Frost

[vince g]

Hi all, I am growing tomatoes in my polytunnel in the south-east of the UK. I planted them out last weekend, but this weekend we had a frost a couple sustained some damage. Some of the leaves have brown patches and some have curled up. Not all plants are affected. I am sure it is frost damage as my sweetcorn has some damage which I saw before when I planted them outside too early.

I have erected a screen of horticultural fleece around the plants to protect against future frosts which are forecast this week, but will my plants recover?

[Redbaron]

Tomatoes can recover from frost, but it does weaken them such that something else could come along and kill them before they recover. Generally it is from several days at low temps instead of a single short cold snap that does the worst harm.

My frost damaged plants usually recover fully if the damage wasn't severe. They are usually growth retarded a few days from the cold weather. Cumulative frosts resulting in cumulative damage will usually kill a plant.

Ted