Topic: The Last frost

[Garden Manager]

Now why didn't I think of that -if in doubt get a different forecast  ;D

Online Weather have a low of 7 on Thurs and 5 on Fri. I feel much better.

I wonder which site the weather god prefers? The one that uses tea leaves or the one that uses goat guts?

Me I'm off to find a virgin to sacrifice -oops, forgot, I live in Essex  ???

(the sound of sucking in over teeth) oooh derbex! thats a bit below the belt isnt it?

True though....... ;D

[tim]

Great to be able to choose your weather!! = Tim

PS Our nearest reporting station is Lat51.9: Long -2.07. Please, someone, remind me how to read l&l? And where is that - somewhere near Cheltenham?. Yet, if you go to Google, it's near Warminster!!

[cleo]

I hope it will be warm and sunny in Kent over the weekend-we are going to see some of Jen`s student haunts-humm,-never trust the OH-one is told she will be 50-more like 35 I reckon ;D

stephan

[legless]

well my runners are going out on saturday before they start making their way accross the ceiling and back down the stairs! can always fleece them if necessary. my first early potatoes are itching to get out of their fleece, could i let them yet do you think?

[tim]

Potatoes - why? No rush?  But I do have to remove it to mould them today.

Met Office? They tell me that the 5 day forecast starts at 85% accuracy & falls to 35% on the 5th day. So -  if you said it's going to rain, that would give you 50% accuracy??  = Tim

[Garden Manager]

I think i am going to risk a few things. Like my bush tomatoes (sub arctic plenty). I have a site all ready for them and the plants are itching to get going. There is always fleece after all.

Cant do runners for various reasons. a) the bed is currently a nursery (!), b) no frame and  most importantly c) not enough plants yet!!! I may have said my first batch failed and am still waiting for movement on the second batch.  >:(

I also have some courgette plants, but these are still being hardened off. Currently only just gone into minigreenhouse outside, having started on windowsill then to outbuilding/indoor growing area.  Are ready to plant once hardened off though  ;).

[kingkano]

I keep thinking about my tomatoes.  but I would be so gutted if they got frosted and died, I did so well just to manage to grow them from seed myself this year!!!  So they stay in the coldframe....  They are like 18-24" high tho and still in a 3" pot so sunday/nxt week they must go out!!!

The melons are massive too (7 big leaves) so they really want to go out hahaha.  booger off frosty!!!!

[tim]

Might be a good idea to give them a gentle drink of general fertiliser to tide them over??

If they are producing side-shoots, do nip them off. = Tim

[allotment_chick]

Hi y'all  :o
I'm super cautious about when mine go out as I feel I've invested far too much time and effort to risk losing the crop.  End of the first week of June, beginning of the second is plenty early enough for me here in the South East.  My garden (where the plants are hardening off) is very sheltered and probably several degrees warmer at night than the allotment.

A frost will likely kill tender plants stone dead, but nightime temperatures below about 6-8 degrees can really set growth back too.  A lowish daytime temperature with the wind blowing might also knock plants back a bit!  
AC x

[Garden Manager]

I have now taken the plunge and planted my outdoor bush tomatoes.  7 Sub arctic plenty's in half a raised bed each with a cane and a pot for watering, interplanted with lettuce.  ;D

Keeping a close eye on forecast and have fleece at the ready!

BUT woe betide jack frost if he comes my way!!!! >:(

[derbex]

This is the Met office for E. Anglia this evening :

Any showers dying out, then dry, clear and chilly. Risk of ground frost in west. Minimum temperature 5 deg C.

Although that is at odds with their Chelmsford forecast of 3 deg.

I might just wander down with a couple of old sheets this evening. As others have said it would be a shame to blow it now.

Jeremy.

[gilgamesh]

Unless they've changed the way it's done, the forecast temperature is for the air at the level of a Stephenson Screen, which I think used to be 4', though it's probably been metricated now, so 2/3 Celsius at that level doesn't preclude a frost at ground level, and when you get into the mountains (like Danbury Hill), the air temp is likely to be a full degree colder (but the frost will roll away into the valleys).

[tina]

 >:( >:( >:(
Don't you just hate it when the forecasters get it right?????

When I finished work at 5am on Saturday, I had to scrape the ice off my car before I could go home!!

I live in Bucks, and thought that we were relatively 'safe' now. Never mind, lesson learnt (and boy am I glad that I kept some plants back 'just in case'.

Tina

[Garden Manager]

Hmmm my garden must be milder than i thought it was. We have been forecast cold nights (with the associated threat of frost), but have turned out not to be as cold as forecast for the region.

It annoys me sometimes when (at this time of year) forecasters make generalisations as to the likelyhood of frost.

For example I have frequently heard 'possible frost in rural areas' given as a forecast for england and wales. How vague is that?!  >:(
 Rural areas WHERE EXACTLY? I the north, the south, the midlands? They claim to be doing us gardeners a service but this kind of forecast is no service at all.  :o