So we did some outdoor container gardening fans had sooo many plants. It’s his very first year gardening and he did amazing… until he trusted me to take them in two nights ago. I grabbed them the next day but they are so sad and the fruit has spots 😭 Zone 5 but they will be inside. The tomatoes are; cherry, heirloom, San M-something and beefsteak. Squash is… a squash, I think it was butternut. Watering was done well before and fed with fertilizer. Full sun outside and we have a light here inside. Soil is currently miracle grow container I believe.
by Li-renn-pwel
21 Comments
I’m confused; what was the longterm plan? Haul these vegetables inside and outside every day all winter? Try to continue to grow them indoors all winter under a light?
OP, green tomatoes during October = your husband planted them too late. Also, those bags look hella heavy, why was he expecting you to haul them around?… It’s bad that you possibly killed his plants, but they might recover. Just please, stop hauling them outside, cold day temps can’t be good for them, buy a grow lamp instead or pick a vegetable that doesn’t take that long to ripen. Grandma’s tomatoes didn’t ripen this year either, and not even from the frost: the weather got rainy and foggy and they ended up with a fungal disease. If you want to help the plants heal you can gently pick away the fully wilted and soft leaves before they melt and make a further mess. And don’t ever bring any plants you like outside when the night temps are supposed to be 5C or under: weather forecasts aren’t an exact science, and your plant can get too cold even without frost. Sorry it happened:(
Honestly, even with a greenhouse, you’re looking at the end of the season.
I think it’s time to let go. The amount of sun needed to keep these plants going won’t be available much longer anyways.
So, once you have fewer than 10 hours of daylight, plants basically stop growing. While theoretically you could have kept them alive with a greenhouse, they wouldn’t have continued to grow, regardless. They’d be at a standstill. Depending on where you’re at, you may already be at that ten hour mark, or quickly approaching it.
Honestly it’s hard to keep tomatoes and squash inside – but the best part is that next year you can start a bunch of new varieties from seed! You could try to cut all the green away from the tomato and try to over winter it, but I think it’s probably best to just let them go. Temps below 55° F (12-13C) are when tomatoes and squash go downhill quickly.
Hope you have a good lawyer 😋
Tempt him with a proper grow light – something a QB from HLG / Migro ..etc
It’s time for them to die.
It’s just the first year. You live and learn that y’all need to plant earlier (no shade, I did the same).
Quick buy a couple full bushes online! Or serve him up for dinner. Whichever you find to be more fitting for that wild of a man.
Go to the store buy tomatoes and squash and tell him you picked them all before the drop in temp. Destroy the evidence. Make a nice ratatouille and serve with lots of wine. He’ll forget about everything.
Its arugula and salad season, peppers are a summer thing. Im sorry):
Uh oh.. buy him a 6pk before hand and sit him down and tell him flat out… Oops, shit happens 🤷🏼♀️
Start packing 🤣
If it was that cold, it might be frozen internally. If it is, there’s no saving it. If it doesn’t completely melt when thawed and you still have some leaves, you might be able to save some of it, but may need to cut off some of the fruit
Plants are toast, but the season is over anyway.
Buy giant ones from a supermarket and tape them to the plant
Make him some fried green tomatoes, serve him some wine/beer with them and let him read this thread. Plants like these need to be let go over the winter and restarted in the spring.
Gardens aren’t forever. There’s next season.
Do your best to try and fix it. When he gets back, explain the situation, show him you’re still trying to find a way to fix it and are doing the work and really care, even if it doesn’t work.
If he’s a man with strength of character, he’ll appreciate your effort more than he would your screw up.
Girl… 🥹 I’ll pray for your marriage
Even if it wasn’t cold, they were about done producing anyway. They go by hours of sunlight, not just the temperature