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Re: Is 38 degrees harmful?

At 08:49 AM 5/9/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi again!   It is supposed to get down to 38 degrees tonight and
>although I realize this isn't freezing, do I need to cover my tomatoes
>and peppers?
>They have been in the ground about a week and are approximately 6" tall.
> It is supposed to get back in the 70's by tomorrow afternoon.   I don't
>have anything read to use so I thought I could anchor down some trash
>bags - would that work?  Any other last minute advice?
>
>We've come a long way, these plants and me - they are my first grown
>from seed so I'm a bit over-protective!
>
>Thank you!


Here's something that has always worked for me.  Get 2 liter pop bottles and
cut the bottoms off.  Tie a string to the neck of the bottle and run it thru
a hole punched in the top off the cap.  Leave the cap off during the day and
about 1 1/2 hours before sunset screw the cap on.  It keeps the plants from
being zapped if the temp should happen to drop below 32.  This is good ONLY
if the temps are *reported* to be in the
mid 30's.

For a hard freeze cover the plants with a blanket/plastic *before* sunset
and A) use a trouble light with a 100 watt bulb or B) Heat bricks or large
stones in your oven for approx 2-3 hrs at 500F and put them on the ground
between plants.  Covering them before sunset will trap some of the daylight
heat and the bricks/rocks/light will radiate heat during the nite.  It may
sound like a lot of work but when you are still harvesting Tomatoes after
everyone else has lost theirs to the cold it's worth it.




John Batt
j*@wavecom.net
http://wave.sheridan.wy.us/~johnbatt/index.html
"Oh, Bother!", said Pooh as the dye packet in the money bag exploded.

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