HEAVY FROST

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 29, 10 December 1945, Page 6

HEAVY FROST

DAMAGE IN GARDENS

TOMATO CROPS AFFECTED

A heavy white frost was experienced yesterday morning in some suburbs and in rural districts close to the city, and some damage was done to gardens. Inquiries made to-day among commercial growers as far afield as Pukekohe indicated that frost was recorded in patches only, and most of the damage was confined to tomatoes. While it is unusual for frost to be experienced in Auckland at this time of the year, a cold south-westerly wind prevailed on Saturday and the night was distinctly chilly. In parts of the Otahuhu district a light frost was recorded on Saturday morning after' a heavy hailstorm late the previous afternoon. Both the hail and the earlier frost were responsible for some damage. The frost did extensive damage to gardens in the Manurewa, Papatoetoe, St. Heliers and Meadowbank districts. It is reported that potatoes tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins and beans were blackened in many gardens; in others the damage was less severe. Flower plants, too, were burned by the frost. One commercial grower at Otahuhu said he believed the frost in his district was of at least four degrees. Though he had not been in contact with neighbouring growers he considered that the damage varied according to localities. In his case he had lost probably 100 tomato p-ants, now in flower, out of a total of 3000 in one part of his garden. Damage in the Mangere district was reported to be slight. One commercial grower is stated to have lost a crop of cape gooseberries. Tomatoes growing in the open escaped damage. In the Avondale district there was no damage from frost and its effect was not felt even on the lower levels at Pukekohe. The hailstorm on Friday, which seemed to be the heaviest in the Papatoetoe district, did extensive damage to fruit trees and vegetable crops in gardens, and also was responsible for damage to commercial growers' onion crops in the southern suburbs. Slight damage was caused at Pukekohe by hail. No frost was experienced in areas close to the water.