Planning some winter planting but worried about cold winter nights? Try starting your seedlings in small containers stored inside clear plastic totes. Take the totes outside before you leave in the morning so they can get a day’s worth of sunlight and build up cold tolerance then bring them inside at night.
This idea comes from homesteading weblog The Prairie Cottage. It recommends grouping seedlings into plastic totes according to their cold tolerance. That way you can bring in your most vulnerable plants well before sunset, while other plants may be fine for another hour or two. Eventually most of your plants will grow and build up their cold tolerance so they can be planted in the soil and you can flip the clear tote over as an improvised cold frame while the plant’s root systems are getting established. The plastic totes will keep wind chill from hurting your plants as well as trap a little solar heat.
Mini Greenhouses [The Prairie Cottage]
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One response to “Repurpose Storage Totes As Greenhouses”
I’ve been talking to my kids too much, my brain translated that as “Repurpose Storage Totally As Greenhouses”
I have done this in our roof top garden (which we actually don’t have the luxury but there is a small space on the roof top. So why not use it?). What is great about these plastic storage totes is that these are mobile, too – you can move them anywhere. We love the idea that move our plants easily from the roof top to inside our home, and vice versa. Do not underestimate the use of such mobile plastic storage totes or pods. You will find more of their multiple uses in Pinterest.