April...finally safely frost free?

Gone are the days I feel when weather could be relied on with some degree of accuracy. It may sound controversial but, with climate change, I think that the new 'norm' is freak/unpredictable weather now.

 

I always wing it and always plant out much earlier than many. I just can't wait and like to get things in the ground. If there is a late cold snap I generally put a fleece over things or upturned buckets and pots - normally though I let things take their chances and toughen the little beggers up early on in life.

In the Fens I haven't had much trouble planting anything and everything this early - I've had things like verbena out for a couple of weeks already. When I lived in central London you could plant even earlier as I had a very sheltered garden and it was several degrees warmer in general.

 

MINUS 0.6 deg outside last night, and just have a look at the temps in my 3 x 6m polytunnel (at head height, re-doing tonight at low level, hopefully higher temps there with ground radiating stored heat built up during day). I opened the door at 11:00 10:00GMT, which caused the temp drop then.

The temps at the high level I monitored do appear rather high during the day, perhaps I should have remembered how tomato leaves can get frazzled at tops of polytunnels, and also perhaps they're too low for nearer ground level close to the soil that's been warmed during the day.

 

Bloomin heck Scrungee 50°c !!!

 

The tunnel thermometer at mid height read 32 deg C, I want to check temps at various heights. I find cold nights with the tunnel shut, followed by an early bright sunny morning can cause temps soaring to head boiling levels if I leave it until after breakfast before opening it up. An autovent operated panel is probably going to be the solution.