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Plant Out....should I or shouldn't I.....

AlabamaJack

AlabamaJack

Extreme Member
Here is the 10 day forecast and I am wondering if I am safe to start transplanting to outside in the beds and containers...

Last average frost date is 17 March here.......

10dayha8.jpg


Looks like we may skip spring this year and go straight to summer......
 
I'll have a heated strip in the cement farm next year, heck, I may even close it in like a mini-greenhouse...long and skinny.
 
AJ,

Haven't you read about the Earth spinning and rotating on its axis? Perhaps a coincidence, but over the last three or fours years, winter is lasting longer, as is summer. It use to be, we would have a killing frost in Cincy in early or the middle of October. Now it seems to be the third week. On top of that, we had our largest snowfall of the year this past weekend.

Last year, we had 100 degree temps in September! That was unheard of. Unless you really need to get them outside, I would wait as long as possible.

Meanwhile, I wait for the ground to thaw and dry just so I can apply some fertilizer and till it in.

Mike
 
i'd wait, unless you're in a real hurry and also willing and capable to run out at a moments notice with row covers and cloches...
 
I am going to have to wait. The main reason I am getting antsy is I am running out of grow height...I think I will wait until mid Feb next year to start seeds...some of my pepper plants (and most of the tomatoes) are over 14" tall and I only have about 16" for max height (that includes 5 inches for the lights and 3 inches for the cups). My shelves in the grow area are at maximum spacing unless I get some more shelf hangars. That will allow me to extend the height of each shelf by about 6 inches.

I haven't checked the soil temp other than to stick my fingers down in the soil of my beds. I will check it this evening when I get home from work.....what...5-6" deep?....
 
Thanks BB...very useful...I am in the long grow season area of North Texas...our local weatherman said the last average frost date for the Dallas/Fort Worth area was March 13th....thats tomorrow....I think I will wait at least a week before planting...here is the reason I am antsy....

Picture of grow area 6am CST, 12 March 2008. Not really a good photo but you can see my dilemna as far as height goes....the superhots are on the left half of the middle shelf.

031208a003ap0.jpg
 
I'm in the same situation AJ, except I'm waiting for my greenhouse to thaw. It doesn't seem to matter when I start my plants, I am always running out of room and always saying to myself that I shoulda started things a few weeks later. At least you keep track of everything, I'm sure you'll have an even better plan for next year.:)
 
I am seriously thinking about making my cement garden a mini-greenhouse...should be easy to do...I can get about 4 feet of height inside and can use 6 mil plastic sheeting (visquene) and 2 X 2s for the frame and you are right, next year there WILL be a better plan.

I also will have a huge (huge for me) garden next year...about 60' X 20'. Just have to get the retainer wall constructed and truck in 50-60 yds of garden soil...but that is a next fall project after harvest...it just has to be ready for 2009 plantout....
 
Yes she is...we talked about it and the alternative was to buy a new house on a bigger lot...neither one of us wants to move so the garden got the green light....I will take pictures of the back yard when I get all my container plants going...I am going to have such a pretty yard with all the fresh vegetables growing...just curious how long it will take the Fort Worth Police Helicoptor to pay me a visit again...last spring while I was tending my tomato plants I heard this helicoptor coming over my house...I looked up and it was a police helicoptor and he was low...maybe 300 feet...I could see the guy on the right side of the helicoptor looking thru binoculars out thru the glass on the front bottom of the chopper...I looked up and waved at them...took a green tomato in my hand, held it up and while I was looking at them, I mouthed the words "TOMATO"...then they took off really fast.......

Last spring here they has countless pot busts for people growing on public (and private) lands...some fields had as many as 100,000 pot plants in them...they found one field that was about 400 yards from the local DEA office....roflmao...
 
You think that's funny? one guy grew pot inside one of the police station's perimeter. :lol:
For months if I'm not mistaken. it took them a while to realize what's going on. :lol:
 
AlabamaJack said:
I haven't checked the soil temp other than to stick my fingers down in the soil of my beds. I will check it this evening when I get home from work.....what...5-6" deep?....
Click to expand...


Yes. You want it to be at least 50 degrees or your peppers' toesies will be unhappy.
 
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