Greenhouse on Wheels

15 years ago

Here's an idea I tried last year and it worked. Being an apartment dweller I don't have a place for a greenhouse and was looking for a cheap solution. I started storing my seedlings on the dashboard of my truck. On a 40 degree day it would be 70 degrees in the truck. When driving to and from work everyday I would put the plants on the passenger seat and floor so they wouldn't fall down. Then park facing south and up on the dash with them again to get a full day's worth of sun. On warm days I would put them in the back of the truck to help harden them off. At night they would go back up on the dash. I kept a jug of water behind the seat so I could give them a warm drink. When it was time to transplant into larger cups, I dropped the tailgate and it became a work station. My tomato and pepper seedlings spent about a month in the truck and made it through several frosts by doing this. Plus when I stopped for a beer after work I could give a couple plants away to friends. I loved the strange looks I got when doing this; plus the aroma. When I had to hit the brakes while driving I would instinctively put my arm out like I was protecting an infant.

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Comments (7)

ohsillyme
15 years ago
O...M...G!!! eric,,,,very clever!

This needs to be published in some magazine somewhere!!!

Do you mind if I link to this in other forums here at GW?

mumbling to self...I KNEW there was someone else out there as crazy about seedlings as I am.
eric30
Original Author
15 years ago
ohsillyme, Sure go ahead and spread the word. I'm a freak about getting things going early. A couple times in the past I wound up with full grown tomato plants by the last frost date. I just keep re-potting every couple of weeks. I thought about growing a garden in the bed of my truck but it wouldn't survive hurricane force winds when driving down the freeway.

I learned by watching an old Italian couple I used to live to. They would vacation in the south and come back home with tomato plants in late winter. Put them out on the patio every day and pull them in at night. By the time they planted their garden, the plants had already filled out 2 gallon pots with green tomatoes on them.
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tn_veggie_gardner
15 years ago
Dude...that's awesome
jessicavanderhoff
15 years ago
That is so cool. I wish I had a sunroof-- I think a car would make the most perfect greenhouse. It's well sealed, warm, you can move it around so it's always in the sun, and if it were going to be a freezing night, you could just take your plants inside with you after work and bring them back in the morning. . . .
jonas302
15 years ago
That is just a super idea(: hope no one makes you stop short before your babies are grown
Now you just need a plexiglass topper....
hanselmanfarms
15 years ago
Just hope, IF you get pulled over, that the officer would recognize tomato plants versus something else less legal.
naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
15 years ago
This is sooo funny eric, and yet so logical. I'd love to end up parked next to a "greenhouse" vehicle. I'd probably wait around hoping to get a chance to talk with the grower.