Had Enough Rain Yet?

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

CNYGardner — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:04:26 GMT

And here I was hoping the risk of frost was gone. Since I'm a novice gardner, what's the best way to protect some of the plants I just put in...?

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

dlongley — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:38:24 GMT

CNYGardener, there may be some folks that can add some suggestions, but 1 thing I know you want to avoid is plastic. That draws in the cold. Probably an old sheet would do.

Dave

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

Deb — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:53:04 GMT

Or newspaper!

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

Sal — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:35:30 GMT

A sheet or blanket will work fine. If it's a light frost, you might try to get up before the sun and wash off the plants with the garden hose. This will work if it's not a hard frost. If it's going to be a heavy killing frost, I would sleep much better knowing my plants were covered with a blanket or sheet. And dave L is right...DON'T use plastic. Oh, and a mental note to self...No planting tender vegetation until Memorial Day weekend or later. The plants do nothing anyway when you plant early and the ground is still cold. Wait the extra month to let the soil warm and you will find the later planted plants will catch right up to the earlier planted one. Keep in mind, that rule of thumb applies to heat loving plants. Cool season crops like pansies, and cole crops will do fine in cold/cool weather. They will even tolerate a light frost.
Good luck!

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

pETER — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:17:55 GMT

http://www.accuweather.com/news-story.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&article=3

Only for a few days I guess of this cold weather.

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

Peter — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:19:40 GMT

Here comes the warmth again!

http://www.accuweather.com/news-story.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&article=4

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

danny — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:34:12 GMT

more rain, but more warthm?

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

danny — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:34:15 GMT

more rain, but more warthm?

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

CNYGardner — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:47:59 GMT

Thanks, Sal! Do I just drape the sheet over the plants? Is it okay for the sheet to touch the plant or does it need to be held up around the plants and not actually touch?

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

Sal — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:39:15 GMT

CNY Gardner...You can just drape the cover right over the plants. The plants should be small enough so that it won't break them. (And a broken plant is better than the entire crop wiped out by a frost!) Make sure you take the cover off once there's daylight the following morning, otherwise that late April sun could do some damage to the covered plants even if the air temp is on the cool side. But as i said, DON"T USE PLASTIC as a cover...a sheet or blanket will work fine.

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

UpstateNY06 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:07:12 GMT

Thanks for the tips about plastic, didn't know that! I think I will cover my rosebushes just to be safe. I saw ppl out there planting during all this nice warm weather. But Sal is right, follow the 'not until Memorial Day' for planting and you should be fine.

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

tony — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:11:57 GMT

this is the best time to grow peas/onions/lettuce/radishes/ because this cool weather will not hurt them

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

Bonnie — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:55:51 GMT

Are the fire threats over now after all the rain we had over the weekend and yesterday?

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

CNYGardner — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:34:10 GMT

Thank you for the advice everyone! We'll see how they do over the next two nights. Most of what I planted are perennials so hopefully a light frost won't inflict too much damage while they are covered. I'll have so many sheets out in the front yard people will think it's Halloween.

It will be a light frost won't it, Dave? :o)

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

Sal — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:55:16 GMT

I wouldn't worry too much about roses either. They might get nipped by the frost but you only have so many sheets and blankets to cover things, cover those tender annuals. The roses should be okay. I get the feeling our weather blog has turned into a gardening blog.

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

12345 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:15:56 GMT

I always wait till after mothers day to plant anything. Then i think your pretty safe.

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

CNYGardner — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:27:45 GMT

I did a sheet count at home and came up short and my wife forbid me from using the ones on the bed, so I ran to Home Depot and got some burlap. I'll tuck them in nicely tonight and hope for the best. Thanks again all!

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

Eric — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:07:57 GMT

What's the risk of frost for Auburn tonight? I live near downtown & I've got dwarf apple tree in my front yard. Just wanna know if I should be worried about frost killing off the apple blossoms.

:o)

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

wcbb321 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:39:32 GMT

We all have to remember, this is New York, we usually have a slight chance of a frost until the end of May. My best advice, wait as long as you possibly can before planting anything that is at risk during a frost.

I have to give credit for that sheet over the plants idea. I've never thought of that.
Hey, maybe global warming will help us out soon and we won't have to worry about any of these methods. It would be nice to plant a little earlier LOL. :-)

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

Michael B — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:43:33 GMT

Accuweather is forecasting below normal temperatures continuously through 5/13. Combine that with their 15 day forecast back on 4/25 and that would make 19 consecutive days below normal! Fortunately it was at least 1 degree or more above normal up until today(4/29). Are we in for a very long spell of below normal weather in May? What do your computer models say? I absolutely hate these prolonged spells of cold weather. It is so depressing! You start thinking that it is not going to get warmer until June!

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

12345 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:23:18 GMT

Just wait until may 15 and plant what you want. Jeese this a weather blog right?

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

Sal — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:05:03 GMT

I also noticed accuweather predicting below normal temps through the middle of May. Do you guys at channel 9 have a comment on that?

re: Had Enough Rain Yet?

wcbb321 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:45:16 GMT

12345, I understand you don't like getting off the topic, but at least everyone is talking about things that are effected by the weather. If someone starts talking sports on this blog, that's when you know it's getting out of hand LOL.