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Buffalo,Minnesota

My plants are now ready to be planted( they tripled in size in a day and a half!). Its going to be cool and rainy all weekend now. How much will it hurt them to plant them now? Never had this problem last year at planting time.

Dan

5/9/2003 1:34:19 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Dan I make mounds in my heavy loam/clay patch to help with this problem. So in the summer when one of those storms comes whipping across from the west, and we get dumped on with rain. The stump is not sitting in water.

5/9/2003 1:41:20 AM

Knopp, Germany

If your plants won't be sitting in puddles, I would be more interested in the temperatures. How cold is it suppose to get? I would guess as long as it don't get below 45 you should be okay for a couple days.

5/9/2003 3:48:47 AM

Garden State Pumpkins

Hey Dan, You walk a fine line this time of year without some sort of cold frames. They do both keep the moisture right since you have control and the temperature elevated for the cool nights. The roots will keep growing and sooner or later outgrow the pots they are in. Root damage at transplant will be just as stressful to the plant so it six of one half dozen of the other. Make your best call hope for a warm dry day....My hats off to any farmer who does this for a living!!! Good Luck and Grow Em Big! Chuck

5/9/2003 6:33:01 AM

In the shade - PDX, OR

I think that is a great question.

With all of the precipitation and cooler temps that we have had this spring, I'm having a hard time justifying exactly 'WHY' I decided to start early.

Get a hoop house or cold frame up for a little more protection.

5/9/2003 2:05:04 PM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Dan,this isn't going to be much help to you now but if you put a polythene sheet over your planting areas a week or two before planting out as well as being warmer the soil there will also be dry.

5/9/2003 4:41:01 PM

syracuse, ny

here's my way of dealing:
last year and the year before, i put these 58-quart
plastic storage bins, clear of course, over my plants, on top of the black weedblock (TM), which is held in place
3 x 3 or 3 x 4 with those green fabric pegs. positioning the container with the plant about 3/4 of the way to one end of it, you would then put a nice, flat walkway paver
stone, or rectangular flat cement block on top of the whole thing, to fo course prevent blowing away, animal and insect invasions, etc...
in the event of predicted freezing temps., run an extension cord between each site, with a 3-way distribution block at each plant, so you can plug-in a light socket (for a 40 watt bulb max.) and you can plug-in the next extension cord and do the same thing at the other planting site.

you can rely on the container sitting on the cord with its block to make the bulb sit upright, as far away as is reasonable from the plant inside the confines of the container...i also drilled a small hole, suspended a Radio Shack (TM) outdoor thermometer bulb at the same level as the plant, about midway down, to keep accurate track of the temp. within. (last year i watched the temps pretty good and it was like 28 degrees out and the temp. inside the container was a nice, "toasty" 40 degrees or thereabouts.
which will work! you could also throw an old bathroom rug between the block and the container for some insulation, and flip it outta the way in the morning to let some more sun in......

5/13/2003 1:50:47 PM

syracuse, ny

THEN connect all this (i had like 9 plants last year) to a cheap but adequate timer, available at Home Depot, probably for about 6-10 dollars. i set mine to turn off at 6 am and ON at 6 pm. the plants don't get burned, it is cheap piece of mind, and it looks really pretty drivin' home and you see your (basically) new patio lighting from afar!

yes, a bit of labor, a bit of money, but i still have everything from last year, and if you have two or three plants, it is a real neat system, and not too outlandish. 'pal

5/13/2003 1:51:11 PM

syracuse, ny

PS, i suppose that might not really answer your question.
but combined with some sort of drying-out, it would really work well---i'm thinkin if you were to put a powerful heater fan in the container for a day or two that would sort of dry it out, like a little soil-dryer unit of sorts--
once you got yer extension cords and plug-ins! lol 'pal

5/13/2003 1:55:43 PM