Is this warm enough to plant out?

D

dragon49

I normally plant out memorial day weekend but this year want to plant out earlier, on May 9th.  Are these historical patterns warm enough for my pepper (and if you know - are they warm enough for my eggplant and tomatoes as well?) plants?

May 8, 2012 through May 13, 2012:

    Max    Avg    Min    
Temperature
Max Temperature    71 °F    65 °F    59 °F
Mean Temperature    68 °F    61 °F    56 °F
Min Temperature    66 °F    60 °F    55 °F

May 8th, 2011 through May 13th, 2011:

Max    Avg    Min    
Temperature
Max Temperature    68 °F    62 °F    59 °F
Mean Temperature    62 °F    59 °F    57 °F
Min Temperature    59 °F    57 °F    55 °F

May 8th, 2010 through May 13th, 2010:

    Max    Avg    Min    
Temperature
Max Temperature    66 °F    54 °F    46 °F
Mean Temperature    62 °F    52 °F    44 °F
Min Temperature    57 °F    49 °F    44 °F
 
 
My apologies for the badly formatted paste, but you get the point.  I browsed through a few more years and these averages don't appear to change much - BUT on May 8th, 1976, it was 32F, so there are some cold days.
 
How does this really work - If I have mostly good days, but one 32 F day, will that kill all of my seedlings, or would it take a longer freeze?  I'll be starting the pepper seedlings (indoor lights) around March 15th and I harden off, so I am not putting tiny babies into the ground.  The other staples (eggplant tomatoes various herbs etc - will all be purchased from a nursery).
 
Should I plant out on May 9th, or wait a few more weeks?
 
Thanks
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 
 
Very young plants don't tolerate temperature swings as well as mature plants. Plus, like the stock market, historical values may not represent future values. The 40's and 50's are your big concern. IMO - go later and be safer.

...... and besides, if you believe the money-grabbing global warming hype, we're supposed to get colder as a result of the warming. Not sure how that logic works out, but there it is.
 
i plant day of or after the last freeze! mid april
 
you would be fine with those temperatures..
 
you can cover your plants with a bedsheet and put christmas lights on them to keep them warm. If containers you can just drag em back in your garage for a night if its freeze
 
OKGrowin said:
i plant day of or after the last freeze! mid april
 
you would be fine with those temperatures..
 
you can cover your plants with a bedsheet and put christmas lights on them to keep them warm. If containers you can just drag em back in your garage for a night if its freeze
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Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately, I don’t live where my family garden is and no family members will be there until early June, so the plants will be unattended for a while. The most I could do for them is to put them in good holes, set up the sprinkler system and wish them the best. I’m going to pull up 70 years of historical weather data for May 9th in my garden’s zip code to help make my decision.
 
OK - I just looked up the historical data for May 9th in my garden's zip code going back to 1930 (4 years missing) With 79 years of data, these are the averages:

Average High - 61.48 F
Average Low - 46.86 F

I'm not thrilled with the lows, but it looks like I can get away with planting out on May 9th. The good news is that it hasn't been <40 f since 1989, so hopefully the good trend will continue. I'll shortly be starting a 2014 Grow Log, so you will be able to see my progress there.

Here is all the data:

Year High Low

2013 59 53
2012 59 57
2011 68 59
2010 46 46
2009 60 55
2008 50 46
2007 68 59
2006 55 51
2005 69 51
2004 59 50
2003 59 51
2001 68 59
2000 80 71
1999 75 57
1998 59 55
1997 55 46
1993 80 44
1992 62 48
1991 58 42
1990 66 57
1989 62 38
1988 53 31
1987 70 37
1986 54 42
1985 57 32
1984 60 52
1983 57 44
1982 71 50
1981 61 31
1980 60 42
1979 73 56
1978 53 50
1977 50 36
1976 58 34
1975 62 45
1974 59 39
1973 54 50
1972 49 43
1971 50 46
1970 72 49
1969 58 54
1968 60 46
1967 58 38
1966 49 41
1965 63 49
1964 71 54
1963 79 56
1962 60 41
1961 60 47
1960 61 52
1959 61 39
1958 60 44
1957 77 54
1956 52 36
1955 59 45
1954 58 49
1953 67 51
1952 72 46
1951 73 47
1950 59 38
1949 61 44
1948 59 42
1947 49 36
1946 59 40
1945 60 44
1944 65 44
1943 63 49
1942 50 46
1941 66 49
1940 58 48
1939 58 51
1938 62 60
1937 67 48
1936 82 53
1935 63 40
1934 62 42
1933 56 39
1932 56 44
1931 64 52
 
You are north of me and I would say stick to this rule, plant out after Mother's Day. The last 3 years we have had a free days before and I lost a bunch of tomato plants 2 years ago as a result. I'd wait until the weekend after, just my 2 cents.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
You are north of me and I would say stick to this rule, plant out after Mother's Day. The last 3 years we have had a free days before and I lost a bunch of tomato plants 2 years ago as a result. I'd wait until the weekend after, just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...
This is a tough decision to make. I grow all of my peppers from seed and I work hard to cultivate the seedlings, so if I lose any due to weather, I'll be really pissed. Also, the other stuff (eggplants, tomatoes, herbs, (actually I’ve founds that herbs are much more weather tolerant than fruits and vegetables) stevia, cucumbers, and some other assorted stuff that I can’t think of right now.) will have to be purchased from a nursery and if any of that stuff dies due to weather, it would be like throwing money out the window.
Right now I’m leaning towards the early plant out, but I haven’t yet fully made up my mind.
 
I used to plant early but all it does is stall the plants at those temps. I don't feel anything was gained when id plant out mid april. Mothers day is where its at for me. You will be ahead believe it or not by planting out slightly later than the nightly lows will permit. A pepper is not happy at 45 degrees.
 
I plan to harden off late april and move my big plants outside early may.. My plants are in containers and can be brought in and out weather permitting. I most likely won't leave them out overnight in mid fortys either. The colder temps can cause the plant to slow way back.. I also wait till mothers day to put things in the ground tho just to be safe. Actually last year i planted around mothers day and got hit by a freak frost.. Put a damper on things and I'd rather be safe than sorry.
 
I plan to put my plants outside just in time for "second winter".
 
That way a few of them will survive until the rains flood them right before they fry in the summer drought.  Another early cold spell should accompany the break in the drought and kill off the weaker ones, leaving a few alive to enjoy the nice Autumn weather and actually put out some buds.  Early frost will kill most of those off, but not before I bring it at least one handful of peppers in to ripen on my countertop.  If I'm lucky, at least one of those won't rot before they change colour, and man...  that single end-of-season pepper is what makes it all worth it.
 
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