Return to the Winter Sowing Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
New at this
| | |
Posted by
Countrygirlatheart1 6 (
My Page) on
Mon, Feb 27, 12 at 15:46
| My husband bought me a small greenhouse for Valentines day.Just the kind with the plastic cover that zips up and down and has 4 shelves. I have some garden and flower seeds and the cardboard containers for starting seed in doors. Can I put the greenhouse outside and winter sow the seed in the greenhouse? The plastic doesn't come all the way downs to the floor. It lacks about a couple of inches so I thinks it would still get plenty of air inside as well.Does anyone else do this? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: New at this
| | |
- Posted by morz8 Z8 Wa coast (My Page) on
Mon, Feb 27, 12 at 16:19
Country - sweet gift for Valentines Day. Those can be helpful when hardening off transplants to ready to plant outside, and for wintering things in my own mild climate, and could be used for winter sowing but there are a couple of things you need to watch out for....
Your seeds if in open containers inside your mini greenhouse, will dry out faster, and they will not be exposed to rains or snows to re-moisten your sowing medium - you may have to watch, and water. Especially true if using pressed recycled paper or pressed peat sowing trays or pots - most of us use plastic. (I can have trouble with pressed paper or peat pots, mantaining consistent moisture, even indoors where they have consistent attention) Those shelved zipper mini's aren't always safe in wind! More than one of us has had one flip over in a Spring gale...are you in an area prone to wind? |
RE: New at this
| | |
| You can reinforce your greenhouse against wind by pounding either rebar or metal fence posts into the ground at a couple of corners and tie the posts together with zip-ties or duct tape. I used mine for starting tomatoes, peppers, and melons. Martha |
RE: New at this
| | |
| Thank you for your replies. I don't know why I bought those peat containers, I have never had any luck with them. I don't have the grow lights to try sowing inside the house. And yes, the wind would definitely be a factor. Gonna have to really rethink this. Now I don't know what to do with this greenhouse. I will keep reading other post and researching. |
RE: New at this
| | |
| Those greenhouses sure beat inside window sills for starting and growing annuals in the spring. Just be very careful not to cook them - it gets hot quickly in there. |
RE: New at this
| | |
| I used two of those greenhouses one year for winter sowing and they worked well for me - although I did have to water more often than I did when using larger containers. I live in New Mexico where we get howling winds for about 3 months in the spring. I had a shady spot alongside my chainlink fence and I tied the greenhouses to the fence at the top, middle and bottom. I could still access the zip-up opening in the front. On warm days I had to zip it open and prob by late March I was leaving it open all the time. The wind and sun finally destroyed the covers and now I use them as shelving units. |
RE: New at this
| | |
| All right, I'm thinking about just doing it, gotta start somewhere huh. It's all about trial and error. But I think I'll do some other type container instead of the cardboard starter pots. Thanks to all of you! |
RE: New at this
| | |
- Posted by corrine1 7b Pacific Northwest (My Page) on
Thu, Mar 1, 12 at 12:17
| Another idea for keeping it sturdy is to place in a shady spot against the house with bricks or patio block inside on the bottom & top shelves underneath your trays of plants. Bricks/patio blocks might also work as heat sinks holding the heat in from the day & slowly releasing at night as well as slowly heating back up during the day. Mine has not blown over, but I keep it on the deck next to the house in a protected spot, but still in clear view to check easily. Another idea on the deck is to attach the legs to bricks with zipties or strong string (re-purpose dental floss) to keep from blowing around. Corrine |
RE: New at this
| | |
Wonderful ideas!! I do have plenty of brick and some patio blocks lying around.
Thanks,
Sherry |
RE: New at this
| | |
| I have been using one of those mini-greenhouses for years. Never thought of winter sowing in it but I usually start moving seedlings into it, keeping a mind to the hardiness of the plants, from the grow lights when things get too crowded in the house. There were nights down to freezing after I moved the tomatoes out so I had to rig up a heat source and throw a blanket over it for the night. I have mine in a well protected area but have had it tip over once, the first year I had it. I tied it up after that, to be sure. |
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in.
If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Winter Sowing Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
