Effect of cold weather on planted tomatoes

13 years ago

I am in Savannah, GA. I planted my tomatoes on March 26 - 2 weeks after the last frost date. Since then we have not had frost, but cool, rainy, cloudy weather - almost no sun so the plants have been wet a lot. The temp dropped to 44 last night and is expected to be in the 40s most nights thru the weekend (today is Wednesday). I have covered them at night, but of course that doesn't help much with the temps and just keeps them damp. Does anyone know if and how this will affect my tomatoes? Should I cover them at night or leave them open so they can dry out?

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Comments (8)

lewski
13 years ago
Temps in the 40's are not going to harm your tomatoes. They won't get much growth until temperatures are higher, but I would quit covering them and let them dry out.

The only time I would cover tomatoes is if a freeze is forecast. Hope that helps and good luck.
digdirt2
13 years ago
Agree. 40s won't hurt them but keeping them covered can. Cover only if the air temps at ground level are in the lower 30s. Set a thermometer at plant level since forecast air temps are at the 5-6' level.

Dave
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I have been eyeing this thread since it started in hopes of gaining knowledge for next year. I'll add my 2 cents: I started my tomato seedlings in flats in a greenhouse in late February, moved them to large pots (quart yogurt tubs, small coffee cans, etc) in early March, and planted out in the first week of May. (They ended up being a little long in the tooth, I mean stem: I will start several weeks later in future. I had to deep-plant most of them.) Anyway, I noted that the forsythia was starting to bloom when the tomatoes had been in their pots for about a month, and they did look like they were reaching a respectable transplant size at that point. But there was a lot of weather weirdness forecast, so I did not chance it and instead stuck to my family's tradition: plant on May Day. What I noticed was: this was right about the time that the forsythia was going *out* of bloom. There was not another frost, and every tomato established well. Perhaps the *end* of the forsythia, rather than the beginning, is the tomato indicator. And I picked my first tomato on June 12, and have been getting about a pound of fruit a day for the past week. (Mind you, I have close to 50 plants, so this isn't at all impressive! They are just outliers of the main deluge I anticipate. But it will be enough for our cookout hamburgers this Monday!)
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maryann45
Original Author
13 years ago
Will do as you 2 suggest. Thanks a bunch!
mulio
13 years ago
I disagree with what has been posted based on scientific findings concerning temperatures and damage.

No they wont "freeze" but plants have shown to get damaged at temperatures below 45. Much depends on the variety, how hardened they are when the exposure started, the amount of wind and the length of exposure but it would be best to keep them covered for now.

At temps below 55F most plants just sit there.
seysonn
13 years ago
I dont have access to scientific data but have planted tomatoes in the past when night lows had dropped to low 40s and hi 30s. And my plants did fine that season.
More than air teperatures, soil temperatures are important.
When soil temperature measure over 60, during the day, it is not going to cool down considerably (at roots level at night) even when air temperature goes down to 30s.This is especially true, if the plant is mulched well.
But as mentioned above, surviving is one thing and growing another. That is why , in my experience, late planted tomatoes catch up with the early one, very fast in warmer soil and air temperature.
Eetrey
13 years ago
I am a total newb, but I have to agree with mulio. I started a few seeds in a cold frame in the middle of December (average low 40). The seedlings started great but showed obvious cold stress later. I then started the same seed indoors with artificial light and brought the outdoor seedlings indoors to place under this same light. The cold stressed plants never recovered and my new seedlings outgrew the competition.
I would suggest not placing them outdoors until the temps are averaging 55, or 50 but with some form of cover. Good luck.
sprtsguy76
13 years ago
We just had a 7 day stretch of weather like metioned in the opening post. My plants got hammered and took some damage and didn't look great. Since then the weather here has warmed up (80 expected the next 2 days) and my plants are bouncing back very nicely.

Damon
lewski
13 years ago
I think the problem is a lot of people set out tomatoes that are not properly hardened off. A tomato plant that is ready for the outdoors should have no problems at 40 degree temps. In my opinion high winds are much more of a problem than cool temps.

I have no scientific evidence to back up my statements, all I have is 50 years of gardening experience.

Eetrey, 40 is too cold for small seedlings. Gotta make them tough first.

Effect of cold weather on planted tomatoes

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lewski

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Effect of cold weather on planted tomatoes

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lewski

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