Saturday, May 16, 2009

Make shift mini greenhouse

I just haven't been able to stop myself from buying a few plants, even though I'm still a few weeks away from being able to plant them out. So what to do, what to do? Well, I could buy one of those plastic mini greenhouses, you know the green ones with the zipper? They're not terribly expensive, but still not something I want to put my money into, and why buy something else when I can make it myself for free? And this project comes courtesy of my mom, who had an excellent idea that is working fantastically.

She had recently purchased two new comforters. They come in those big plastic bags, she was about to throw them out. But instead, I now have a greenhouse! It's perfect, when it starts to cool off a bit in the evening I zip it close, and open it when it warms up in the morning. Last night was extra chilly, so I put a blanket over top just in case. I also put a couple pieces of duct tape over the holes that the carry straps go through. This has enabled me to start my plants a few weeks early. Next year I will trying growing a lot more of my stuff from seed indoors, and using this method to get them outside and hardening off.

Great idea Mom!!

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5 comments:

CarBasics said...

What a brilliant idea, saving the planet and also growing your own stuff - excellent !!

Carl - [url]www.minigreenhouse.org.uk[/url]

Laura said...

Excellent idea! It should work well!

Jennifer said...

Thanks for the comments! We`ve had some snow and frost, and this has been perfect. I`m very happy with how it`s working :)

tatiana said...

Excellent idea! That's ingenuity.

I do have a question though - do you know just how much warmer they stay? I know we're getting some cold air on Sunday, and am curious what the temp inside would be so that I know whether cukes can go into one of those or not. Thanks!

Jennifer said...

Thanks Tatiana! As for the temp difference, I'm really not sure. I close it up in the evening when the sun is still bright and there is still warmth in the air. And I don't open it until there is warmth in the air in the morning. There were a few nights when we were around zero, frost warnings, etc, I put blankets over top just in case, and everything survived. You could see the condensation and humidity in the mornings through the plastic.

I have everything planted out now, but next year I'm going to get a little thermometer, I'd like to know too!