hard frost overnight,can i do anything this morning to help?

[mrmagoo]

we had a hard frost overnight last night and my greenhouse is 3 below.is there anything i can do this morning to help the situation or is it a case of wait and see if all is lost?still frosy but sun is now on the greenhouse.hoping for the best but expecting the worst,was away last night so could not cover any plants.

[Sanjo]

What do the plants look like Mr Magoo?

[mrmagoo]

like the tundra at the moment,very wet,or kind of frosty,water beads are icy on the plants.

[Sanjo]

Hmmmm. As far as I can remember from reading on here, it's the defrosting that damages them. I just found this by googling
"Act fast!
Frost freezes the water in the plant's cells, which damages the cell walls. The damage is greatest when full exposure to strong morning sun makes the plant defrost very rapidly, because then the cell walls are ruptured.

You can minimize damage by moving the plant out of direct sunlight until it has defrosted. If you can't move it, protect it from sunlight by covering it with a sheet of black plastic for a few hours.

Lightly misting or spraying the foliage before the sun reaches it is another method to protect the plant from the damage caused by rapid defrosting.

Continue care.
If you're leaving the plant in the same spot, don't prune out the damaged leaves and stems until spring. If another sudden frost comes along, the dead foliage will give some protection against further damage to the living part of the plant. Also, you don't want to encourage new growth too soon, because it is more likely than old growth to be injured by another frost."Hope it helps

[donnakebab]

Plan for the worst situation. Sew more seeds and if your plants survive you can sell the excess at carboot or give as gifts to friends and rellies.

The weather here is atrocious at the moment.No frost just wind and heavy rain. I can't get up to my blowaway (weighted down with bags of seedling compost) until OH gets up to help me move our swing swong which has been blown over.

[mrmagoo]

have given them a misting,hope this helps as i cant move them and my greenhouse gets full sun at this time of the morning,not sure which is worse donerkebab ,no wind,hard frost and beautifull sunshine or severe winds and horizontal rain.....thanks sanjo...

[rustylady]

Cover your plants with newspaper.

[bearded bloke]

Or Bubble wrap

[Ananke]

I hope they are ok mrmagoo. Mine are in a blowaway that is inside a greenhouse, I don't know what to expect when I go down today.

[mrmagoo]

lost beans,runner and climbing,all else survived.they must be a little more tender than toms,peas,and all the rest,many thanks all for reply,hope everyone else survived.ananke...was the bow away ok?

[Sanjo]

That's sad mrmagoo, but at least there is still time to resow your beans.
I had to rescue a lot of my seed trays yesterday that I had moved into the garden under a fleece cover to start hardening them off.
In the pouring rain I had to rig a plastic cover to try and keep the rain out for a while and give them a chance to drain off. It is presently, at about 7.20am, very sunny so if I don't go out and uncover them soon they will steam!
Good luck for the next lot.

[Two_Sheds]

we had a hard frost overnight

lost beans,runner and climbing

Well, we've all done it, and at least now you can plan better for next year. Make a note of your last frost date, and don't sow tender crops until 2-3 weeks before it, unless you can keep them warm on a windowsill ~ most of us have windows full of chillies & tomatoes at this time of year

[Ananke]

Shame about the beans, do you have leftover seed?

Mine were all ok thankfully. I had forgotten about about some potatoes that I grew from true potato seed planted in bins outside, they had just poked their heads through the soil before the frost but they seem to be ok too, unless the damage takes a while to show. I'm thinking that maybe as they are half way down the bin it might have saved them, fingers crossed.