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theres a frost forecast for many up north tonight so get the fleece ready!

No frost here, but temperatures dropped to 2.6°C overnight.  :o

Though my aubergines seem okay.

now i know this will sound daft ( 8)) but do - figures automatically mean "frost" ?

::)

We had the hail last Sunday pm and in my rush to put the frame lights back on the one I had put the toms in broke and tried to cut my index finger off!

Be careful out there!
:(

I believe that 'Minus' figures do mean frost as long as there is moisture enough to produce ice crystals. But you can counteract this through the use of fleece to protect the plant.

You can get frost even if the official temperatures stay above freezing. As the heat radiates away from the surface you can get a layer of cold air forming just above the ground. Since cold air is heavier than warm air, it stays there. So the recorded temperature at this lower level can be colder than the officially stated temperature. In a local area, for example, you soon get to know where the 'frost pockets' are, and where you'll find black ice... despite the rest of the roads being unaffected.

Quote from: Gadfium on May 30, 2006, 10:04:15
I believe that 'Minus' figures do mean frost as long as there is moisture enough to produce ice crystals. But you can counteract this through the use of fleece to protect the plant.

Cheers for that, have never been quite sure  ???

Quote from: Gadfium on May 30, 2006, 10:04:15
You can get frost even if the official temperatures stay above freezing.

:o :o :o

fleece is going on tonight anyways (and more being delivered today i hope), but that wee fact has just thrown me totally.

trying to grow things just ain't easy is it ?   ;D

An air frost and ground frost are different, the temperature that meteorologists report is taken at or predicted for about 1.5-2m above ground, at night the surface temperature is often several degrees cooler at surface level. As such a ground frost can occur without the air (at 1.5-2m) ever reaching freezing point.

An air frost is where the temperature at 1.5-2m is 0°C or below, a ground frost is where the surface temperature is at 0°C or below.

This difference means that a ground frost threatens even when the reported/expected air temperature is several degrees.

Last night we got no ground frost, here in Tunbridge Wells, but the air temperature I recorded at 2m fell to 2.6°C at some point during the night (it was only 4°C at 7am). We were lucky not to get a ground frost.

:o ::) ???

so i should be a bit careful even as high as +3 ?  i don't think i'm EVER gonna get a sustained period of that high !!! 

Cheers for the info though.