Our temps overnight have rarely been above 4 degrees for a week @msqingxiao. A light frost again last night. It's why being aware of your local conditions is important at this time of year, and in autumn. The thing to remember if you're planting anything in the ground is, the ground temps can be considerably lower than air temps too. That's why small plants can struggle very badly after being in a pot in a more sheltered environment.
I keep the Metcheck forecast as a saved bookmark @Athelas, but to get that frost forecast, I have to open it from going back to the Metcheck.com page - can't get to it in any way from the saved one. Very odd! Useful to have though - thanks.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Funnily enough some tomatoes have sprouted in my borders from where some fruit fell onto the soil last year! So depending on where you are you could chance putting them out but they'll need bringing indoors at night or some proper protection at night.
I've just had a look at gardenfocused.co.uk and it says second week in May for Dudley. That's about right for me. My dad always said Whitsun for bedding plants but for the last few years I've gone for middle of May and not had any trouble.
Not so much in real life. Most mornings over the last week it’s been frosty and the bird bath has been frozen on top and it’s looking like the next seven days will have a chilly start too.
According to the weather forecast it fell to 1oC here last night. I am doing the seed Hokey Cokey for the last week, putting everything out during the day then back in to the hall at night. The hall currently has 5xdahlias, 1x agapanthus, 1xpeony, a tray of lupins, a tray of sunflowers, a tray of poppies and other bits. The tomatoes, squash, chilies and cucumbers are in the bedroom windowsill still and I have a tray of sunflowers, one of sweet peas, more poppies, anemones and god knows what else that I leave outside all the time. Give it a week or so and they will need to find homes.
We've got some squash and tomatoes waiting to go out, really too big for pots but I want to avoid having to pot them on.
Squash will be outside, Toms in polytunnel. The weather forecast doesn't drop below 3 degrees for next 10 days, and last frost is suppose to be last week of April here. We're in Killamarsh near Sheffield.
Do you think we can get them out safely? No rain forecast for a while so I'll have to water well in.
Your plants all look very crowded together which could account for them being so leggy, Can you give each plant more space around them? That will help them to slow down growing up and fill out more. I feel it is still too early to put them outside. I live in Cornwall and will not put mine tomatoes outside at all because of blight, my squash and marrow will not go outside until the end of May, we are still having very cold nights and drying cold wind during the day. Death to any tender tropical plants like squash. runner beans, tomatoes etc.
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The thing to remember if you're planting anything in the ground is, the ground temps can be considerably lower than air temps too. That's why small plants can struggle very badly after being in a pot in a more sheltered environment.
I keep the Metcheck forecast as a saved bookmark @Athelas, but to get that frost forecast, I have to open it from going back to the Metcheck.com page - can't get to it in any way from the saved one. Very odd! Useful to have though - thanks.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The tomatoes, squash, chilies and cucumbers are in the bedroom windowsill still and I have a tray of sunflowers, one of sweet peas, more poppies, anemones and god knows what else that I leave outside all the time. Give it a week or so and they will need to find homes.
I feel it is still too early to put them outside. I live in Cornwall and will not put mine tomatoes outside at all because of blight, my squash and marrow will not go outside until the end of May, we are still having very cold nights and drying cold wind during the day. Death to any tender tropical plants like squash. runner beans, tomatoes etc.