Cold Temperatures

[d00d557]

Hey I live in memphis,TN and its been pretty warm here in the 70's each day, but next week for wed-fri its supposed to dip down to around the mid fourties each night and I was wondering I just planted some seeds and they just started sprouting do you think any measures should be taken to protect them or do you think they'll be fine? Since its not really getting cold enough to bring a frost or anything just a cold front. Any advice appreciated

[Scarlet Sky]

they should be ok, as long as it doesnt' drop below 40.

[d00d557]

i'm pretty sure it won't, what makes me sad is i've planted about 5 seeds so far. three dank seeds and two from what im guessing schwag, one dank seed went mia on me and the other one got the leaves eaten off or something. So i planted another schwag seed along next to the dank plants so i'm hoping that will grow. The dank seeds have been growing at a rapid rate I planted them last wed. They have already grown maybe two inches off the ground. I'm thinking of getting a small sack of mid this week so I can plant maybe like 10 more seeds just because i'm loosing some and I want to have a decent size harvest at the end of the summer.

[madeline]

It's still too early for them to grow outdoors and the cooler weather will only put them into "hibernation mode" until the ground temperature warms to at least 50 and stays there. Sunrise-sunset is barely 12 hours too at the moment. Mid to late April is usually about the earliest one should plant as they just won't do much until it warms up!

[d00d557]

nah its very warm outside, this is just an unusual cold front thats coming through, so it shouldnt put them back really, plus its only at night that its gonna be in the mid fourties

[unclebob]

Madeline is right its still a bit too early. I am a little south of you, and they don't do well outside until about 4/15 or later. I hope your seedlings will do good. I suggest you wait a couple weeks before planting anymore. Can you start them inside now in cups and then plant them outside say around 4/20-4/30 or so? You will have better results starting indoors under FLs or just in a sunny window instead of planting seeds directly outside.

bob

[GoAwayDeer]

That's not true at all, they will do fine just put them in pots, keep them inside for the nights at 40, it's a good idea to do them early this year, global warming, ect, spring has come early. They will do better then everyone elses because of this come Sept.

[unclebob]

Yes Deer
Your right that they will be fine if you bring em in at night, but he was talking about planting seeds directly in the soil outside. They will still probably survive, I just stated that it's not the ideal time. I am at least 100 miles south of there, and the last threat of frost in my town is 4/20, although a frost that late is rare. Basically what we do is look at the 10 day forcast on about 4/15. If no freezing temps are predicted, that's when we plant annuals.

good luck to all.

[GoAwayDeer]

Yes Deer
Your right that they will be fine if you bring em in at night, but he was talking about planting seeds directly in the soil outside. They will still probably survive, I just stated that it's not the ideal time. I am at least 100 miles south of there, and the last threat of frost in my town is 4/20, although a frost that late is rare. Basically what we do is look at the 10 day forcast on about 4/15. If no freezing temps are predicted, that's when we plant annuals.

good luck to all.

O ok, he's planting them directly in the ground, yep they will most likely survive. But I would highly recommend you just put them in small pots, makes more sense to me.

[madeline]

They'll most likely be fine but just won't grow. Once the ground warms up they'll probably take off but all I meant above was it's kind of a waste of time planting them into the ground now, seeds or plants directly planted. Cool temps on the roots will stop growth, not kill them, that's all I was trying to say. And ground temps below 50 will stop or at least greatly hinder growth so all the little seedling will do is sit there waiting to be chomped on. Which is another reason why seeds should be started indoors. Until they build up a thicker "skin" they're very susceptable to leaf cutters and other insects (even birds will pull out the seedlings) so I like to give them a month's head-start inside before setting them free.

But if you must plant a seed directly into the ground then at least make a barrier to keep out the small critters and give it that one month grow period to get stronger. A barrier can easily be made out of an aluminum can by using a serated steak knife or similar and cut the ends off of the can then center over the seedling or seed site and press gently but firmly into the ground just enough so it won't blow away. This will keep away most small critters that give us fits so often during the critical seedling period...I mean how often have we gone out to check on our just-sprouted seedling only to find a tiny little stump is all that's left? Yup, leaf cutters (not the leaf cutter ant or bee) in action and they're everywhere!

Just trying to help you guys be more efficient.