36 degrees tonight, Pick or Not ???

It is 49 degrees with light rain, right now, and predicted to drop to 36 tonight.  I have tons of stuff still in my garden.  About 100 Brandywine Tomatoes, in all states from green to almost ripe.  Probably over 200 Tommy Toe Tomatoes, and some Broccoli, with only 1 being over 3 inches.

It is supposed to be cloudy all night, then clear by 6 am.  That is just so close to freezing, that I am afraid to take a chance, especially with clearing by morning, when we could have a frost.

What do you all think?
Madge
Tommy Toe Tomatoes


Brandywine Tomatoes

I would pick all ripe and near ripe tomatoes and then cover the plants. They will survive 36 but not like it so any protection you can give them will be good. Is this only for a couple days and then will warm again? Or is this the way it will now be till spring? If the latter then probably better pick all the tomatoes in the next few days. The broccoli will be fine and keep growing happily until the temps regularly go into the low 20s. Mine has quit now after a week of low 20s. It is still alive but not making sprouts any more.

You don't have much to lose by picking them, I'd guess. I stripped out my tomatoes when they still had many dozens on the vines. At low temps, their ripening process seemed frozen, so they weren't getting any better leaving them on the vine. And there are plenty of things to do with green tomatoes. Plus, some will finish off ripening indoors anyway, so you'll have both red and green tomatoes.

Luckily also, so many of yours are ripe or close to it that you won't lose all their flavor by picking them half-done.

Turan, Thanks, I did not know that the broccoli would be ok.  I am glad about that, because I have several small head that I would love to let mature. 
It is supposed to get down to 32, then 31 next Tuesday and Wed.  So it is looking at least 1 week of cold temps.  It usually warms up again and is warm off and on until mid Nov.

Marc, thanks also.  You are right, I don't have much to loose.  So out to pick most of my bounty before it gets any colder.

Have a hose or sprinkler can ready. Get out before the sun hits the plants and water them well. Keep on watering, until the sun hits, even if some water freezes on the plants. The water will draw the frost out of the plants.

You can have a frost at an official temperature of 36. Remember, these are taken at 6' elevation, and the temp at ground level can be several degrees colder on a still night.

Often you'll have a frost, then some more nice weather - Indian Summer - if you can get your plants through the frost, they'll keep on for awhile longer.

That said, tomatoes don't ripen very well without some heat on them.

Starting several weeks ago we were occasionally getting those deep cold night with threatening frost. I would pick all tomatoes that were ripe or clearly beginning to change color and leave the green ones. the I covered the plants for the night. The plants will hold up to cold, the fruits will suffer from a frost, that's why I covered.

Now, several weeks later the tomatoes are continuing to ripen on the vine.

Soon we will get a freeze and that is when I pick everything and toss in the towel for the season.

I always pick all of the tomatoes before the frost and end up with tons of them in my cold room. We usually have tomatoes ripening right until christmas this way...
I do have to check often for rotting tomatoes, and remove them though..... just a thought, all is not lost. 

Pollinator, campern, and GWN thanks for all that great advice.

Well I did go out and harvest all of the Brandywine tomatoes that were ripe, soon to be ripe, and the green ones that had the potential to survive and ripen.

I also picked all of the Tommy Toe tomatoes that were ripe on starting to ripen.  That left tons of green ones still on the vines.

Total picked was 186 Brandywine Tomatoes,  and 524 Tommy Toe Tomatoes!

Our forecast is ok for tonight, then a week of 20s and 30s.  I guess that I will pick them all today or tomorrow.
Madge

54 Brandywines from 1st picking on Oct 19th.


102 Brandywines from 2nd picking.


30 Brandywine Tomatoes from 3rd picking, from 2nd bed.


And last but not least 524 Tommy Toe Tomatoes.  That is a total of over 3,000 Tommy Toes this season!!!

very nice pictures. Is it just me or is that a very late year for tomatoes?

A beautiful harvest!

Wow unit649, those are so beautiful and there are so many of them!

GWN, yes, I think it is late for tomatoes this year. But I was late getting my garden in, so I think these Brandywine and Tommy Toe Tomatoes would have been producing well, all season still into fall, if I had gotten them out sooner.  But I thank the Good Lord and am very happy with what they have given me.
Madge

audrey.jeanne.roberts and marc, thank you.
Madge

Dreaming of green tommy toes pickles.  

Kay

GWN, yes, I think it is late for tomatoes this year. But I was late getting my garden in, so I think these Brandywine and Tommy Toe Tomatoes would have been producing well,

I guess what I meant was.... it seems like the tomatoes this year were ripening late all over.
I find that with tomatoes it hardly matters when you get them into the ground, for they will grow and ripen when they are darned well ready.
I LOVE all of this so much that year after year I get started WAYYY too early, and coddle my tomato plants along for months only to find that the volunteers from the garden just grow up and exceed my transplants quickly.

This year I was away for the month of September, and feel I missed all the ripe tomatoes. THEY TOOK FOREVER to ripen. I was just asking if that was everyones experience.. it just seemed like a late tomato ripening year. If you put all of your harvestings in a cool room, you will be eating tomatoes until January, which is a great thing because store bought tomatoes are like eating cardboard and it is a long time till next years crop.  

GWN,

Based upon what I've seen in this forum, it DOES seem that tomatoes were late to ripen this year.

I'm always speculating about cause and effect, as well as systems theory, and have been wondering whether relatively low sunspot activity (with lower still activity predicted in the future) might be a factor.

Thoughts?  Boffer?  Plantoid?  Pollinator?

By the way, the tomatoes I'm ripening indoors are absolutely delicious!

By the way, the tomatoes I'm ripening indoors are absolutely delicious!

I have a little ripening box I have been using since June for rapid ripening
the gas given off by one ripening causes more to ripen, the remainder is all in my coldroom ripening more gradually.
Purists (like my sister in law say that they must be ripeed on the vine), but if I waited for that I would not have had any tomatoes this year.

Yesterday, Oct 22nd, I went back and picked all of the green Tommy Toe tomatoes, except for the tiny ones.

I got 1274 Tommy Toe Tomatoes!  Grand total for the year 4274!!!
I would not have believed, (if I had not counted them myself) that two plants could produce that many tomatoes. All New Square Foot Gardening is amazing!
Here are the latest pics

I filled my basket to running over with 1000 Tommy Toe Tomatoes.


The last picking was 274 Tommy Toe Tomatoes, Grand Total for year=4274!!!

This pic was taken before the above 1274 Tommy Toe Tomatoes were picked.

walshevak wrote:Dreaming of green tommy toes pickles.   

Kay

 Kay,
that sounds like a great idea.  Do you have a recipe?
Madge

So apart from pickles, what are your plans for the rest of them ?

unit649 wrote:Yesterday, Oct 22nd, I went back and picked all of the green Tommy Toe tomatoes, except for the tiny ones.

I got 1274 Tommy Toe Tomatoes!  Grand total for the year 4274!!!

Holey moley! Now that's an amazing number. I felt pretty good about filling some baskets full of green tomatoes, but nothing like you did. Great going! Those were enormous plants you had. Whatever you did, keep doing it!

GWN wrote:So apart from pickles, what are your plans for the rest of them ?

I will probably let most of them ripen and since they are in many different states of green to white to yellow and red, they should ripen in stages.  As they ripen, we will be eating a lot of them, hopefully well into the winter.  I love to grab a few sprinkled with a little salt, as a snack.  My family and neighbors will get all they want also.  But mostly I am, and will continue to dehydrate them.  Probably add to some other dehydrated veggies for soups and many other things.  I have a vacuum sealer and will put most in mylar bags so they will keep for a good long time.
Any other ideas are appreciated.
Madge
Dehydrating Tommy Toe Tomatoes with Fresh Basil.  Smells great.

Marc Iverson wrote:

unit649 wrote:Yesterday, Oct 22nd, I went back and picked all of the green Tommy Toe tomatoes, except for the tiny ones.

I got 1274 Tommy Toe Tomatoes!  Grand total for the year 4274!!!

Holey moley!  Now that's an amazing number.  I felt pretty good about filling some baskets full of green tomatoes, but nothing like you did.  Great going!  Those were enormous plants you had.  Whatever you did, keep doing it!

Marc,
I am convinced that these Heirloom Tommy Tomatoes in ANSFG is the answer to world hunger.
Madge

Unit, are you saving seeds for seed exchange?  I would be very interested...

CC