You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Cold Start to October in US
2009-10-18
Record Events for Sat Oct 10, 2009 through Fri Oct 16, 2009
Total Records: 6257
more than half are record low daily maxima
Rainfall: 859
Snowfall: 297
High Temperatures: 369
Low Temperatures: 785
Lowest Max Temperatures: 3473
Highest Min Temperatures: 474
Much more at the link, including a nice map.
Posted by:lord garth

#8  tw, the thing is, the only window I have that would work is north-facing, so of course it won't work. Also, the plants are pretty big, so even if I had a south- or west-facing window, I wouldn't have the space to put them.

I put in 1 Early Girl tomato plant this year, and it's grown over 6 feet wide and up into the tree on the other side of the fence. Also have 1 cherry tomato volunteer (courtesy of the birds from the neighbors' plant, I'm guessing), and it's grown far past the cage and the additional stakes. Everybody at the office loves me.

I'll protect the plants from any light frost with old sheets overnight, but when the first hard freeze is predicted, I intend to try something I read about some years ago. Pull up the tomato plant by its roots and hang it upside down (I don't have a garage, so the attic will have to do). Supposedly the tomatoes slowly ripen and you can have vine-ripened tomatoes on Christmas, depending on when that frost/uprooting comes.

Either that, or I'll have a couple of dead tomato plants in the attic.

Wonder if it would also work with the peppers?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2009-10-18 21:47  

#7  I don't know about moss but do you know why radishes get pithy? Rabbits pith on them.
A little gardening humor...I'll be here all week...tip the waitress on your way out.
Posted by: whitecollar redneck   2009-10-18 21:20  

#6  A change in the weather?!?! In Tallahassee?!? Heaven forfend!!!! ;-)

Barbara, I pot up a couple of jalapeno plants and bring them inside for the winter in a sunny window -- just hand pollinate the remaining flowers, and they'll produce fruit later. I haven't had as much luck with tomatoes. (Those of you who are snickering, just keep it to yourself. I'm pretty sure I know all the jokes, even the one about what mosses do in the rain.)
Posted by: trailing wife   2009-10-18 19:54  

#5  Within .3 STD in TLH... this has me worried. It portends of change.
Posted by: .5MT   2009-10-18 18:01  

#4  aaaaand it's 78 today. Extrapolated that would make it freezing over in a few days

/see what I did there? Data picking: it's not just for lefties
Posted by: Frank G   2009-10-18 17:49  

#3  We had a record low high here in Central Virginia the other day. It's been cold and cloudy all day today, hovering around 43F.

We really didn't have a transition from summer to cold - where the hell did autumn go?

I've still got flowers (and fruit) on my tomato and pepper plants. Should be interesting.... :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2009-10-18 17:45  

#2  It's been pretty hot here in San Diego's east county (97 yesterday), but normal Octobers and even Novembers can be like that. We call it "weather"
Posted by: Frank G   2009-10-18 16:35  

#1  It's snowing for the NE Patriots and Tennessee game! Isn't this kinda early for snow?
Posted by: Sherry   2009-10-18 16:25  

00:00