I thought. I missed one tub with both--although the frost blanket was over them, the basil still got nipped on a couple plants. The tomatoes look bad. Like yours, Larry. They took a beating. But I planted Giant Belgium and Cherokee Green late--toward the end of March--they look great, at about 6 inches tall now. Important lesson learned.

Official low was 31, but my yard apparently has its own microclimate, because everything looked great.

Some of my tender hyacinth beans go t nipped and my trough bed seems to have died. Can’t even remember what I put in there but it doesn’t look good.

i am so glad the frost is over and looks like warm sunny skies for a few days here

Lost my grape and hardy kiwi. Remains to be seen if they’ll sprout some new growth, but the peaches, pears and brambles weathered it beautifully.

—Marleigh

I had four tomato plants with frost damage after those three consecutive nights of right at freezing temps.

Right now, they are shorter than the other plants and have yet to set fruit. All my other plants have set fruit. I did not think the frost damage was all that bad. It appeared to just impact a few leaves or a branch.

And there's no rhyme or reason as far as location within the garden, that these four plants got bit. I have some plants nearer the house, that gets a bit of warming from the brick, and two of these plants are in that row. Had to be from the plant touching the 5 gallon bucket. However, my plants were tall and I think almost all of them were touching inside the bucket.

Next year, I'm gonna be prepared with low tunnel of Agribon held up with PVC.