[rubberfrog]

The frost got me............. my poor potato's have only been up for a two weeks and the frost last night has got them.  Do the palnts recover or is that the end of them??? i do hope its not the latter.

Any suggestions would be mighty helpfull.

Thanks

RF

[DD.]

They'll recover - but it will delay the harvest.

[rubberfrog]

Many thanks,  thats all I need to hear, good things come to those who wait.........   

RF

[Beetroot Queen]

At least all is not lost.

[MickyB]

I am glad some one asked, I covered mine with a frost fleece but they still got frost bitten. I have been told that the frost got to them because I only laid the frost fleece over the top of plants leaving the fleece touching the foliage and I should of lifted the fleece up so it was not touching the plants, based on the damage the frost has done this appears to be the case. I used a cheap fleece purchased from eBay would a better quality fleece of protected them better?

[DD.]

I doubt it.

It was the fleece touching the plants that did it. A lot of insulating materials rely on a pocket of air between the inner and outer layer.

[MickyB]

I thought so, thanks for the confirmation. 

Luckily I think they will recover but lesson learned for next time.

[wrinkly1]

last year mine got frostbitten. if they turn black like mine did. i cut them back to good growth and they were o/k.

[marcofez]

Mine got frostbite as well, after covering with fleece. Looks like the fleece was touching the leaves. Will have to do as DD says next time about having a pocket of air.

[strider84]

I have loads of fleece so just bundle it up and chuck it over the top rather than single layers.

No frost damage for the spuds for me last night

[JayG]

The aim of fleecing is to reduce the heat loss from the soil, and to deflect the cold, descending air away from the crops underneath - 2 layers (or more) is bound to work more effectively on both counts, especially if applied as loosely as possible to trap as much air as possible - a single layer will transmit the cold to the leaves if it's touching them, as DD has already pointed out.

[Salmo]

I have seen this a number of times. Just the tips burned but most of the tops OK. Little damage done.

Elaborate schemes with propped up multi-layers of fleece are not on as far as I am concerned.

Just put on whatever is available. It does not matter whether any light gets through for a few hours or the tops get a bit squashed.

Luckily only a short row of earlies was above ground on Friday night so newspaper held down by a mesh tunnel did the trick. At least I presume so as I left it on just in case we got another frost last night. Will remove it today.

The real test will be the next frost. When will that be? Could be the saints days of the ice saints, St Pancras and St Sophia.

[salmonking]

I got lucky,looked out the bathroom window yesterday morning and everything was white!went down to the pots and nothing,no frost on them  stuck the hose on them just in case.

[strider84]

The real test will be the next frost. When will that be? Could be the saints days of the ice saints, St Pancras and St Sophia.

Forecast for the next 10 days for me temperatures aren't supposed to drop below 6 then we are into mid May so shouldn't have any problems in the south west midlands from now (fingers crossed)!

[DD.]

I have bitter memories of the early June frost a few years back!