Topic: First frost!

[Black Forest Dan]

We had temperatures down to 0.5°C last night and ground frost; the leaves on my patty pan zucchinis have gone all floppy. I still have dozens of fruit on the plants in various sizes. This week has been very sunny days but very cold nights (no clouds) and more of the same forecast.

Question, are zucchinis / patty pans likely to be damaged by light frost? Does it make any sense to leave them on the plant or should I whip them off before another frost?

Same question for tomatoes, I have some "Black from Tula" tomatoes which are still green, but the leaves have also gone brown and floppy; should I cut my losses and harvest them now, or leave them in the sun and risk the frost?

Is there any point getting out the fleece or is it too late to do any good now?

Thanks!

Dan.

[Robert_Brenchley]

This is what my squashes looked like yesterday; sweetcorn and tomatoes have also sufffered.

[moonbells]

where are you chaps?

moonbells

[Black Forest Dan]

I'm in the southern Black Forest in Germany (hence my user name) at around 750m altitude.  And Robert, my patty pans look exactly like your photo!

[tim]

Like he says in his profile. Useful things!

We had our first damaging frost last Friday. But none of this is enough to terminate production.

[Roy Bham UK]

Robert, our lowest temperatures here in our garden were 4.8°C that was last Friday or Saturday ??? the lottie is more open so may have been a little lower, my squashes look a very similar state to yours, would those temps be enough to kill them off?

I have 9 sweetcorn plants that look good too. ;D

[fbgrifter]

frost last week wiped out all my squashes and beans.  i've cleared them out, so instead of struggling with them until another frost comes along, i've got crops of onions, spinach, lettuces, cabbages, pak choi, mizuna, tatsoi, lamb's lettuce and greens to look forward to.  clear a pumkin and there's suddenly loads of space to fill.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I wouldn't have thought +4.8 would damage squashes, but my plot is in a bit of a frost pocket, and what I got looks like a flow of cold air; the frost never reached the ground anywhere. It's not the first time I've seen this.

[wardy]

Squash damaged foliage here too but squashes themselves look ok so not getting them in yet as house already full  ;D

Pak choi and other oriental leafs unaffected - they look robust marvellous.  Stir fried a wokful the other night with garlic, onion and a good slug of chilli sauce
We ate them straight from the wok - they never made it to the plate  :-[

[aquilegia]

Dan - don't know about the squashes, but I'd harvest your tomatoes now. I doubt it's going to be warm enough for them to ripen outside. Also - you might have blight, so could lose the lot. I've got mine on a tray, covered in a tea towel. Check them every couple of days in case some go brown and blighty.

Black Forest - beautiful place. Went there about 15 years ago on a family holiday - absolutely loved it.

[Black Forest Dan]

Thanks for all the advice. We took the plunge and harvested 50 squashes yesterday - around 15kg - the other plant was a bit more protected and will probably harvest it this weekend. I've been giving them to my work colleagues as there is more than we can possibly use, having already made jam and chutney. Not one of the squashes seemed to have any frost damage at all - the leaves go long before the fruit are at risk, it seems.

We also picked the tomatoes and will try your tea-towel idea, Aqui.

Glorious weather again today (25°C) so I'll leave work early and do some gardening.

[bupster]

50 squashes! I bet your colleagues are wearing false beards and sunglasses and hiding under their desks when they see you :D

[wardy]

 ;D ;D