Frost and spuds

[Si D]

Apparently we had a light ground frost last night and possibility of one tonight and perhaps tomorrow (temps staying a few degs above zero C.).

Do I need to go and cover my spuds up to protect them or will they ride out this light frost OK by themselves?  I really don't want to cover them if I can avoid it as there are so many of them it'll take ages and I didn't really have time to do allotment things much this week.

thanx in advance for any help!

[Si D]

[Fork]

They need to be protected by earthing up if possible.....I know its one of the boring tasks but its got to be done...............

or.....do what I did at 5am this morning......what little bit of potato was showing was given a shower with my watering can to wash the frost off.....I also did the same with my runner beans.

With more cold nights forecast we need to have our wits about us.

[Si D]

thanks, they are all fairly well earthed up already...I was just worried that frost damage to the leaves might be passed on to the rest of the plant?

[Fork]

Your potatoes will go black inside if they get damaged by the frost.

[redimp]

Fork is being a bit over the top here.  If the leaves do get frosted, they will go black and you will lose them.  This will knock the plant back a bit but it will come back fine.  If you plants are earthed, it is highly unlikely any frost at the moment will be penetrative enough to cause any problems to anything under the ground.

[Si D]

thanks - that's put my mind at rest a bit  :)

[Fork]

Fork is being a bit over the top here.  .

Like I said.....if your POTATOES are damaged by the frost they will go black inside.The leaves will come back like you say but Im talking POTATOES not the leaves.

You only have to cut open the potatoes you buy from the shops that have black inside to realise that they have been stored at quite low temps and the cold as got to them.

[Tee Gee]

do what I did at 5am this morning.

Oh! I remember the days when I exhibited my stock and used to do this  ::)

Imagine? there was me running around the garden in my jim jams at the crack of dawn with a pump spray filled with clean water spraying affected plants.

I must have been bl**dy mad ::)

But it worked!!