My potatoes got frosted

[Beersmith]

The frost got mine too.

Kicking myself. My earlies were too high to cover, and I didn't have any fleece to hand anyway. So I was expecting a bit of damage here. Not too bad - some untouched, a few damaged, some totally black.

But in the few days between my last trip to the plot and the frost the second earlies had emerged. I could have earthed these up and avoided damage, but they were hit hard.  Ho hum. Mea culpa.

Like many others I'm hoping this will delay growth rather than ruin it altogether.

[Beersmith]

[ACE]

Some of mine were hit a fortnight ago. You would even not know now. Nice looking plants.

[ancellsfarmer]

Heads up for night 19th-20th.
www.theweatheroutlook.com
gives a low 0deg for Northeast hampshire. Time to get yer blankets off the bed and down the plot!

[Vinlander]

Radiation frost doesn't require air below zero (just fairly close) - but then it makes it.

That freezing air then slides downhill. A small slope can mean a considerable buildup of cold air against any obstruction to the flow, even fences. The effect may look random.

You really want that air free to run down to someone else's plot.

This is why it was a mistake to put my polytunnel across the slope; everything just above it gets much more frost damage.

If I have to rebuild it I'll put it the other way round, maybe even a curved end uphill - like houses in the Mistral.

I'm seriously considering a temporary fence of thin plastic in a big V to act as a baffle - that's if I'm stupid enough to still have tender stuff there in October, without being stupid enough to forget. Big if, that last one.

Cheers.