Yikes. I'm still reeeling from 110 degree temps and drought less than a month ago, and now frost? Doesn't seem fair. I guess I'll cover my tomatoes with a blanket (?) Anything else I need to worry about?

Thanks for the info Dawn.

Jo

Jo, You're welcome. You know, frost is less likely if y'all have cloud cover and/or a breeze so pray for clouds and wind.

Anything else? Hmmmm. OK, if your plants are dry, water them. Having water in the root zones protects the roots from being set back by frost.

If you cover the tomatoes with blankets or sheets, they should be fine because a textile matial will absorb frost. If you run out of sheets and blankets, you can use plastic and the heavier the plastic, the better. However, anywhere the plastic touches the plant, the plant will suffer freeze damage. That's OK though, as long as most of the plant survives.

I keep a roll of 6 mm plastic, a large boat-sized tarp and a row of heavyweight floating row cover in my garage for occasions like this, as well as a stack of old sheets, table cloths and blankets.

Now, I need to go link a second frost warning on a new thread for parts of central/NE OK because a second warning was just issued.

Dawn

Yeah I'm covering everything I can in an hour or two. I did not baby this Brandywine to get ONE DANG TOMATO only to have it be killed before I can taste it. I have a million blankets in the linen closet. Wonder how my mom would feel if I used that heirloom quilt to save my maters? KIDDING ;)!!!

Jo

Jo, Hey, what happens in the garden stays in the garden and what Mom doesn't know won't hurt her.

When you finally get to taste that Brandywine, don't be disappointed if it is not the best-flavored tomato ever. I have noticed that tomatoes that ripen during fall's cooler, milder weather often are not as flavorful as the ones that ripen in hotter summer weather.

Dawn

hi, i'm new :) i'm in jenks, like jo. i've watered (the roots, not the foliage, did i do that right?) i'm heading out to cover the 3 tomatoes i've got left. i've got 3 pepper plants with lots of little peppers, and i'll cover them too. i don't know what to do about the peanuts... hope for the best i guess....thanks for posting the warning, i've been watching football all day, and didn't see any weather reports. :)

dody

Hi Dody! It's nice to see another person here from Jenks. Welcome!

I hope everything pulled through okay.

Jo

Sun is up here so I went outside to remove the blankets. There are several small patches of frost on my lawn so I am very glad I covered everyhting. Thanks again for the warning!

Jo

Dody,

Welcome to the forum. You did just fine. Watering the roots is all you needed to do. The plant will pull up moisture into itself overnight so all you had to worry about in terms of frost was to cover up the plants before frost settled on them, and then to uncover them in the morning so they wouldn't roast in the sunlight. (They roast more quickly under plastic sheeting or buckets than under a textile type cover that allows air flow.)

I was watching football all day yesterday too and can't even remember why I clicked on the weather map at the Norman NWS page, but when I did, I saw the Frost Advisory and said something like "Uh oh" although I might have used a 4-letter word or two. I watch the spring and fall weather very carefully here because all it takes is one cold night.......

Jo, You are welcome and I'm glad I happened to see the Frost Advisory because I wasn't necessarily expecting it. You know how closely I watch the weather here. Our very first year here, we had an early frost on Sept. 29th and it was a very hard frost. I had about 3 hours warning and had huge, tall tomato plants covered in tomatoes. I couldn't cover them all, but hastily built a 'hoophouse' type structure out of leftover lumber and 6 mm plastic sheeting to protect them. (I had to run to the store and buy that plastic and since we are not particularly close to any stores, that was a 1-hour round-trip.)

Anyway, near sunset it just seemed too cold to me and I didn't have a lot of faith in that temporary hoophouse, so after watching the 6 p.m. news, I ran outside and threw a couple of blankets over the top of the temporary hoophouse, and then dragged bales of hay (I only had 4 square bales and wished I'd had about 12) up close to serve as extra insulation. Everything that wasn't covered up died, but the 6 or 8 plants I covered up survived that night and a couple of other ones and I was still picking tomatoes from them weeks later.

We haven't had a hard frost that early since then, but it sure taught me to be aware that we could.

Dawn

Our weather report said that we could get frost but we didn't at my house. Sometimes the Mesonet station registers several degrees colder than we do here by the water. My daughter and I picked a Walmart bag full of peppers yesterday just in case it did frost. I wanted her to be assured of a few to take home today. I only have okra, peppers, one tub of sweet potatoes, and a small tower of beans which I am trying to grow out for seed. My fall garden plans didn't quite work out this year.

I am making big plans for spring though and even bought a set of shelving that is 4 feet wide so my lights don't hang off the end like they did this year. Does everyone else get everything done that they plan for. I just never seem to have enough time to do everything.

Of course, this week I haven't done much of anything except try to keep everyone fed. I have cooked on the grill, the grill burner, and in the bunkhouse on a hot plate, toaster oven, and microwave. In spite of not having a kitchen, we have still been fed. In five days they have done all of the cabinets, the counter tops, the backsplash tile (to be grouted later today), a built-in microwave, added a ceiling fan, four can lights, a stove, the new dishwasher, framed in the frige and pantry, and working on the sink and garbage disposal right now. They have to leave tonight but will be back after the pantry doors come in to finish the rest. My panty and floors aren't done, but I will have a functional kitchen by tonight. So far everything has been smooth and I am loving it all.

Jo, thank you, yes, everything did fine... my husband wasn't too thrilled that i used his "champion" wool horse cooler to cover the tomatoes, but he'll get over it!

and yes, it is nice to have another Jenk-ian here. i'd love to see your garden sometime, and if you need a good laugh, you can come look at mine :)

i am so tired i hardly care. lol. i have not prepared my yard for any frost, but i guess i had better do so. i feel like we have not had a summer, just an inferno, and then it cools off and i think i can get some yard work done, and I am busy with the book sale at the library, and now that is done and what? it is getting cold? maybe tomorrow i will get some yard work done, if only it warms up a bit.