Dody, You can leave them in the cold frame if it stays above freezing all night with the lid closed. Tomatoes can freeze at temperatures of 32 degrees and lower, although it generally takes about 2 hours exposure, in my experience, to kill the plants back to the ground. Less than two hours exposure may damage them and set them back, but generally won't kill them unless frost also occurs. Frost is a different issue. Frost can damage plants and, if the conditions are right (or, maybe it would be more accurate to describe them as "wrong"), frost can form at 37 or 38 degrees. I've heard it can form at 39 degrees but haven't witnessed that personally. I have witnessed a killing frost at 37 or 38 degrees and see it here just about every year. So, always protect the tomato plants from the possibility of frost anytime temps are expected to go below 40 degrees. Having said all the above, I don't like to expose tomato plants to too much air temperature below 40 degrees. Once they are exposed to cold air temps, their growth will slow down and stall with the result being they'll often set fruit much later than they would have if never exposed to those cool temps. Currently my tomato plants are outside most of the day or all day (less time is spent outdoors on very windy days when the wind exceeds the upper 20s) and back inside either the garage (well-insulated) or sunporch at night. If the temperatures are expected to drop below 30 degrees, they come from the sunporch into the house, but I leave the big plants in the garage because it stays warmer. One thing to understand about tomato plants is that while some limited cold exposure early in their life is good for them, too much is not and will stunt them. Since my goal is to harvest tomatoes as early as possible (I usually harvest the first tomatoes from the early container-grown tomato plants in late April and from the in-ground plants in late May), I avoid letting them be exposed to any temperatures cold enough to make them stunt or stall. That's my personal preference because the earlier I harvest, the greater the overall harvest will be. If you don't mind a later harvest or less fruit per plant, you don't have to be extra-cautious about exposing the plants to cold temperatures as long as you protect them from freeze damage and frost damage. For anyone who's pretty new to raising tomatoes, you should know that hot temperatures shut down pollination and fertilization of the large tomatoes, with 'large' in this case being anything more than an oz. or two. Thus, it is advisable to get good early fruit set before the high temps begin negatively impacting pollenization and fertilization. The temperatures that impede pollination can vary but basically high temps 92 to 95 or higher will do the trick as will low temps above 72 or so. Having high humidity in combination with those temps is even worse. So, if prolonged exposure to cold temps stunts your plants or makes them stall, then by the time they get going again, they may not get good fruitset before the heat arrives. That's the main concern with too much cold exposure above and beyond the plants possibly freezing. Dawn

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.

Hi sunrisegirl, I've been on combi-patch for about 5 years. I wish I had never started it. I really believe that you do get "addicted" to it. Your body is sooooo used to it, and I'm sure it will miss it lots when you stop it. Can you possibly cut the pill in half for maybe 6 months to a year, and then stop it? I have Fibromyalgia, and unfortunately, my pain and suffering seems intricately related to hormones. The last time I tried to stop my HRT.....well.....lets just say all heck broke loose. My life was horrible. I don't believe I would ever try to stop it cold turkey again. But maybe for a more "normal" person, it could be easier. Can you talk to your Ob/gyn about it? Maybe she would have some good suggestions. And maybe you would get lucky, and not have problems at all. You could give it a try, and always go back on, if you couldn't live without it. But I've discovered that it takes at the very least, 2 months, for hormones to even begin to think about stabilizing, after a change. Good luck to you! :)

I don't know about a tap root in these cases, but from seed, it most definitely starts with a tap root. I don't see a true tap root forming from anything but a seedling's original radicle, but tend to agree that putting a cutting initially in the ground will force a root system better suited for the earth focusing the energy it has downward, just as air layering will develop a more branched system suited for a lateral rooting environment and blind to the bottom since it has all the nourishment it needs there. I don't have the patience to do air layering other than once in a while for entertainment since the time gained is minimal. If they didn't recover so quickly it would be a different story. I'm fairly confident I could get good roots for me (I only use containers and don't need the deep roots), but that would mean giving air layering a lot of attention as if there weren't more things to worry about. My worry is the mother plant might get infected easier with all the mold and fungus in FL. The mother is usually my breadwinner and not being discarded so I just get it out of the way with a quick, clean cut. If it works well with fibrous roots and you've taken the trouble to compare the methods side-by-side - then it works and all is good. Cheers PC