We've had a series of very cold nights for the second week of May. The coldest early morning occurred on Thursday when the temperature fell to -0.4°C or 31.3°F.
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| Weather Records May 2020 |
We had already taken the precaution of protecting as much as possible at the allotment. All our potatoes were covered with soil or compost and our strawberry flowers were protected with a covering of fleece and environmesh. Unfortunately, there are a few things that we don't protect and in varying degrees these have been caught by the frost.
Our kiwis are susceptible to frost catching their young shoots.
This is our large fruited kiwi, although it has never fruited, and as expected the young leaves have been knocked back by the cold temperatures.
Our other kiwi is called Issai and has produced small fruits when it grew in our garden at home. It's not off to a good start this year with the young shoots caught by the frost.
Finally, our grapevine growing around two sides of the shed has also suffered some damage.
Once again it's the tender young shoots that have been nipped by the frost.
However, it's not all bad news as in the perennial bed our irises are beginning to flower.
Hopefully, the nights will be warming up from now on and we can start to think about getting more tender vegetables like cucumbers, courgettes, sweet corn and Runner beans started.
I have seen some reports that parts of the UK had their coldest night for 40 years.
I have seen some reports that parts of the UK had their coldest night for 40 years.
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Yes this May has had more frosts than any year that I can remember since taking on my Over Kellet plot two miles inland from Morecambe Bay and just shy of 300 feet above sea level.I've had most things covered with thermocrop or fleece but the last frost did severe damage to the potato tops.I hope they recover. Meanwhile our normal April into May drought and cool drying wind continues.Looking forward to the wet summer!
ReplyDeleteHi David. You've got the same problems as us. We haven't had any rain of any use at the allotment for 2 months now. Our ground is bone dry. When we've had our potatoes frosted in the past they have always recovered. There doesn't seem to be any rain in the 10 day forecast for us. A wet summer would be good.
DeleteAt least the night time lows are now reliably rising. That should be it!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping that's it! I've just moved lots of stuff out of the greenhouse and into the cold frame. Time to think about sowing some runner beans.
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