What gets pulled, what can stay?

Dr.Bigfoot 9/6/2011, 10:25 am

So from prior experience, I know I can let my herbs stay over the winter since those things seemed to do fine in years past. I imagine I have to pull the sugar snap peas but do you think the tomatoes could make it if I covered the boxes with plastic? Or is that just a wish? A few years ago I had left a tomato plant in the ground over winter and it survived but it wasn't one of those snowy winters. All in all, got a pretty good yield from the first year garden though I wish it was as successful as some of the rest of you. 2 boxes yielded more than enough radishes (kept replanting as I pulled them up), carrots, peas, herbs, lettuce, potatoes. I think I was too optimistic to think that a watermelon could grow in Portland. It sprouted but never made it past that stage.

**Furbalsmom** 9/6/2011, 1:06 pm

DrBigfoot wrote:A few years ago I had left a tomato plant in the ground over winter and it survived but it wasn't one of those snowy winters

Did it produce tomatoes the next year?

I know Duhh in AZ posted about some tomatoes that got nipped by frost and revived later, but I never considered that even with plastic over hoops we in the PNW had warm enough weather for overwintering tomatoes.

FROST ON TOMATOES

boffer 9/6/2011, 1:20 pm

Dr.Bigfoot wrote:... do you think the tomatoes could make it if I covered the boxes with plastic? Or is that just a wish?...

I've always understood that tomatoes are very frost sensitive, so I've never tried. But they are resilient plants, so if you can spare the space, it's worth a try.

Dr.Bigfoot wrote:...All in all, got a pretty good yield from the first year garden though I wish it was as successful as some of the rest of you....

The most important thing to grow in your first year garden is the desire to try it again next year!

Dr.Bigfoot 9/6/2011, 10:09 pm

There's more than enough space to keep them in there so maybe I'll give it a try. I did get a few tomatoes the next year...but then kept forgetting to water it so it died. How lame but I was busy with training and tired so poor plants suffered. I managed to kill mint that year too. Actually, this is the first year I didn't kill the mint.

duhh 9/8/2011, 2:34 am

If you have the room, give it a try. I don't know what your weather is like, but when it gets cold cover them up and maybe even add some Christmas lights under the plastic for extra warmth.

The 4 tomato plants that made it through last winter gave me 100's of tomatoes over the summer and grew to vines that were over 10 feet tall. (That was with some regular pruning too!) I recently gave them a "hair cut" I cut 2 of them back to far and they died, but 2 are still hanging in there. I am hoping they will make it until the heat finally breaks. If they do, I should hopefully get another round of fruit here in the fall. Who knows, maybe I will just try and see how long they will stay alive. Smile

In a few weeks, they will have survived in my SFG for a year!

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