end of frosts 2023?

[didds]

I've a shed load of broad bean+marigold plants that need planning out, and Im waiting for any frosts to end...

accepting that there are no guarantees etc with weather forecasts, is there any website etc that indicates likelihood of frosts going forward? I can look at weather forecast sites of course for overnight temperatures - i was just wondering if there are any weather/gardening specialised sites with any such detail in it ?

cheers!

[6Tricia]

http://www.gardenfocused.co.uk is what I've always used.

Tricia

[Breelander]

I've a shed load of broad bean+marigold plants that need planning out, and Im waiting for any frosts to end....

Not really much need to as far as broad beans are concerned, they're pretty hardy. Make sure you've hardened them off before planting out. Some people sow directly outside from February on, so a little late frost is not likely to do any harm. My daughter has done both on her allotment, sown in March and planted out indoor sowings a few weeks ago. Those sown directly are doing the best.

Plant them outside as soon as possible, in early to mid-spring. Take care to harden off your plants for a couple of weeks first, to acclimatise them to outdoor conditions....

...Broad beans are easy to sow outdoors in March, April and even early May, for harvests throughout the summer. Sowing in November or February is also possible in milder parts of the UK...

https://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/broad ... w-your-own

[Nimrod103]

I too am worrying about the likelihood of a late frost, as my wife is desperate to get the conservatory emptied of plants, and back into use by her. I have 2 lemon trees, lots of tomato plants and lots of geranium cuttings. The BBC 2 week forecast for my area suggests no frosts, and that will take us into May when we shoul be safe. So fingers crossed.

[bungeejumper]

Heck, you can get frosts in June, even in southern England. But most plants would get through those okay with a bit of fleece.

We are lucky in that we have a greenhouse (unheated) and a cold frame, so I shall probably be moving my tomatoes, courgettes, climbing french beans and sweet peas out there in the next week or two. (Sweet peas are tougher than they look, and I expect to have them onto the poles by the end of April/start of May.)

My tomatoes etc normally go outside in early May, with a few fleece blankets and with one eye on the frost report, and so does my sweetcorn, which is currently staying indoors until it's five or six inches high. The Italian toms (costoluto fiorentina) are already 18 inches high, which is a bit too leggy really, but it won't hurt if I pinch them out and force them to thicken up and work a bit harder. I'll also bury them a bit deeper than usual, because the extra roots they'll grow will all help.

My greenhouse chillies (cayenne and hot wax) are slightly behind schedule this year - barely five inches, although I sowed them in heat during mid-January in the hope of giving them a head start. The cold March and early April have done for any chance of getting them under glass yet. Shucks.

BJ

[tjh290633]

Many years ago I bought a pieris "Forest Flame" in May and panted it in our garden. A week or so later, the new red leaves shrivelled. It might have been early June. I complained to the garden centre only to be told that it was ground frost. When it had grown a bit, the new shoots ceased being troubled that way. It seems that a ground frost can affect a very shallow layer. As I recall, the lowest air temperature had been about +4°C.

TJH

[Laughton]

Ne'er cast a clout till May is out ................

I'm in East Sussex. Very low level admittedly but I wouldn't put my geraniums or other tender young plants out until end of May.

[kempiejon]

Ne'er cast a clout till May is out ................

I'm in East Sussex. Very low level admittedly but I wouldn't put my geraniums or other tender young plants out until end of May.

I thought the May referenced there was the tree not the month?
May old name for Hawthorn

[didds]

...with one eye on the frost report ...

BJ

BJ - is there an actual real "frost report" (nothing to do with david!) then? as opposed to checking accuweather for your postcode for overnight forecasts?

I did find this
https://frostforecast.co.uk/location/324176

but seeing as it then says

"The last frost in Devizes, England was the night of the Monday 08/03/2021 to Tuesday 09/03/2021, with a minimum air temperature of 0.0°C (32.0°F), and therefore a probable minimum ground temperature of around -3.0°C (26.6°F)."

Im sceptical - we had a frost here last week!


didds

[didds]

My tomatoes etc normally go outside in early May,

BJ

derail form my OP here, but outdoor tomatoes... i can only dream. whenever I've tried outdoor plants (usually when I've had too many seedlings to pot up in the greenhouse) all I've ended up with well into September is a lot of green tomatoes. and none of us like green tomato chutney ...

[kempiejon]

derail form my OP here, but outdoor tomatoes... i can only dream. whenever I've tried outdoor plants (usually when I've had too many seedlings to pot up in the greenhouse) all I've ended up with well into September is a lot of green tomatoes. and none of like green tomato chutney ...

I have outdoor tomatoes every year, usually they're just beginning to ripen and be a useable crop when one day the blight blackens a few stems and I need to harvest very quickly to save the waste and I make several kgs of chutney.

[didds]

I have outdoor tomatoes every year, usually they're just beginning to ripen and be a useable crop when one day the blight blackens a few stems and I need to harvest very quickly to save the waste and I make several kgs of chutney.

aye - our issue is none of us here like green tomato chutney And while Ive tried other recipes and ideas I've just never found anything I/we like made with them

[kempiejon]

My father used to like fried green tomatoes, southern style. I didn't get his recipe so looked this up https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23236 ... -tomatoes/

I've also done a salsa which is OK but once the blight is there I need to process the fruit before they get ugly so I just boil a vat of tomatoes with sugar, onion, aple and spices.

As for frosts I have several sheets of horticultural fleece that I can dig out if the weather turns especially cold when I have tender seedling out.

[didds]

undoubtedly a daft question, but doesn't laying anything on top of young seedlings just crush them/bend them over/break them ?

[kempiejon]

it

undoubtedly a daft question, but doesn't laying anything on top of young seedlings just crush them/bend them over/break them ?

It's a very light cloth and ruching and a few well placed sticks would easily keep it up.

[bungeejumper]

I have outdoor tomatoes every year, usually they're just beginning to ripen and be a useable crop when one day the blight blackens a few stems and I need to harvest very quickly to save the waste and I make several kgs of chutney.

I get blight some years (doesn't everybody?), but I find the best prevention is to make sure there's plenty of ventilation around the plants. Pack them together too closely, or too close to a wall, and your tomatoes will magically transform into seasonal fungus magnets.

Late ripening? Try an earlier variety? After mid-August I pick my costoluto fiorentinas as soon as they show the slightest signs of ripening (including that flush of dark green around the stalks) and bring them indoors on a warm windowledge, with a banana skin for company. (Some say that brown paper is just as good.) Didn't lose a single one to blight last year - probably about thirty kilos - and remember, they were Italians who'd been bred for la dolce vita!

BJ

[Nimrod103]

I have outdoor tomatoes every year, usually they're just beginning to ripen and be a useable crop when one day the blight blackens a few stems and I need to harvest very quickly to save the waste and I make several kgs of chutney.

I get blight some years (doesn't everybody?), but I find the best prevention is to make sure there's plenty of ventilation around the plants. Pack them together too closely, or too close to a wall, and your tomatoes will magically transform into seasonal fungus magnets.

Late ripening? Try an earlier variety? After mid-August I pick my costoluto fiorentinas as soon as they show the slightest signs of ripening (including that flush of dark green around the stalks) and bring them indoors on a warm windowledge, with a banana skin for company. (Some say that brown paper is just as good.) Didn't lose a single one to blight last year - probably about thirty kilos - and remember, they were Italians who'd been bred for la dolce vita!

BJ

A couple of years ago I grew the blight resistant varieties Summerlast (very resistant) and Ferline (good, but not entirely resistant). The downside was that they both tasted awful, with thick skins as well. Looking on Google just now, I can't find those two varieties so I guess they have been withdrawn, to be replaced by Crimson Crush and a few others. However, this year I have decided to grow Gardener's Delight and Tigerella and just hope for the best that the blight is not too bad. If a tomato doesn't taste like a fresh tomato should, there's no point in growing it.

[Imbiber]

There is ice on our bird baths here this morning. A cold but bright morning in our frost pocket in deepest Kent.

[Dod101]

There is ice on our bird baths here this morning. A cold but bright morning in our frost pocket in deepest Kent.

I am at least 450 miles north of Kent but we have a dull dry and frost free morning but we can get frosts up until about the end of May and I do not plant out frost sensitive stuff until then. Must be cold to get ice!

Dod

[Imbiber]

Yes, cold. Let's hope the peonies survive...