First year gardener mistake.. I didn’t check the weather report, and while I have well draining soil, am concerned the heavy rain will ruin my new tomatoes.
What are my options..
Can I replant them in their pots and bring inside?
Is there some type of cover people use?
And I over thinking this?
by Specializd1
6 Comments
Oof. Cover them with thick plastic to protect them from the rain (when it rains).
I live in the Bay Area and don’t plant until early May.
Tomatoes are tough. While not ideal timing, unless there’s something unusual about the soil (like it’s clay, which doesn’t seem to be the case and would be a poor place to grow them anyway), the location (a low spot where all the rain will drain to), or the rain (like, it will include high winds and hail), they will be fine.
I don’t worry about gentle spring rain for newly-transplanted tomato seedlings unless it will be accompanied by hail or high winds. Are these plants small enough that you could have some 5-gallon buckets available “on-standby” in case it turns into a harsh storm? I have resorted to that in the past. I weight them down with a brick or cinderblock and/or fasten to them to the ground with long wire garden staples or “J stakes” (shaped like a hook.)
Off topic but will they get 8 hours of sunshine there? Pretty high blockage on the left and a long dark shadow coming from the right.
Tomatoes are resilient! I planted my first group of starts around this time last year and plan to do it again this week. Last year my starts experienced a multi-day heavy March rainstorm and even some hail and they turned out just fine. I didn’t cover mine, but protecting yours might give you peace of mind! I’m NorCal zone 9b.
Mulch around them to keep the soil from splashing back up onto the leaves and causing diseases