Can the color of your pot extend your growing season?

[NorthEastFloridaPlanter]

I just spray painted some 5 gallon kitty litter boxes dark green. The kind of summers we get, I should have spray painted them white.

If I use my dark green planters for fall planting, will the dark green color help extend the life of my plants by keeping the soil warmer?

[Kisal]

Maybe. You might want to put them in a cold frame to help keep the air around the plants warmer, too. Keeping the soil warm won't be enough to keep the plants alive if the air temperature is below what they can tolerate. Covering them with row covers might help, too, if you don't have a cold frame.

[NorthEastFloridaPlanter]

I really don't know what a cold frame is, but I can google it.

[GardenRN]

It's basically just building a box around your plants. Usually the top is angled facing south and made of old windows or some other source of glass. (an old sliding door or storm door works too. The idea is to lock in the sun's warmth to help the plants get through the colder temps. It's like a mini greenhouse.

I'm sure if you googled it you got a thousand and one hits.

The darker containers won't hurt, but as Kisal said, it won't be enough just to keep the roots warm. The above ground part of the plant needs to stay warm too. If it is a plant that can't take cold temps. I would look up the optimal climate range for the specific plants you are talking about and then compare to what your autumn/winter is like. You may not need to keep it warmer at all.

[NorthEastFloridaPlanter]

GardenRN - I'm curious, does the top part have to be made of glass, or can it be stretched plastic?

[GardenRN]

glass will retain the heat better because it is thicker. The heat would be lost too quickly through plastic unless it was very thick, like an actual greenhouse plastic.