Friday, April 13, 2012

Healthy After the Frost

I'm proud to announce that after the initial wilting of my hostas, no other damage has occurred in my garden plots!

Temperatures have continued to go below thirty at night, but the plants appear to be quite resistant to this, thanks to their partial greenhouse environments.  I'd call them cold frames, but these are mere milk jug halves, so I don't think they qualify. 

Cold frames are bigger, and much more sturdy.  The difference between a cold frame and a greenhouse, in case you're wondering, is that a cold frame is a smaller structure (as small as a couple of square feet in size), and it doesn't get as hot as a greenhouse.


My milk jug halves obviously don't fit the bill.  They do, however, have a much higher temperature inside than you'll find in the surrounding environment. 

Due to the fact that the plantings inside are still in perfect health, I think it's safe to assume that they haven't gotten cool enough to be overcome with frost.


Indeed, the spinach you're looking at through this milk jug spout is actually growing so well that we can no longer call it a seedling.  You can see both the thin first leaves and the wide, true leaves from this picture.

If I wasn't worried about frost I'd already be removing the half jug and letting it grow to its heart's content.  The true leaves are already close to 1 1/2 inches long, much to my surprise!  They'll need to be given more room, soon.  All in good time, though.

Of course, this just makes me more and more interested in the idea of a cold frame.  Cold frames give plants plenty of room to grow!  Maybe I could try my hand at constructing one from plastic soda bottles... 

Hmmm...

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