Hail could be a problem. Do you have any warning when it will be a hail storm vs. a regular rain storm? If you had a warning you could cover the tomato plants with a tarp or other covering, taking care to not break or smother the plants.

Otherwise tomatoes are pretty darn hardy plants. Last year ours survived 75MPH hurricane remnant winds with almost no fruit loss and no real damage except they all fell over!

We have read about the red mulch be haven’t tried it. Tomatoes are so prolific we always have more than we need/can use. In your colder climate the red mulch might make more sense because it will help the bed heat up faster and hold that heat in better. You could try some with it and some without and see if there is a difference — we’d love to know!

This year we plan to experiment with fertilizer and seaweed extract and see if either makes any difference with the tomatoes. More on this as we start getting the plants into the garden.

A tip – I haven’t tried this as I’m on my first garden – but some resources highly recomment a red mulch for tomatoes. Any red plastic mulch will do. Here’s a description from Lee Valley – a local tool retailer:

“From time to time research comes up with some astounding results. This is one of them.

When this red plastic mulch is put on the soil under tomatoes, it will increase yields by up to 20% over black mulch, and makes the fruit set earlier. It works by reflecting a certain spectrum of light back to the plants, which in turn triggers photosynthesis to stimulate rapid growth and development.

The research was done by a number of universities and our own tests proved it accurate. It also conserves moisture, blocks weeds and warms the soil to encourage growth. “