We are due for our first freeze this evening. This year is my first fall garden. Will my cabbages, broccoli and tomatoes be ok? Should I cover them? Should I go ahead and harvest my tomatoes even though they are still green? BTW we are in the Dallas, Tx area. Thanks for any advice!
first freeze questions
- Thread starter emmak
- Start date
lesa
Garden Master
Your tomatoes will not survive a freeze. If you expect warmer weather in the future- you can cover them. If you are preparing for more freezing temps you can go ahead and harvest any remaining fruit. The green ones will ripen inside. Your broccoli and cabbage are classic cold weather plants and will be fine. Good luck!
Ridgerunner
Garden Master
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2009
- Messages
- 8,229
- Reaction score
- 10,062
- Points
- 397
- Location
- Southeast Louisiana Zone 9A
Cabbages and Broccoli will probably be OK. It depends on how hard a freeze or how heavy the frost is. They can handle a mild freeze and frost. I got some sheets at a thrift shop for a very nice price. You can cover them if you want, but it's probably not necessary yet.
Tomatoes are different. Even a light frost will kill the plant. I find that tomatoes that have been frozen or frosted on taste kind of mushy, even if they will often hang on and continue to ripen. I don't know of anything unsafe about them, I just don't think they are anywhere close to good. When that first frost is threatening, I pick any tomato that shows any sign of turning, even if it is just a slight change of color to pale or white, not necessarily any red at all. These go on a table in a workshop where they won't freeze. Over time, they generally ripen and taste pretty good, still a lot better than the store tomatoes. You could put them in the brown paper bags and trap that gas in there so they will ripen faster, but I like having them on a table so I can get rid of any that might go rotten.
You can also try covering your tomatoes. Especially if it is a light frost, you might gain enough time for a lot more to start to turn. Mine did almost nothing all summer, but when the hot weather broke, mine set on an unbelievable number of tomatoes. I hated to see that first frost and freeze.
Tomatoes are different. Even a light frost will kill the plant. I find that tomatoes that have been frozen or frosted on taste kind of mushy, even if they will often hang on and continue to ripen. I don't know of anything unsafe about them, I just don't think they are anywhere close to good. When that first frost is threatening, I pick any tomato that shows any sign of turning, even if it is just a slight change of color to pale or white, not necessarily any red at all. These go on a table in a workshop where they won't freeze. Over time, they generally ripen and taste pretty good, still a lot better than the store tomatoes. You could put them in the brown paper bags and trap that gas in there so they will ripen faster, but I like having them on a table so I can get rid of any that might go rotten.
You can also try covering your tomatoes. Especially if it is a light frost, you might gain enough time for a lot more to start to turn. Mine did almost nothing all summer, but when the hot weather broke, mine set on an unbelievable number of tomatoes. I hated to see that first frost and freeze.
