No pics today, I just haven't taken any good ones as the camera is charging.
Man this weather's crazy! It's warm one minute, then near freezing the next. My plants don't know whether to grow or go dormant. Unfair!
As April 15 is our traditional Last Frost Date around here, I really should be getting my tomatoes out for a walk by now. They need to harden off before they go into the SWCs and become unprotected other than tomato cages. Alas, I'm not happy with the conditions to harden them off, even if they are staked. The wind was so bad today they wouldn't have stood a chance. Not sure that the rest of the week's much better.
I guess what I need to do is to bring them out and shelter them somehow from the wind. Unfortunately that's not even the worst of my problems with my tomatoes. They're so big and entwined in my light system frame that it's going to be a pain in the rear getting them out. I'll water the plants tonight but save tackling the extraction for another day.
Other than that, I'm just waiting for plants to grow, which isn't happening with this wacky weather we're having. There has been signs of life in my beds where I direct sowed various varieties of seeds last week, but it could very well just be weeds popping up. Time will tell.
Lastly, the chicks are entering their gawky teenager phase, so maybe it's good that I don't have pictures of them. Their feathers are discheveled a bit and getting rougher, they're growing taller but not filling in as fast, and they're getting real antsy, wanting to borrow the car, I mean get out of their brooder. I bet next week they'll be moving out to the garage into the potato box I got from Costco. Oh, and that coop sure isn't building itself, hehe.
Yep, I've got my work cut out for me. I hope your garden is keeping you busy!
Be super careful with moving the tomatoes outside too soon. Not sure about the peninsula, but in the sound area it's been way too cold. I usually don't put mine in the ground until at least Mother's Day. You'll get a better yield if you wait. One day of cold weather and it messes up their system and they'll never produce right.
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely worry more about wind than cold, unless it is a frost. The plants will be OK for a cold spell, it's the wind that can really hurt them. I actually put mine in several boxes to help shelter them some to at least get them hardened off some. We've definitely had our share of weird weather here and now looking at severe storms this Saturday. Look like I may cover my plants until that passes. Good Luck.
ReplyDeleteThat is the worst kind of weather to have for the plants. We aren't even close to our last frost date. Last year it was around this time, but last year was a strange warm year. This year has been cold.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the weather. I have my tomatoes all parked in the unheated greenhouse for the time being. They are starting to harden off there as they do not have artificial lighting and the night time temps are quite a bit chillier than inside - but I close up all the side windows in the evening which keeps the temps inside warmer than outside by about five degrees or more and they are doing just fine. I plan to drag them outside for a few hours each day this coming weekend to start hardening them off better. I will choose the time carefully though and not leave them out too long. I am hoping to plant on the 23rd (but I protect my new plants with a cover over the bed) but if the weather just does not cooperate - it will be the 30th.
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