The warm autumn in Poland has caused some plants re-start the growing cycle, and this is a bad sign, says agrometeorologist Dr. Barbara Skowera. She explains that if the temperatures fall quickly, the plants will freeze. In her opinion, rape and other winter crops may suffer. "For some people, the warmth of autumn seems quite pleasant, but for plants, such weather is not necessarily good," says Skowera. She adds that some plants have entered the flowering phase again. "I've seen fruit-bearing tomatoes in home-grown greenhouses, which is the result of a warm autumn, of plants" she points out. "If the temperature is high in the autumn and there is sufficient humidity, plants may mistake these conditions for the spring." "Now, in autumn, many plants have started a new cycle, which doesn't bode well. Those plants will probably be weakened next season," says the agrometeorologist. For plants, it is best when the cold arrives at a particular moment of their development. Dr. Skowera explains that the warm autumn is a threat especially for winter plants sown in autumn. "Everyone is especially worried about oilseed rape," she says. "How the plants cope will depend on how the winter develops," explains Dr. Skowera. It would be best if the temperatures started to decrease gradually, if there was rainfall, the soil was frozen, and in time, there was some snowfall. In such conditions, the plants will be able to harden and survive the winter. However, if the temperature drops quickly, it would be better for the plants if there was snowfall. "If it's dry and there's frost, the plants will freeze," she warns. And that, she says, would entail crop failure in the following year. "Snowfall will protect plants from low temperatures and the thermal shock will be alleviated," says Dr. Skowera. She points out that in agriculture there is no known method to protect arable crops against the negative effects of a warm autumn. "You can protect against spring frosts, but it is difficult to protect against a hot autumn and winter," The Agrometeorologist says that across Poland, it is already evident that the meteorological growing season has been prolonged (i.e. the period with an average daily temperature above 5 degrees C). She concludes that the spring, summer and autumn have all been much warmer than average this year. At the measurement station in Garlice, near Kraków, the average monthly temperatures in April, May and October have been up to 4 degrees higher than the average temperatures in these months between the years 1971 and 2000. Moreover, this season was also dry. Source - https://www.freshplaza.com