Frost this weekend!!!

[Stu8706]

Frost due his weekend make sure you put your fleeces on.

😨😨




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[Nicos]

gosh yes!!!

...looks like we may have one tonight too

[Nannysally99]

I have a couple of sacks of potatoes outside. Do I need to protect them from frost if their shoots are still not up yet? If i do, newspapers. Bubble wrap?

[Penellype]

Probbly better to be safe than sorry.

[Potstubsdustbins]

My outside spuds have not yet shown the haulms, however if a frost is forecast the bin lids will go on and the rest will be fleeced.

Containers do not offer the same amount of protection to plants as those that have been sown in the ground get.

Potty

[Jeanied]

I haven't had a frost that has reached the house yet this winter. It gets to the shed roof and maybe the end of the house, but outside my back door is sheltered.

[cptncrackoff]

Think I'll be ok, only put the spuds in sunday, no chance of them popping their heads up yet, and slap bang on the coast we seem to hold a couple of degrees above what they forecast..which at the moment is 4c..maybe a 3c tuesday night but I'm sure that'll change by then!

[chilli_grower]

I was going to plant some potatoes this weekend at the allotment.

But the weather is looking a bit iffy for the next few days or so.

I assume it would be wiser to hold off until later next week or next weekend maybe?

[Florence Fennel]

I've nothing that needs protection yet thank goodness. There are seeds in the stayput and although it's a bit draughty because of the gaps, if the door is shut it's ok for the seedlings.

[batman]

I also had plans to put my potatoes in this weekend - they're beautifully chitted, but are starting to dry up a little bit. Should I wait for warmer days? Or does it not matter, because they'll be underground, with a warm blanket of manure and soil.

[RaptorUK]

I also had plans to put my potatoes in this weekend - they're beautifully chitted, but are starting to dry up a little bit. Should I wait for warmer days? Or does it not matter, because they'll be underground, with a warm blanket of manure and soil.

The problem is when they pop their foliage up above ground . . . frost then will damage the foliage and may even kill the plant, so you need to make a judgement call, what is the risk of frosts and hard frost in a few weeks when the foliage will be up ? of course the later you leave it the less risk there is of frost . . .

[chilli_grower]

Stuff it, mine are going in this weekend, providing it is not lashing it down with rain. (I know others at my site have put theirs in)

I am working on the basic theory that the potatoes will be planted 5 inches below soil level, and they will probably take a few weeks to even break the surface.

By which time we will be into April, and by end of April all risk of frost should have passed where I live anyway....

[batman]

Argh, what a nerve wrecking decision. Some people at my site already have their earlies in, and I don't want to leave them until they're too wrinkly and dehydrated. And let's face it: I'm eager to plant!
But I also don't want to risk my first ever potato harvest.


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[RaptorUK]

Argh, what a nerve wrecking decision. Some people at my site already have their earlies in, and I don't want to leave them until they're too wrinkly and dehydrated. And let's face it: I'm eager to plant!
But I also don't want to risk my first ever potato harvest.

You don't have to plant them all at once, I have 4 x 4m rows to plant (International Kidney), the first row will be going in near the end of March then the rest at weekly intervals.

[Olorin2001]

Planted all my potatoes mid Feb, if we have light frosts it burns the any shoots above the ground but they resprout. However if the temperature drop to -10C and stays there, then I might have nothing to harvest.