Freezing In Middle Georgia (so glad we did not plant in beds yet!!)

I live in north Florida and this is only my second year with a garden. Last year we planted all of our transplants the first weekend in March. By the first of April we were planting okra, with a soil temperature above 70 degrees. Not this year! We are expecting a light freeze tonight (low of 32 degrees for an hour or two), low tomorrow night around 34 degrees. Needless to say the frost blankets are over all of the raised beds and over the blooming Orange tree and Fruit Cocktail tree. Over the tomato transplants are 5 gallon buckets (under the frost blankets). Regular blankets are over the strawberry bed and over the blueberry bushes, which are in full bloom. We've had one other light freeze since I planted all of my transplants a couple of weeks ago, which I started from seed. I guess you live and learn. Next year I'll pay closer attention to my husband's peach tree, which is just about to start budding. I'll plant everything outside when it buds out!

We just had a few snow flakes coming down in South Atlanta. It is supposed to be 27* tonight in Brooks, Ga. BRRRRR.

BURRRRRRRRRRRRRRR is right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The misses checked all my covered beds this morning and said everything is ok. Gona be cold again tonight so I am not uncovering anything. So far the 'maters are doing ok even with this cold, hopefully we both will be LUCKY.

Your 'just far enough to the south neighbor'

We had a dusting of snow, which is what we had 4 other times this winter. I cannot remember seeing the sun for the last 6 days, although I may be off by a day.

As for the honeysuckle, I have to give it credit for one thing. We have acres and acres of woods in the back of our property (as well as 8 other properties bordering them). We have a rather nice nature trail up there, and the property is quite steep. The trail loops up one side and down the other with several switchbacks and 180-degree curves. In other we see all of these woods. There is not one trace of poison oak or ivy in these woods. The honeysuckle has invaded and taken over.

As for our garden, everything made it through the night okay, but we could sure use some drier, sunnier days. It is really hard to begin to harden the summer veggies.

yolos wrote:We just had a few snow flakes coming down in South Atlanta. It is supposed to be 27* tonight in Brooks, Ga. BRRRRR.

We had snow flurries earlier this afternoon. It's going to be 29 in Fayetteville. I've looked at the forecast, and I see that daytime temperatures will be going up a few days from now.

Good grief!

All we gotta do is hang in there until Good Friday and it looks like this will be behind us. YEEHAW!

Can't wait to get my plants in the ground.

Hey I am checking in from North Augusta SC/Augusta GA and the weather is cold! I have all my seedling back inside because the mix isn't finished and the little 4 shelf greenhouse is full. I have heard the big golf course has an inground grid now and they can heat or cool the azaleas for the upcoming rush to the "tuna mint" as they call it here. Either way I am blaming it on an Early Easter and the fake spring we had a week ago was just that a fake spring. It was just enough to give us all Spring Fever! Everybody take care.

Hardcoir wrote:We had a dusting of snow, which is what we had 4 other times this winter. I cannot remember seeing the sun for the last 6 days, although I may be off by a day.

As for the honeysuckle, I have to give it credit for one thing. We have acres and acres of woods in the back of our property (as well as 8 other properties bordering them). We have a rather nice nature trail up there, and the property is quite steep. The trail loops up one side and down the other with several switchbacks and 180-degree curves. In other we see all of these woods. There is not one trace of poison oak or ivy in these woods. The honeysuckle has invaded and taken over.

As for our garden, everything made it through the night okay, but we could sure use some drier, sunnier days. It is really hard to begin to harden the summer veggies.

One of the hardest yard problems I've ever had to deal with was a mixture of Honeysuckle and Poison Ivy. Even roundup didn't do it. Had to be dug out very carefully as I can get vicious cases of poison ivy. And then I moved.

I agree, the cold weather has put a hurting on my cool weather crops in the Wilmington NC garden. Some are surviving but not growing. Some didn't make it but I think more because of the tops being nibbled than the weather.
Kay

My temp read 28 degrees this morning when I got up. It is now up to 34 so I took my cup of Java outdoors with me to uncover my table top and check on things. Looks like my lettuce is frozen as is the soil in all of my planters. Will just have to wait until later today to evaluate the damage. Still early to replant if need be, but I sure hate to lose 3 weeks growing time on what I planted. Just the risks of gardening I guess. Good thing I brought all of my seedlings indoors last night or I would have really had a disaster.

My temps were low of 29. I had to leave for work at 7:00 am and had to slightly open the hoop covers before leaving. I have not had a chance to see what is frozen and probably won't take the covering off the beds until Friday. I am slightly venting them during the day and don't get home from work until 5:30 pm to close the openings. So they will probably freeze at night and fry during the sunny days.

OH WELL!!! Everything in the flip tops did well; but all there is somewhat cold hardy. I did not think the taters would be hurt....wrong! Many of the leaves are now black but none of the whole plant are black! Maybe just maybe I dodged a bullet.

another plant

My tomatoes in the teepee did fairly well, some discoloration on a few branches; time will tell.

the worst one of the three damaged(of nine total), leaf near blackened and curled

Looks like your plants survived pretty well. Glad to see that and thanks for posting photos.

We are going to set up our beds this weekend.... hoping weather in central GA is going to be ok for remainder of spring.

Happy gardening!!

johnsonjlj wrote: Next year I'll pay closer attention to my husband's peach tree, which is just about to start budding. I'll plant everything outside when it buds out!

My peach and plum trees are in full bloom - and we've just been through three nights of frost here, with one more expected tonight.

I've wrapped the trees each night - a royal pain. And I'm glad I haven't set out my 'maters yet. I may set a few this weekend, and be prepared to cover them. This is the latest spring I've seen in years.

The weather is crazy for this time of year! I'm sooooo glad I haven't built the beds yet, because I probably would have put out the tomatoes and they would have all died. Will probably be building the beds next week. YAY! I won't put the plants out until mid-April though, just to be sure.

Pollinator:

About how many years has it been since you had such a late spring in your area?

I'm a casual student of climatology and am trying to look at current variables and medium-term trends, such as 30-year cycles/

As of now the 10 day looks pretty good here in Augusta so I am going to start moving some of my plants out this weekend. I still need to fill my beds and it looks like it will be Tuesday before I have my final ingredients to do so ! I cannot wait!

So far so good. I have escaped the cold temps and heavy winds with zero loss or damage to any of my plants and from the looks of the forecast, all I have to do is make it thru tonight. Tomorrow is Good Friday and I have all my seedlings purchased sitting in the kitchen waiting for the temp to rise in the morning and in the ground everything goes. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, okra and zucchini along with a multitude of seeds like beans, cucumbers etc. I can't wait... like a kid waiting on morning to see what Santa left. WEEEEEEEEEE!

bnoles wrote:Tomorrow is Good Friday and I have all my seedlings purchased sitting in the kitchen waiting for the temp to rise in the morning and in the ground everything goes. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, okra and zucchini along with a multitude of seeds like beans, cucumbers etc. I can't wait... like a kid waiting on morning to see what Santa left. WEEEEEEEEEE!

Are you sure you should be planting tomatoes this early. Next week there are a few days where the night time temps will be in the high 30's and low 40's. I understood that tomatoes do not like temps below 50*-55*.

I know the wisdom here is to plant on good friday, BUT good friday came early this year.

Easter 2011 - April 24, 2011
Easter 2012 - April 8, 2012
Easter 2013 - March 31, 2013
Easter 2014 - April 20, 2014
Easter 2015 - April 5, 2015

As you can see, good friday came real early this year. So if you plant your tomatoes this weekend, I would think you would have to keep them warm at night. I know the days will be warm enough but I am not sure about the nights.

Maybe someone else will chime in to give you their opinion. Someone from the north should be better able to help you with what low temps tomatoes can withstand.

yolos wrote:

bnoles wrote:Tomorrow is Good Friday and I have all my seedlings purchased sitting in the kitchen waiting for the temp to rise in the morning and in the ground everything goes. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, okra and zucchini along with a multitude of seeds like beans, cucumbers etc. I can't wait... like a kid waiting on morning to see what Santa left. WEEEEEEEEEE!

Are you sure you should be planting tomatoes this early. Next week there are a few days where the night time temps will be in the high 30's and low 40's. I understood that tomatoes do not like temps below 50*-55*.

I know the wisdom here is to plant on good friday, BUT good friday came early this year.

Easter 2011 - April 24, 2011
Easter 2012 - April 8, 2012
Easter 2013 - March 31, 2013
Easter 2014 - April 20, 2014
Easter 2015 - April 5, 2015

As you can see, good friday came real early this year. So if you plant your tomatoes this weekend, I would think you would have to keep them warm at night. I know the days will be warm enough but I am not sure about the nights.

Maybe someone else will chime in to give you their opinion. Someone from the north should be better able to help you with what low temps tomatoes can withstand.

Yolos, you posted some very interesting statistics. You have given me some food for thought concerning my Black Krim seedlings. Being a Los Angeles transplant, I have zero understanding of proper planting times here in Georgia. I am going off of the wisdom of you and other Central South residents. Plus, I am a completely novice gardener. I suppose if I mess up I could pick up some tomato plants from a nursery, but the sport of "growing your own" adds to the fun of it all. By the way, sorry I couldn't remember it was you who recommended Swint's. My memory has gotten really bad in my old age!

Hi yolos,

Thanks for your most informative post and I find that you are dead on about things being early this year. I have allowed myself to get overly excited and eager to get going (cabin fever sets in about now every year). According to the official planting guide for my area, I should plant on April 12 this year. It appears that I need to rethink today's plans and decide whether to roll the dice or play the safe bet.

Thanks again for the heads up.

Someone more experienced and from the north needs to chime in here with their opinion because we are all fairly new to this region or new to pushing the envelope on when to plant.

Last year my tomatoes stopped setting in the heat of the summer so I decided to start as early as I can this year. But when I tried to harden off my tomatoes two weeks ago, the majority of them ended up with purple on the underside of the leaves and the stems of the leaves curling. That is either a virus (tomato curly top) or a result of cold weather. So I am a little leary now of putting them out.

But I did grow extra seedlings so I might just try to plant one or two to see what happens. Although I am tired of running home after work as fast as I can to cover things at night. Then getting up before dark and uncovering them before trudging off to work.

yolos wrote:Although I am tired of running home after work as fast as I can to cover things at night. Then getting up before dark and uncovering them before trudging off to work.

I know how you feel! For almost 2 weeks now (which seems like a lifetime) I have covered and uncovered my table top and drug my seedlings and herbs in and out of the house twice per day. I have lived in these parts since I was 16 years old and I remember the old timers always planting on Good Friday with success. Times and climates have changed since then and now I am a little hesitant with Easter coming so early this year. Part of me says roll the dice and the other part says to wait until April 12. Oh what to do??????

Pepper wrote:OH WELL!!! Everything in the flip tops did well; but all there is somewhat cold hardy. I did not think the taters would be hurt....wrong! Many of the leaves are now black but none of the whole plant are black! Maybe just maybe I dodged a bullet.

another plant

My tomatoes in the teepee did fairly well, some discoloration on a few branches; time will tell.

the worst one of the three damaged(of nine total), leaf near blackened and curled

pepper your potatoes got to cold,if you'll rehill them (cover then with dirt) they will come right back out without losing many if any,my did the same evan covered now the are ready to bloom

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Update on the cold burned taters:
The misses trimmed the 'burned' leaves off now several warm weeks later ....what burned leaves

Now a week later and a full tophat

I have one more trash can of MM to hill up the group I planted last(fore ground in first picture) then start adding straw to the top of the second tophat.

WOW Pepper, things are looking good down your way. Thought about you as we traveled thru your neck of the woods while on vacation.