Cloudy, so Out to Greenhouse!

[digitS']

So sturdy, @jackb !

After their first night in the hoop house for some of mine:



It seemed like Henrietta thermometer was claiming that it was 42°f in the hoop house, all night! I hadn't intended for them to be plunged into such cool overnight temperatures from the 60° greenhouse but they look fine. The furthest "tomatoes" aren't tomatoes - they are marigolds (& there are some zinnias among them). Anyway, nothing frost-hardy and the little heater chugged away all night.

It was a little colder than usual, this morning. Frost on the lawn as I drug the garbage can out to the curb at 6am. Frost on the west slope of the neighborhood roofs at 8am. I had a hoopy, with frost-questionable plants, covered with a couple of tarps.

A very sunny, nice day! More frost will have to wait awhile, I think. Here's hoping the weather doesn't deteriorate into next week - the tractor guy is committed for tilling then and I'm expecting him to git tuit!

Steve

 

[jackb]

So sturdy, @jackb !

After their first night in the hoop house for some of mine:

View attachment 25682

It seemed like Henrietta thermometer was claiming that it was 42°f in the hoop house, all night! I hadn't intended for them to be plunged into such cool overnight temperatures from the 60° greenhouse but they look fine. The furthest "tomatoes" aren't tomatoes - they are marigolds (& there are some zinnias among them). Anyway, nothing frost-hardy and the little heater chugged away all night.

It was a little colder than usual, this morning. Frost on the lawn as I drug the garbage can out to the curb at 6am. Frost on the west slope of the neighborhood roofs at 8am. I had a hoopy, with frost-questionable plants, covered with a couple of tarps.

A very sunny, nice day! More frost will have to wait awhile, I think. Here's hoping the weather doesn't deteriorate into next week - the tractor guy is committed for tilling then and I'm expecting him to git tuit!

Steve

The sun finally made an appearance so they had two days in the greenhouse. Nights are still way to cool so I bring them in under the lights again. Some were started two weeks after the others to spred them out some. The larger plants will go in the greenhouse first.

 

[digitS']

This godfather to a tomato plant can be hard work ...

Oh. It just takes attention like everything else should.

At 1:30, Henrietta says 45°f, at 2:30, she says 41°. Okay, get out there and plug in the heater and fan. Temperature jumps to 50°. Yeah, I guess so ... Clear sky, no wind, beautiful moon. Honest Henrietta? Well, she's at least responsive.

Steve
Greenhouse is a comfortable 61°.

 

[digitS']

A break from monitoring hoop house and greenhouse temperatures, overnight. Wasn't this the same week when an afternoon hit 70°f for the first time since September? Yesterday afternoon, the thermometer hit 80°!

There is a new hoopy on the lawn filled with tomato plants, this morning. It's windy, cloudy and looking like rain at any moment. That will be good for the lawn grass where I had the earlier hoopy. Temperatures are supposed to fall back into the 30's by midweek and there are tarps standing by.

When I first started setting up hoopies on the lawn, I wasn't sure what it would mean to the lawn grass. After 7 days, it's a little yellow and it takes another 7 days to recover. I give it 14 before there is a chance that the same section of backyard lawn will again host a hoopy. The flats of plants don't sit directly on the ground; a little frame of 1 by 2's go down first. The biggest mistake I made was mowing and leaving lawn clippings under things. They mold! And, not only did the clippings mold but the fungus started on the living grass. Now, I just leave that patch of grass when mowing and go over it a week later after the hoopy is moved elsewhere.

Hoopies are a bit of a bother but only take a few minutes to set up. I haven't come up with a way to heat them altho my little passive ceramic heater might work in there.

The tractor guy started tilling the garden then broke something .

Steve