I knew it was cold last night as we had a thick white frost this morning and when I checked the temperature at 8am it was -4 degrees!
It never crossed my mind to look inside the greenhouses because, although it was cold, the frost would not get to the plants. However, I have just been out to check everything and I have lost quite a few plants. So far I have lost:
- All Morning Glory plants – I was worried about these anyway as the leaves were becoming discoloured. All 18 are dead.
- 68 Cosmos Plants
- 14 Marigolds
- 11 Sungold tomatoes
- 9 Red Cherry tomatoes
- 9 Moneymaker tomatoes
I am not so worried about the flowers as they all germinate quickly and will catch up. I am gutted about the tomatoes though. I planted them all on 19 February so they had a good head start. I have lost nearly 7 weeks but am going to have to start again.
The problem I have is that where I live in Central Scotland our summers can be mixed and are not famous for wall to wall sunshine. So if I have late tomatoes they will probably not get enough sunshine to ripen. This is why I always plant them so early so they get a head start and get the full benefit of any sunshine.
Now here is what I think I have done wrong. Last night I watered everything at 7pm. It was a clear night so the temperature (which was already low) would have plummeted very quickly. I think that even though the plants were protected from frost, the water must have frozen in the pots and modules and that is what has killed them. So from now on, or at least until there is no more risk of frost, I will water everything in the morning.
Not happy tomatoes
gardeningforlawyers 
So sorry to hear that you lost so many plants, especially your tomatoes. My tomatoes that I have started will be planted the end of May in Maine. We have a very short growing season as well. Is it possible to buy some small tomato plants for replacements. If some of my seedlings die that is what I will have to do.
Hi Karen, I am reluctant to buy plants from a garden centre because the last time we did this they brought in some kind of fungal infection and we had a really poor crop and lost some other plants that were in the same greenhouse. I have planted more seeds to relace the lost ones and will pray for a long hot summer!