Frost Bit tomatoes

lisaphoto 4/25/2010, 9:10 am

A couple of weeks ago I left my tomato seedlings out over night. The forecast said it wasn't supposed to go below 40 degrees. Well I noticed yellowing spotted leaves and assumed they got frost damage. The leaves on the top of the main stem were fine on all the plants, but the side shoots were the ones who were damaged. I cut off the damaged shoots and left only the main stem. I thought everything would be fine, but my mom told me that once tomatoes are damaged, they will never produce well. Should I throw them out and start over by buying transplants, or will they be okay?

Lavender Debs 4/25/2010, 9:32 am

I vote "Keep them"

They are not "frost bit". They just got cold. Mine were doing that when I was taking them out for the day in March without a cold frame. (outside when above 40 degrees WITH a cold frame!!). Mine all recovered by greening back up.

Just transplanting can be a shock to tomatoes that will "set them back" but they do still produce. What really have you got to loose except for maybe a little space in the garden. If it is just cold stress you will still get tomatoes.

Did you grow these from seed or buy them?

lisaphoto 4/25/2010, 12:47 pm

I grew them from seed, so I was hoping to use them, but I have very limited garden space and a big priority is tomatoes so I don't want to waste space on something not worth it. I'll try planting them soon and see how they do.

Retired Member 1 4/25/2010, 3:01 pm

As long as the growing tip is not damaged, they should do fine. Just plant deep and water well. I had some in severe shock due to cold, stripped off all but the top 2" and they have grown as fast as the ones that were not frost nipped and were larger to begin with.

Lavender Debs 4/25/2010, 3:14 pm

belfre's exprience is close to mine......except I am not in tomato country and EVERYTHING is slow. So glad she said it.

Ole Joe Clark 4/25/2010, 6:17 pm

If you trim all the yellow stems and leave off and leave just the top two or three leaves, you can lay the plant down in a shallow trench and cover all but the top. Every where a tomato stem is covered with soil it will develop more roots.

My Sweet 100 is about to bloom.

lisaphoto 4/25/2010, 7:07 pm

My poor little tomato seedlings. They have endured so much already. My son dumps at least one a day out of it's cup onto the floor. I only have 3 plants, so imagine what each has gone through!

junequilt 4/26/2010, 5:45 pm

I'm laughing so hard -- about your son and the tomato plants -- brings back memories of my godson when he was a toddler and I chose that year to grow ALL my summer veggies from seed! As I recall, those plants survived, and many even thrived. I hope yours will, too!

Btw, the child in question is 15 now -- but he'll still eat the veggies if I can grow 'em!

lisaphoto 4/26/2010, 6:55 pm

Yeah today was the worst day yet. He completely dumped out a 10 inch pot of cilantro, 2 basil plants, 1 tomato plant at least 5 times, and then every time I tried to clean it up, he would find some way to dump the dirt out of the dustpan. I ended up just moving everything outside and if they get frozen, oh well. That would be a great solution except that he does the same thing when we are outside too. In addition to my SFG, I have a strawberry bed and lots of things in containers. I need to devise some sort of suspended garden or something to keep him away from everything. This is going to be a long summer!

Sponsored content

Frost Bit tomatoes

Frost Bit tomatoes

Re: Frost Bit tomatoes

Re: Frost Bit tomatoes

Re: Frost Bit tomatoes

Re: Frost Bit tomatoes

Re: Frost Bit tomatoes

Re: Frost Bit tomatoes

Re: Frost Bit tomatoes

Re: Frost Bit tomatoes

Re: Frost Bit tomatoes


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.