Topic: Frost forecast HELP!

[Fork]

I was up with the birds this morning (4:30) and watering my pototoes and beans etc.This helps when you have had a frost..........and we had a good one!

[Barnowl]

I hardened off some of my Toms last week and planted them out at the w.e., but am I right in thinking a frost will kill them?

[redimp]

Yes

[manicscousers]

no frost but v cold, covered the squash last night and will be leaving it on for a few days though, the beans were ok  :)

[shirlton]

I haven't planted any tender stuff yet but have loads of plants hardening off. Lets hope that the west mids don't have a frost eh! 8)

[Suzanne]

I think I may have upset the frost gods. My cold frame plants all okay, but went up to my other lottie and potatoes were badly frosted. This was very strange because all the potatoes in the plots around me looked okay. I can only think as mine were a couple of inches taller that it was a good air frost rather than a ground frost.  ???

Anyway the lower leaves look okayish and I have been earthing them up so they should survive. The Oca which is in the same row as the potatoes and as frost tender are absolutely unscathed.  :-\

[Robert_Brenchley]

Frost is quite capricious at times; I once had one end of a row of toms badly frosted, while the other end was untouched.

[sheddie]

Luckily we've had no frost yet in Newcastle - although at 6am this morning it felt colder than a witches t*t..

Mind, it feels colder again tonight, so I'm starting to worry!....

[Robert_Brenchley]

No frost in central Birmingham either, though it's been pretty chilly some nights.

[gardening-gal]

Forgive me for asking a probably daft question here but what do you class as a frost?
 I always think of everything being white as having had a frost. 
I had put my tomatoes and beans out this weekend just gone, so far touch wood they are okay.  When I have gone out at 7am I haven't thought that it was all that cold, cooler definitely but not what I would call frost cold.
  Can someone give me an idea of what sort of temperatures are going to do damage.

[Columbus]

Hi all,  :)

The site my plots are on is a slope with a river at the bottom, in Norwich. The whole site is a frost pocket.

Some people at the lower part of the slope have lost the tops off their unprotected spuds and their runner beans overnight, last night.

My spuds are higher up the slope, but not showing much stem because I earth up several times as they come through and both they and my beans are protected with builders plastic sheet. They have escaped any damage so far.

People ask me why I fuss over them especially given the recent hot weather, this is why.

Col

[Need a Leek]

Hi All, Google Windguru as this site gives a fairly detailed forcast for your area. I am not sure wheather it is just a coastal reading and monitoring site however give it a go as they ask for a post code and results are pretty accurate.

Cheers
Tony

[compo49]

 It was OK Sunday night here in W/Yorkshire as it was cloudy overnight but yesterday a frost was definitely forecast from midnight onwards so i covered 1 bed of potatoes with a big tarpaulin and some more in a separate bed i earthed up as they were only just showing through, but do you believe it! it was something or nothing but prevention is better than the cure don't you think! the rest of week is supposed  to be OK and be a bit warmer, but as you know it can change anytime and they have been known to be wrong haven't they! so keep your fingers crossed !

[Fork]

Despite my best efforts Mr Frost managed to ruin about a third of my runner beans.

I got some new seed earlier and will sow them in the morning.

[saddad]

In answer to your questions Gardening Gal Frost can be "air" frosts when the air temp reaches zero C or ground frosts when the air falls below 5C. Most non hardy plants suffer at below 5 as water is at its densest (?) at 4C then starts to expand again, which causes plant tissues to rupture as ice crystals take up more space than the same amount of water. Hardy plants use sugars to make the plant tissue/water harder to freeze... same as salt water doesn't freeze until much lower temps.
If you need some more runners Fork you can always come down to our plant sale in Derby 1st June! We always sell out of Runners!
 ;D

[Ishard]

I lost all my runners last night and the spuds are badly frosted :(((

[Fork]

Sowed another packet full of runners this about an hour ago.Havre walked up and down the allotments and just about everyone(apart from those who went to great lengths and expense to cover them)as been hit by the frost.

Some rows have lost half,some more.

Saddad,thanks for that info,may just pop along on the 1st June.

[betula]

Fork,a roll of fleece is worth every penny.You can also use old net curtains or even newspaper.Protection from frost is just part of the gardening year.
A simple trick for runner beans is buy a packet of pegs and roll a bit of news paper round the cane and secure with the washing peg.Keep working up the cane. :)

[Barnowl]

Chilly but no frost here in SW London.

[littlebabybird]

ok i know i should have covered them but,  why didnt the frost take everything in the row,
potatoes about half of them are dammaged,
beans  its like ones been got then skip a feww all down the line very odd

lbb

ps lowest forcasted temp for us was 7, i would have covered if it had been lower