Forum home› Fruit & veg
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

10 year minimum temperature graph kent

rt45764rt45764 Posts: 5
in Fruit & veg

Hi everyone

I've tried to make a last frost guide [1] using 3500 or so daily measurements from a local weather station in East Malling, Kent.

I'm not sure how reasonable it its - what do you think?

I did the following:

  1. Take 10 years of daily minimum temperatures of air (1.25m above ground) and grass (25mm - 50mm above ground).
  2. Categorise them by week number (1 - 52 weeks).
  3. Group all the same weeks together (e.g. daily minimum temperatures of week 5 from 2010 to 2019) and find the 10th percentile temperature of each week.
  4. Graph the data by week

I think doing the percentile thing is trying to make a reasonable worst case scenario: if I plant now, I will be ok according to the past 9 years out of 10 years. I don't know stats though so I'm not sure if this is really the correct way of describing it.

Cheers

Graph

[1] https://mega.nz/file/TRNhCQaI#blI32i-uH-89tQGh9-1ttTErionv763mxy7y1Vompjk

Datasets from all Stations

https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/dbd451271eb04662beade68da43546e1

East Malling Station Graph data

https://mega.nz/file/bIsUXKYD#7OU3GsXdFvjajaT92_hk7kacs7dU1QMLZefVcPf0eqc

Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited January 2021
    Alex, can you give more detail about the background please? As a newcomer you are asking people to download unknown data to their computers, as far as I can see. Jpegs would be more useful, if you are seriously asking for feedback.
  • rt45764rt45764 Posts: 5
    edited January 2021

    Hi Fire, thanks! I'm past the edit 1 hour window so I've inserted it here too.

    Alex


  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited January 2021
    It looks like the data suggests last frost by middle of May, and first frost from sometime mid-Oct, which sounds about right to me.
  • rt45764rt45764 Posts: 5
    Great! I'm quite new to veg gardening so I'm glad to hear it seemed about right.


  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    The Garden Focussed website also offers tools for checking approx. frost dates. There are also other UK websites to help.

    Welcome to the forum, and best wishes for your projects.
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    @rt45764 Just wanted to say your new veg garden looks beautifully prepared. 

    With the plot on a slope it will be less susceptible to frost than if it were in the valley. The trade off may be greater exposure but you don't look as though you'll have any issues with shade. 


  • rt45764rt45764 Posts: 5
    edited January 2021
    @rachelQrtJHBjb thanks it was first it was my first time growing veg was last year. I started late in June so didn't really have to think about frosts much.

    That's a good point re frost thanks. The site is pretty sloped and open below me so it could be worse.

    We have a lot of rabbits. They enjoyed the goldens frill I grubbed and chucked over the fence.



    This year I have to think about frost hence the spreadsheet procrastination.

    I'm using 4 or 5cm of mushroom compost and cardboard as a weed suppressant. 1m beds 35cm paths. Only the docks have come through so far.



  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    I like the no-dig method too, having tried it for the first time 18m ago to create new borders in my garden. Have you got Charles Dowding's book?

    I find docks are much easier to get out during the winter as the side roots that come from the main taproot seem to disappear during dormancy so pulling it out clean is much easier. 
  • rt45764rt45764 Posts: 5
    edited January 2021
    Yes I got a couple of his books: Organic Gardening: The natural no-dig way and No Dig Organic Home and Garden. Which ones did you buy?

    I actually get more from his youtube videos than the books in honesty, although they are quite different things. Youtube is how I came across him. I used his approach more or less last year.

    I'm also happy to send a bit of cash his way given how much I enjoy his videos. I like to think he smokes fags and swears horribly off camera and then switches it all on, but I doubt it really! 

    Re docks that sounds much easier. I definitely would check more carefully next time! It was mown quite tight and I didn't really look.



Sign In or Register to comment.