[madcat]

Snow! , Will newly planted onion sets and onions grown from seed be ok on the plot or should I get the fleece at the ready?
Not worried about the spuds as they were only planted last week deep in the soil and no green shoots expected yet.

Sets should be fine (I hope too!) - seeds I would fleece!

Also I suppose my optomistally planted turnip seeds that are up and running already will be a gonna 

Fleece!  Or bubble plastic or something to keep the frost off ...  its not going to be hard frosts - just very unpleasant for people!    So a bit of protection and you may well get away with it.

(The sales of fleece this weekend are going to go through the roof! All us optimists ... )

[mr Isaccs]

Cheers Madcat, I'll prepare myself

[Cavolo Nero]

Hmm fleece might be a good idea for my spuds. And carrots/parsnips/radish!

Still as far as I can tell, the met office can't work out what the weather is going to be like 5 minutes from now, never mind next week!

[BostonInbred]

I would ofc like to point out Accuweather predicted this cold snap 3 weeks ago..............

[Dan78]

oh dear.. i had hoped we had seen the last of the snow 

Now.. wheres the best place to buy fleece ?

[monsta]

where are you looking av checked all the big weather places and i cant find any signs of snow? just plain old rain!

[min200]

Just as you start getting somewhere with work and the plot

Still it will all probably all change again in a couple of days

[andy135]

oh dear.. i had hoped we had seen the last of the snow 

Now.. wheres the best place to buy fleece ?

I bought some at my local B & M store last week. I got 5 rolls, 1.5mtrs x 8 mtrs at £1.99 per roll. It'll probably fall apart by the end of the season, but it'll get me started.

[prakash_mib]

oops there goes my earlies. thank god I decided against putting my SEs.
could be blessing in disguise. I might get a patch to put in my sweetcorns earlier than expected. But SNOW next week is unbelievable.
What to do with the carrots? they are under fleece (already torn in couple of places). Will they hold? I was very happy this morning to see thme sprouted.

[BostonInbred]

oops there goes my earlies. thank god I decided against putting my SEs.
could be blessing in disguise. I might get a patch to put in my sweetcorns earlier than expected. But SNOW next week is unbelievable.
What to do with the carrots? they are under fleece (already torn in couple of places). Will they hold? I was very happy this morning to see thme sprouted.

Lowest temperature is 0C, so as long as there earthed up should be fine, the frost wont penetrate that far at that temperature for  that short a period.

[Elcie]

That has really surprised me!  Was only thinking yesterday about the bad weather we have had and how at least those people working outside can take heart that the really cold stuff has gone - oops!

[andtiggertoo]

am still wondering whether to plant all my spuds this weekend before the snow comes.

If I don't then my next chance when snow has cleared might be another two or three weeks off, quite late to be planting them i think. It effects what was going in after the FE's.

Is this a mad idea, I know the problem is mainly with the green exposed bits not the tuber underneath would I be best putting fleece over the top just to add a bit more protection.

I have only got mon & tues of the next two weeks off. But I do have a bit of time this weekend. The chitting spuds are taking up room on my windowsil.

Advice please

[JayG]

Obviously snow is not normal or welcome at this time of year but there is no need to panic about a certain amount of frost unless you have been unwise enough to plant tender crops outside already.

It's not April yet; last frost date in the UK is towards the middle or end of May even in more favoured spots!! 

[Swing Swang]

andtiggertoo - spuds only seem to get frosted when their tips poke through the ground, the bits underground are usually OK, so if you plant them now it won't be next week's snow that you'll have to worry about, but the late ones that arrive in a few weeks time. Mine went in a couple of days ago and I feel that the risk of a hard-late frost vs early season spuds is one worth taking. However I'm much further south than you, and cultivate a fairly sheltered site on a gentle slope with a good circulation of air and only seem to get very mild frosts on that patch by the time May arrives.

SS

[Babstreefern]

The only things that could be killed off are newly dug seedlings .  But anything buried, eg, spuds will be ok .  Because they are buried about 4", the frost will not penetrate that far down, in fact, I doubt frost will penetrate 2" at this time of year