Frost and Rain Protection

francesmckeon21

Hello, I hope someone can help with my dilemma 😅 
Over the last few months I have planted pots with wallflowers, allium and spring bulbs. Winter has reached Glasgow and I'm in a panic! I'm desperately trying to prevent frost and (often heavy) rain damage. I have used plastic cloches to keep the rain out and more recently have covered the pots with fleece at night. The problem I have is, can I keep the cloches on indefinitely? There appears to be much condensation on the inside of these so I worry they are exacerbating the problem. I do remove the fleece in the mornings but unsure what to do with the cloches. Thank you. 

rossdriscoll13

@francesmckeon21 you don’t need to protect them as long as your pots have drainage holes and the growing medium you’ve used is free draining.  If you are really worried you can raise the pots up off the ground using pot feet, available from garden centres or Amazon.  These will aid with drainage.  As for your other post, about the green colour that has appeared on the compost in some of your pots, that’s algae.  It won’t harm the plants however if you want to you can scrape away the top 1 cm of soil.  It appears when the compost is wet and the atmosphere is humid.  Nothing to worry about.

Fairygirl

They don't need any protection - any of those plants/bulbs. Forget the cloches and fleece   
If you have tulips, they need sharp drainage, but virtually all other spring bulbs are fine.

Drainage is very important here, so if you haven't used a nice gritty mix for your plants, tuck them against a wall so that they get a bit of protection from rain.

francesmckeon21

@Rossdriscoll13 and Fairygirl, I thank you both so much. You've really put my mind to rest. Honestly I've been losing sleep over this 😁

Fairygirl

Dinna fash yerself hen 

They'll be fine. 

nick615

francesmckeon21  I can't compete with yon Fairygirl but, depending on the sizes of the pots you're using, you might like to beg/borrow/steal some 5-litre clear plastic water bottles. Remove their bottoms and caps.  Insert a stick or firm piece of wire into each pot beside the plant.  Drop a bottle over each, to be held in position by the stick/wire.  There are two distinct advantages.  Bottles can be put on and off at will but, once IN position, you can spray a hose all over them without battering the plants.  The water flows down the outsides.  In October 1964 I spent 3 weeks in the Kelvin Hall and was proud to be able to spell Milngavie at the end.

Fairygirl

"I spent 3 weeks in the Kelvin Hall and was proud to be able to spell Milngavie at the end."

But could you pronounce it @nick615 ? 
I always found it odd that people couldn't pronounce Bearsden. It's exactly how it would be if you split it into the two obvious words. They say Beers-den, with the emphasis on the first bit. Weird!

I don't think we need to worry about watering here - even in last year's 'dry' winter [driest I can ever remember]  there was still plenty of it to water pots - even hefty evergreens were fine 

francesmckeon21

nick615 said:

francesmckeon21  I can't compete with yon Fairygirl but, depending on the sizes of the pots you're using, you might like to beg/borrow/steal some 5-litre clear plastic water bottles. Remove their bottoms and caps.  Insert a stick or firm piece of wire into each pot beside the plant.  Drop a bottle over each, to be held in position by the stick/wire.  There are two distinct advantages.  Bottles can be put on and off at will but, once IN position, you can spray a hose all over them without battering the plants.  The water flows down the outsides.  In October 1964 I spent 3 weeks in the Kelvin Hall and was proud to be able to spell Milngavie at the end.

Ha Ha. Can I ask what you were doing in Kelvin Hall dor 3 weeks 🤔 

nick615

Aye, Lass.  I was involved in manning a stall in the Ideal Homes Exhibition where one of the things we had to do was take names and addresses of visitors to send them a catalogue.  Nae problems with the likes of Anniesland, Bearsden OR mulgay, Fairygirl!

Fairygirl

I was going to ask the same question @nick615!
How about Strathaven? 
We like to try and trick people...

nick615

I give up, Fairygirl.  The only words beginning with 'Strath' that I recognise were Strathmore, Stratheden, Strathaird and Strathnaver, i.e. four P&O ships.  I'll leave the Gaellic to you.