Zone 6a Help

[babylark]

I have a question. I have never done the whole green house thing. This year I just have too many seedlings to be able to keep them in the house under lights. I'm in the process of potting up to bigger pots and need someplace to go with them all.

I was just at Lowes and bought everything to make a small low (2' high x 7' long) "greenhouse". PVC with heavy plastic.

My question is...is it too early to put my little seedlings out in a un-heated greenhouse? I'm not sure what else to do with all of them. HELP!

[feldon30]

I see 34 degrees coming on Sunday morning according to WUnderground for Lebanon, so I wouldn't...

[carolyn137]

When do you plan to plant them outside?

I ask b'c your last average frost date should be about May 1st and I never set my plants out until at least two weeks after that b/c of known late frosts.

So assuming you'll put them out sometime in the first two weeks of May, you might still have another month or so to go.

my question being, how tall are they now? And at what height do you normally plant them out. I aim for 9 to 12 inches b/c over that it's usually a good idea to trench them and I don't want to have to do that.

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by babylark

-------------

My question is...is it too early to put my little seedlings out in a un-heated greenhouse? I'm not sure what else to do with all of them. HELP!

I am in Z6. I have a removable greenhouse. I planted my seedlings on 3/30.

Your problem may not be cold temperature. You may have a bigger problem with heat build up.

For a few days I had to deal with 96 degrees inside the greenhouse when the sun is out.

dcarch

[babylark]

My seedlings are small. right now they are just about 1 1/2" tall. I did a "dense" planting in my cells. I'm now working on potting everything into styro cups, so then they are back to 1/2". I do usually put my plants out within the first 2 weeks of May.

I didn't know if a green house would keep them warm enough and with sun. I only have 3 lights and I'm going to have over 150 cups to light. My bow bay window doesn't get enough light to keep them there.

I was thinking about trying it with some of my plants and if they don't make it, I'll have what is inside. Though I hate to kill them. If I choose this option, should I set the plants in a try on the ground, or keep them off the ground?

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by babylark

----- Though I hate to kill them. If I choose this option, should I set the plants in a try on the ground, or keep them off the ground?

You should stick a meat thermometer and check your soil temperature.

dcarch

[babylark]

I'll get my house built and set to warm up the soil. I have a thermometer I can get temp readings. See what happens. tonight is going to be pot up night. This might take forever.

[Granny]

I ran out of space for everything this year so I took a quick trip over to WalMart and picked up a set of Black & Decker utility shelves at under $40 and a couple of sets of 4' lights on sale for less than $9 each, plus the bulbs for those at about $3.50 per light. The lights are a tad long for the shelves, but I have about 300 plants under there - plus my big windows. What I've been doing is leaving the lights run 24/7 and swapping trays in and out so each tray is getting about 12 hours under the lights, 12 hours of dark and 12 hours of sunlight through the windows in every 36 hours or so. Might go back and get another set of shelves. (I had actually bought 4 light set ups but they are just a tad wide to fit two across on each shelf.)

[dice]

If you put the cold frame (pvc and plastic) close to the
house or to a garage, etc, you can run an outdoor
extension cord in there and put in some kind of cheap
light with a light bulb in it (little clip-on light fixtures
that use regular incandescent bulbs work great for this;
another option is the old-style mechanic's or handyman's
trouble light, just a bulb socket with an on/off switch and
a cage and metal shield around the bulb).

You can put a brick or small clay pot in there and point
the light bulb at it. Plug it in after the sun goes down, and
that provides enough heat to keep them from freezing
at night.

You probably want to make it easy to fold the ends up and
over on sunny days, so that there is air flow through there.

[babylark]

Never thought of the light thing. My dh is a mechanic, so we have lots of lights to use. Maybe I can put a whole base of cement blocks under it. Thanks for the idea. Space is running out and I'm only 1/3 way done potting up.

[Granny]

Originally Posted by babylark

Never thought of the light thing. My dh is a mechanic, so we have lots of lights to use. Maybe I can put a whole base of cement blocks under it. Thanks for the idea. Space is running out and I'm only 1/3 way done potting up.

I hear you. I had super germination. I just finished potting up 114 little tomato seedlings before I ran out of pots and I have barely begun to pot. I'm afraid I am going to have to go back to Walmart for more shelves. I suspect I am also going to be supplying everyone in town with tomato plants, LOL.

[the999bbq]

The problem with those nightly light=warmth solutions is that neighbours might think you are growing other things than tomatoes (some hippie plants that can't see the daylight). If your improvised greenhouse is close to your house, it can be a good thing to bring them back in in the evenings. It's kind of a hassle moving them twice a day, and you still need a vast amount of space indoors but temperature go high enough in a closed mini greenhouse during the day and they have more light than any artificial light can give them. But you can't loose them out of your sight though, if the sun runs for an afternoon temperatures can still drop a lot (at least in Belgium it can), and small seedlings might not like it (not to mention forgetting to bring them back in)

[babylark]

Originally Posted by the999bbq

The problem with those nightly light=warmth solutions is that neighbours might think you are growing other things than tomatoes (some hippie plants that can't see the daylight).

My neighbors are mostly retired. They might think something funny is going on. I also have others that might be temped to come steal what's in the greenhouse. Thinking they're going to get rich. I'm still potting up. I have 2 huge flat containers that I'm giving 12 hours light to each. Once I'm done potting up I'll see how much I have.

I think I will have many plants to get rid of myself.

[Ruth_10]

I'll second or third the additional shop lights, especially if you already have them. You will get run ragged with the make-shift greenhouse what with keeping the temperature from getting too high or too low and also keeping the humidity in check.