The cold weather THIS WEEK. Arghh. Warning

blissfulbabe

As a newbie to gardening I've probably rushed ahead and planted things to early . I have toms in an unheated greenhouse - it is a 'lean-to' type of arrangement with the back wall being the brick wall of the garage and a bed has been dug out along the length of the wall. The toms are planted about 10-12 inches from the wall as I thought it would act as a bit of a heat sink and keep the temperature slightly higher at night.

We are predicted ground temps of -0.5 centigrade later on this week - do I need to cover the toms or do you think they'll be OK?

Lotus-eater

blissfulbabe wrote: »

We are predicted ground temps of -0.5 centigrade later on this week - do I need to cover the toms or do you think they'll be OK?

You might as well, it's only a couple of nights at the worst. If you don't and something goes wrong, think of all that work going to waste.


It was down to 0c on the plot last night and 3c in the GH.

So tonight looks like being a mildish frost for me and Tuesday a bad frost.

[Deleted User]

It will do no harm to cover them bliss. I have covered mine at night,with fleece, a few times

I am so glad I started sowing my seeds earlier rather than later. Everything has grown to be strong and sturdy. Some flowers have buds and so do the tomatoes. I never sowed all my seeds but always kept some back `just in case` and I did invest in fleece and other protection. It was so worth it. I have always done this but only after studying medium and long range weather forcasts and I now have plants that will withstand the coming dry weather and with good roots that will reach down to damp soil. Watering from below has been formost, encouraging plants to grow roots downwards and also keeping the surface dry to avoid damping off

It does depend on the part of the uk that you live in and also the micro climate. In 30 years I have never lost seedlings to frost but once or twice, before fleece, I have been out there spraying frosted potatoes with a water mist and it works

[Deleted User]

I was expecting 4 feeling like -1 so covered all the sensitives in fleece earlier. Now looking at the forecast, it has changed to 2 feeling like -3 :eek:

We almost didn`t cover tonight and I`m very glad we did

aliasojo

I have no idea what's going on with our weather, we're supposed to have been cloudy according to the forecasts and nights were supposed to be cold.

So far we've had sun splitting the trees and very mild nights.

Today and tomorrow are supposed to be bad for us.

Everything I have is still in pots in the blowaway or in the house as we've been trying to sort the garden out a bit first before planting so makes no odds really. Hope everyone's plants stay happy.

Lotus-eater

We had a medium frost, nipped the top of the spuds, not sure what else it has done yet.

yorkieorchid

Some of my spuds were nipped a bit last week, so took no chances last night. They are too big to earth up any more so we covered them with anything and everything...(we have 6 rows of 30ft long) used 2 old double bed sheets, fleece, lightweight sheeting, upturned plantpots weighted down with stones. Its looks a right sight! ha ha. Were leaving it on today and tonight and prob Weds day and night too. It wont hurt them to leave them covered for a couple of days. The things we do eh!

dizziblonde

Only problem I've had was a few pots have been blown over in the ridiculous wind.

newsgroup_monkey

Those of you who, like us, spent the weekend on the South Coast might be surprised that everyone else had glorious weather!

Friday day was OK.
Friday night, heavy storms.
Saturday, windy but fair.
Saturday night, more storms. Lots of rain.
Sunday, Windy but fair, cool evening though.
Monday, windy.

I'm glad to be home in Bedfordshire where it appears to have had a teeny bit of rain on Friday. Everything on the allotment looked like it needed a good soak (again).

jenie_2

Hi all, quick question, I have some young meteor peas outside, they are about a foot high, whats the best way to protect them ?