still no frost!

[stella1751]

It looks like the death of my chili pepper plant was not in vane as it as spawned these great tips frost Stella and Soil .

How much salt has to be in the water?

Do the plants have to be in an enclosure for this to work? That is, if I just put these jugs around a plant that's out in the open, wouldn't they radiate their heat off much too quickly?

Great information, all.

Oh. I should have mentioned that. Yes, the plants need to be covered. Sometimes I will leave seedlings out in the grow rack in the spring rather than tote the trays in and out of the house, using it like a miniature greenhouse. The top three shelves will be seedlings; the bottom shelf will have two or three of these two-gallon jugs. When I zip up the cover after placing the jugs in, steam quickly clouds the inside. I think the plants like the hot moisture, too!

[garden5]

Thanks, Stella. I kind of figured that even if an enclosure wasn't required, it would still be a good idea.

Be careful with your seedlings because too much of that moisture will increase your chances of damping-off, a fungus that kills seedlings by making them look pinched-off at the base.

I'm sure more established plant's wouldn't mind the humidity, though.

[mansgirl]

Oh, I'm right there with you! Pretty tired of picking tomatoes and then them staring accusingly at me in the kitchen to eat them or process them somehow.

I did a walk through the garden this afternoon since a couple of upper 30's nights are in the forecast (of course after that, it's supposed to go back up to the 50's ) When I came back, I had my shirt front lifted into an apron *piled* with green~blushing tomatoes and peppers. "WHY DID I PICK THESE? WHY AM I SAVING THEM?" was what I was saying as I poured them into a paper-lined cardboard box. Ah well.

lol! That's exactly what I was doing right down to the "shirt apron" and the wondering why. Thankfully I managed to get most of my peppers either chopped (bells) or ground (for drying in the oven on a cold winter day) and frozen. And I actually JUST finished with my tomatoes. I let them sit and sit in the garage thinking I would make more salsa. By the time half of them were bad I bagged that idea and just canned the good half of the tomatoes instead.

How'd you end up doing?

[mansgirl]

Now I have a bushel of apples that I bought from the local orchard on closing day sitting in the garage giving me the guilt trip. Thought it would be SUCH a good idea to can applesauce. It was such a good deal! Grr.. I'm all canned out! I keep saying to myself.. "Suck it up Mans and get to canning!" But I still keep walking by those apples. Thankfully they'll last a while.

[applestar]

If applesauce is what you're after, you can always peel and core then freeze them. That's what I did with the bruised and imperfect apples last year when my apple tree produced a huge crop. Depending on the variety, you can also slice them for apple pies and cobblers and freeze, though that can be a little softer than fresh. Apple cake too. I suppose another thing to do is bake the pies and cakes first then freeze. How about individ. sized ones to give away as holiday gifts?

I continued to "pick" ripe tomatoes out of the boxes. All the good sandwich sized ones and fresh eating ones. Cooking them into omelets and making salsa, etc. Twice weekly clean out of the boxes to cook up iffy ones and toss out bad ones. I've already made 3 large pots of chili and curry, and Once I toss the bad ones out, I think I'll be down to 2 boxes from the 4 I started out with. Even when you're a eating fast food sandwich, being able to sub out the tasteless excuse of tomato with your own makes it seem less unhealthy.... . Ah, I'm going to miss my cardboard box tomatoes when they're all gone, however much I grumble.