Time for this weather to settle!

hendi_alex · Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:27 am

I've got about 50 early tomato plants which are getting quite large now. Every 4-5 days, it is back inside the house. Lots of work to move the plants back and forth, plus I'm waiting to step a dozen or more plants up to 3 gallon nursery pots. Cold weather comes in today and tomorrow. After that I'm going for it, moving the plants into the three gallon containers and planning on being able to keep plants out over night with maybe only one more episode of having to shuttle back and forth.

Next year I plan on having a much larger, permanent cold frame in place, so the plants can stay out overnight even down into the low 20's.

applestar · Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:44 am

Trying to remember ... Did you say before that you put a light bulb in the coldframe to guard against severe temp drop (like the low 20's you mentioned)? wattage?

hendi_alex · Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:59 am

I put up to two bulbs in my portable cold frame, but don't really trust it down into the low 20's, so under about 32 degrees, those plants are brought in as well. Nightly lows are generally staying above the low 40's, but once every week to ten days, the temperatures are heading down to freezing or lower. After the freeze for the next couple of nights, the ten day forecast looks very promising. So with luck, maybe only one or two more dips into the danger zone.

rainbowgardener · Mon Mar 24, 2014 10:26 am

Oh yeah! I'm getting really tired of carting trays of plants in and out! Mine are back in also.

gixxerific · Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:12 am

Good luck to you alex. I have yet to begin the carting in and out. Been too cold here. I do have some earlies that are ready to go at any point though.

hendi_alex · Tue Mar 25, 2014 8:37 am

My plants go into the unheated cold frame any time the weather is sunny and over 50 degrees. The grow lights are a poor substitute for natural sunlight, so mine get a dose whenever it is available. On those cooler days, perhaps the incandescent light is placed inside the cold frame to help boost the temperature a bit.

If it is heated, I guess that a cold frame is no longer a cold frame. Perhaps a miniature greenhouse? Anyway, I expect great results from the south facing heated 'hot' frame that I'll construct next year. It will be about six feet long by four feet wide and will be about three feet tall. Three to four incandescent bulbs will be placed on a thermostat receptacle such that they light on demand, probably will set two at 70 degrees and another two at 40 degrees, to come on as a second stage if the first two bulbs are not getting the job done. In the coldest part of the winter, will likely set plants on large rectangular storage boxes filled with water. The water will absorb lots of heat during the day and will slowly release the heat in the evening, giving a constant source of gentle bottom heat during the nights. I'll provide photos of the project from start to finish.

rainbowgardener · Tue Mar 25, 2014 10:17 am

Great project! Do show us pictures when it is done. In the meantime, your water storage boxes will work better as thermal mass if painted black, so they absorb heat more. They make spray paint designed to adhere to plastic.

lexusnexus · Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:02 pm

Amen, brother. High 20's and windy today. Still have a lot of snow cover from yesterday's blanketing. Mother nature is playing a cruel joke on us. I live in Maryland now, not Michigan. Enough already!

applestar · Thu Mar 27, 2014 12:50 am

LOL my brother uses the command "settle!" with his big dogs to calm down and behave.

Every time I come across this thread, I have a vision if us looking up at the sky and sternly commanding the weather to "settle."