Do you gamble on the weather?

When you plant, do you risk your plants getting frosted, or do you wait until it is safe?

  • 1. I wait until it is safe to plant.

    Votes: 3 37.5%
  • 2. I risk the plants getting frosted.

    Votes: 5 62.5%

  • Total voters
    8
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In previous years I have only planted frost-resistant seeds before we were safe from frosts, but this year I planted a LOT of sweet corn just before it snowed! I figured that the seed would be safe underground...... maybe, any ways! It was 88 degrees out just two days before snow was predicted, and I just could not STAND it! So I planted the corn.

In real life I play it safe, but when I garden I never do! Half the fun is seeing what I can get away with: with my garden I like to gamble!

Gambling does not always pay off- this year I lost some plants that are really not hardy in my area though I can USUALLY cover them and winter them over- but it sure is fun!

It will not be fun if I have to re-plant the corn, however.
 
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In Texas the weather is so erratic that I try not to gamble. Take this year for instance. It is generally reguarded that it will not freeze here after April 1. So I planted my tomatos on April 1 - 3 and my bush beans right after, then my cuc's and then my corn. Tomorrow it is forecasted to freeze and I will probably lose everything. Agriculture is a gamble no matter what.
 
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I gamble.
Some I win, some I lose.
In my view, winning equates not just to financial value, (so little produce equates to the price of the seed) but to the taste and health benefits, so the odds are stacked in my favour.

I try to accept the losses with good grace, and replace asap.
 
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Sometimes I gamble, but I do this only when there are big chances that I won't lose, haha;)
I've always been a very impatient person, so it's hard for me to sit at home, wait for spring and stay away from my garden. Every year, I can't wait to see new leaves and first flowers:)
 
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I have tried the gamble but do not do so anymore. The main problem is not losing a crop to frost as it can always be replanted but rather, the plants grow exceptionally slowly if the weather is cool. I find that plants put in the ground a few weeks later catch up to the earlier ones and have ripe vegetables at approximately the same time. For this reason, planting early isn't something that I feel is a benefit. There are a few short life items such as radishes that can benefit from a head start.

Instead of planting early, I prefer to spend the time making sure there are no new roots in the soil from the trees, getting all the weeds out and generally tidying up the plots as best as possible so that the ground is good to go when the weather is ready.
 
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I gambled this year and put a few plants in the ground.. they have an inch or so of snow on them today. Hoping since its broccoli and cauliflower they will make it, but if not I'm only out a few dollars. Everyone in the greenhouse is fine and hopefully this bipolar weather will soon end so they can be planted as well
 
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I brought some plants this weekend, but overheard one of the vendors talking about people planting too soon. I've heard that before with the pond plants I get too. one aquatic shop here won't even sell them 'til after the first weekend in may, which was the same thing the vendor was saying about planting. so I guess i'll wait at least a few more weeks.
 
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Not gambling for me, at least not for now... once I get my own gardening space I might not do it either, because on the front part I will only grow flowers... mostly tulips :p I once gambled a bit with my plants... I left them outside the whole winter, lucky them, because that was a really mild winter!
 
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Generally frost danger passes by mid May. I watch the weather and try and get at least a two week forecast before I plant. Some years I am able to plant everything by the first of May, sometimes it takes until Memorial Day.
 
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I gamble with the weather and every year I do great with my products. I can't say that some didn't produce as much as they usually would but even with one product, I got my money's worth with that single seed. I don't find the weather to be of that bad, although, anything can change that.
 
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I my self cheat with the help of a Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station and software.

I usually plant when the soil gets consistently above 60 degrees for 2 weeks. Also monitor average air temperature. Having a weather hobby and a gardening hobby go together.

For me I wait until it's safe. I can't afford to gamble with the weather.
 

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"When the soil is consistently above". That was a mistake I made this spring. I waited until by soil was the right temperature but then we got some bad weather: I had to re-plant one corn patch, which is coming up now, and I MIGHT have to replant the other one.

4 days in a row of warm soil was simply not ENOUGH! The soil was warm enough, just not CONSISTENTLY warm enough!:cry:

Well, by the time we are harvesting the corn I will no longer mind that I had to replant it. Sweet corn is GOOOD!
 
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"When the soil is consistently above". That was a mistake I made this spring. I waited until by soil was the right temperature but then we got some bad weather: I had to re-plant one corn patch, which is coming up now, and I MIGHT have to replant the other one.

4 days in a row of warm soil was simply not ENOUGH! The soil was warm enough, just not CONSISTENTLY warm enough!:cry:

Well, by the time we are harvesting the corn I will no longer mind that I had to replant it. Sweet corn is GOOOD!
Do you monitor your soil's temperature? I'm in Texas and the weather changes frequently. We've had a few cold blasts and my veggies are in excellent condition. I monitor soil conditions along with average air temperatures. I've never made a mistake with this technique. I do the same thing every year. Have yet to lose a vegetable.
 
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"When the soil is consistently above". That was a mistake I made this spring. I waited until by soil was the right temperature but then we got some bad weather: I had to re-plant one corn patch, which is coming up now, and I MIGHT have to replant the other one.

4 days in a row of warm soil was simply not ENOUGH! The soil was warm enough, just not CONSISTENTLY warm enough!:cry:

Well, by the time we are harvesting the corn I will no longer mind that I had to replant it. Sweet corn is GOOOD!
Mine was almost 2' high and a big norther came thru and literally flattened it. I don't know if I can save it or not. Here in Texas no one can tell what the weather will do day after tomorrow much less in a week or in a hundred years. Day before yesterday we had a record low here, it was 42F. My okra and peppers don't know what to think. The soil 3" deep will be fine one day and too cool a day or two later. Usually after April 15 you can rely on the soil maintaining a warm temp but not this year
 
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