Tomatoes, courgettes and cold nights

[MrsCordial]

Hello. It's forecast to get down to 3-4degs overnight here tonight and I was wondering if that could wreck my tomatoes and courgettes? The tomatoes haven't done amazingly well this year but I have enough that I'd be sorry to see them damaged by the cold. What would you advise?

Thank you

[Penellype]

There are some very chilly nights forecast for most of this week. If you have a piece of fleece it might be worth draping it over the courgettes - this worked for me last year when we had a couple of nights of early frost. The tomatoes are harder because they are taller. The only time I ever tried rigging up a fleece cover in the autumn, the tomatoes got blight within a couple of days. I have no idea if the fleece increased the humidity and triggered the blight or whether it would have happened anyway.

What you will probably find is that the cold nights slow everything down, but unless it actually freezes things should survive.

[MrsCordial]

Thanks Penellype. It's the tomatoes I was struggling with. I don't have fleece or anything along those lines but could rustle up an old blanket for the courgettes. I've just been out to pick anything that's ripe or nearly so and will keep an eye on the temperature. The tomatoes will have to fend for themselves but the courgettes may find themselves tucked up. Although pumpkins are similar I'm presumiong they're hardier as they're grown for autumn harvest?

[arpoet]

These late summer cold snaps shouldn't do much damage. The days are still warm and the sun soon climbs in the early morning sky.
So, Don't Panic.

[MrsCordial]

Always good advice