Frost And Tomatoes?

I've read of some light-frost tolerant tomatoes, but I've never had a tomato plant survive frost. Better bring 'em in!

It was nearly 90 here yesterday, mid-80s expected today. The idea of a frost warning is pretty incredible!

I would say bring them in, Mike. Frost isn't good for tomatoes, they could get damaged, that would be too bad, right?

Bring them all in, and think of a cool picture to take with all of them

Frost tonight? I agree...bring them in. You had a good run with them all the way to October! I guess I better bring in the house plants, thanks Mike!

2 days ago it was almost 80. today its a high of 52 with a windchill of 30-40. october lately has weird weather patterns. take out the comforter, its summer again. put it away and its winter again. no hurricanes so that's good.

i would probably be bringing them in by the end of oct anyway, i just don't want to lose any crops. i'll have to winterize the hose as well, drain the contents...

on the plus side i've trapped i think 1 rat, about 12 mice and lately nothing but moles, so far about 5 of them. they wander into the trap. though something is able to eat my bait to the bottom and not set the trap off. the only tomatoes eaten were the ones wedged in a place i couldn't get to and from the outside. i had one great big spaghetti squash that was eaten...

the minus was the dirt i used. i took dirt from a tree they stumped and it had no nutritional value at all. the plants took month longer to grow and didn't have a nice tomato taste. next year i'll have to manure the garden and try to get it to be better next year. i'm thinking to also use worm casting in a bag, but people seem to have mixed results with that. i may try corn next year as well.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Bring them in!
We've had tomatoes that look like they've survived the first frost and then we've subsequently brought them in after to finish ripening. They look like they're ripening up well then suddenly they start to blacken and rot. You can't always see the frost damage straight away. We lost almost an entire crop this way....not worth the risk :)

Bring them in!

Our tomatoes survive light frost but not a heavy one and we've had frost here for a couple weeks already - we usually have a decent October but not so far - has been really cold - went on vacation last week up north to the French River and it rained all week and had to put the fire on every night, it was so cold!
Mike, we put fertilizer on our veggie garden every year and we get tons of really tasty tomatoes - buy it in bags - we have a big deep plastic bin at the back of our yard that we put soil in to use for planters etc and it is a great mouse catcher! We have had at least 10 mice caught in it cause they can get in, but can't get out!

.

Bring them in, Mike and then enjoy fried green tomatoes all week! Yummy.

Here is a need trick fill water bottles and place them around your plants if you have tomato cages put a heavy blanket over that. If this is your first frost and not a deep freeze the water will aid like a heater and prevent the tomato from freezing. Make sure to uncover the plants ones it is warm again the next day. For a longer cold spell I would take them in and let them ripen inside.

In our neighborhood, the deer don't let tomato plants get very far. I'm not sure they really like them, but they really mess them up while deciding--fruits, branches, any part of the plant.

In general, we've found that deer apparently haven't read the lists of plants that deer don't like.

Put them on newspaper in a cool dark place and cover them with a layer of newspaper. Don't let them touch one another. You can freeze them but once they defrost they are mushy and you can't slice them, make soup or pasta sauce.

@Jeff Thanks for the info but we don't use the soil in that container for the veggie garden - just use it in flower garden and flower pots so hopefully that would be okay?

If they were started from GMO seeds...don't worry. lol

If they're in pots...don't chance it...take them in.

If they're not in pots and it will be warmer tomorrow...just cover them tonight.

one particularly rainy summer, I had nothing but green tomatoes come fall. I had to bring them in before frost with no room to ripen them, so I found a recipe for Green Tomato Salsa. It was delicious!

I'm allergic to tomatoes - the wife can eat them and often does. I don't think I've ever had to worry about frost - when I grew them for her - but then I wouldn't live in nJersey either. This week we are traveling up through the mountains of NC, VA and TN - I'd rather be going to the beach - as the temps are going to be in the 80's in the daytime. I didn't grow tomatoes this fall - she doesn't eat them fast enough and for all the work - can get them at the store.

its amazing how well a green tomato can hide. 4" across and i still didn't see it. i took the largest in, watered it one last time, maybe i can squeeze a few more out of it, and drained the hose. i still have to bring in the pots and such, but that can wait.

the tough ones are the granny smith tomatoes. they are green when ripe and i don't know what they look like, so i have to keep those aside. i'm going by density.

it would be hard to cover them, they were tied to a mesh fence in the tomato coop. i'd need a blanket the size of a shed to keep it warmish.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Thanks for reminding me to bring the last of mine in today!

Matt

Make the most of your tomatoes. I grew this in a pot on my deck, and although I don't do many still life's I thought I'd try one, and this image was my first sale here on FAA. Then I ate the tomato.

yup, bring them in.