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evilingarnett

greenhouse effect

evilingarnett
10 years ago

Is all this wrapping up to form a greenhouse what is called "forcing" the plants?
I have 1/2 wrapped the other not. Now I find out I have to plant much sooner than I thought. (community garden) Can I change my mind and wrap the rest now even though they were started in plain open peat pots?

I'm zone 6 so it's prolly 3 more weeks till last frost, then I guess another 3 for the unsealed plant to germinate?

Is it okay to change courses midstream like this?

Comments (2)

  • digdirt2
    10 years ago

    I can't know what you mean by "wrapping"? A plastic tent? Mylar blankets? 1/2 wrapped and 1/2 unwrapped? Can you "wrap" the rest now? Depends on what you mean.

    That all means very different things to different people so it would be easy to mislead you. A photo or detailed description please.

    Now I find out I have to plant much sooner than I thought. (community garden)

    They are dictating your planting dates??? Why on earth would they do that? Do they have magic weather control or something?

    Dave

  • claydirt
    10 years ago

    Sounds like you may be gardening for the first time. I think of gardening as a big experiment. And I try new things every year. "Forcing" is usually a word used when talking about bulbs and corms.

    Most of the time, I do not wrap seed germinating trays/cells because of possible damping off problems, which kills newly germinated seedlings. I usually use air circulation, a slow fan on a timer (on for 1/3 or 1/4 of the time) sitting across the room. It also helps the seedlings to toughen up so they can handle wind better. (For every rule, there are exceptions!)

    Planting out ... There are cool season crops and warm season crops. Some cools season crops can handle light freezing and frost. Warm season crops can not. So you cannot just plant a garden all at once. I build my garden as the season progresses. Do a web search on "cool weather crops" or "warm weather crops".

    My guess is that if you show the community garden people that you are working the plot, maintaining it, using it, weeding it, that they will be satisfied. If you want to show early progress... Some plants can be directly seeded into the garden. Lettuce, beets, carrots, radishes can survive cool weather (and can germinate fast in the garden if conditions are good).

    If the community garden people understand gardening, they will know this stuff. If they are new at it, they will be learning.