Would it be safe to leave courgettes outside now or could they still be killed by frost?

[iwouldgoouttonight]

Another question! I'm running out of space in my tiny greenhouse and I can't imagine it being frosty after its been so sunny for the last few weeks. But it says to not put them out until the end of May. Do you think I could risk it? I have courgettes and butternut squash and they're getting quite big so I could do with the space!

Whereabouts are you in the country?

I am in the south and would not be putting mine out yet, but maybe in a week or so's time if you can hang on that long!

Mine have been out for a while now, I don't have a greenhouse and no space in the house! They've been ok so far, but I would keep them in for a bit longer if you can manage to make space.

They could certainly sit outside during the day if that helps...

Plus, you want to pick a warm time to put them out. It isn't forecast to be warm over the next few days, but otoh, I suppose cloud cover at night (which is the danger time) should mean the nights are milder.

yes, there are still chances of frost.

You can put them outside, and make sure that at night, you cover them with fleece, or bubble wrap, or a cloche, or newspaper.
just make sure you remove it in the morning!

You could protect them with fleece on the cold nights. I have done that with runner beans before and they turned out fine.

Xposts Nickel!

I'm in the Midlands - I think I've got carried away with the nice weather and I really can't picture it being cold enough to kill plants! But thanks for your advice - I can squeeze them all in apart from a couple of courgette plants which I'll try to cover with something.

great minds think alike

Ooh, never thought of covering the plants over, I might start doing that until the weather gets really settled. Thanks for the tip!

Definitely cover them. We're in Dorset and had a hard frost 15th May last year that massacred all the courgettes, beans, sweetcorn etc that people had planted out on the allotments. It was a sorry sight.

Yup, I agree with the keep protecting advice. I am midlands and wont be putting my tender plants out in my allotment until the end of the month. Last year a neighbour on the field lovingly planted out all his beans then had a frost as Wynken described and lost the lot.

er mine have been out for 2 weeks and are blooming!
as are the beans, peas and tomatoes....????
mind you, I am in SW London, and have not had any frost for over a month....I do have some fleece handy, just in case, but the night temps are no lower than 8-9 at the moment

yes, it's because there have been no frosts!
but the temperature can drop very quickly at night, and frost aren't always predictable.

I had the same problem last year as Gnome's neightbour.

I waited until mid-may - the weather said it would be cold but no less than 5 degrees overnight, so we put them in the ground.
I meant to get the bubble wrap for them, but we got carried away with cleaning and stuff, and forgot.
that very night there was frost, and we lost every single one.