Mini Greenhouse {Update}

So listen.  Spring is never a picnic in our area.  It’s typically pretty snowy/rainy/windy/cool {take your pick} and we can get a frost even in the first week of June.  Sometimes even a final dusting of snow.

But this spring we have had more snow than usual + even colder temps and just a few days so far have even nudged toward the 70 degree mark!  We were laughing the other day when it was 65 and we were burning slap up!! It just felt so hot. Ha!

There tends to be a lot of hauling plants outside for more light, only to shuffle them back inside when it gets too cold on the porch for them.  Before, I used planting trays – but it is so much faster and easier carting them around in the greenhouse totes! 

They are just regular clear plastic Rubbermaid type totes with clear lids from Walmart.  I use them for both flowers and vegetables when they get too big for the grow light stand inside. 

Here are some zinnias, marigolds and cosmos.  They are pretty tough and probably could be planted out, if the nights weren’t still dipping into the upper 30s/low 40s.  I leave them on the porch now 24/7 and make sure to put their lids on if it’s going to be much colder than 45 or so.

Even once the air temperature warms, it takes awhile for the soil to warm up enough to be flower transplant friendly.

The tomatoes and peppers have yet to spend a whole 24 hours on the porch.  It was foggy and 52 in this photo so I just cracked the lid for you to peek in.  But the wind chill stayed around 39-42 all day, so I left the lid on them.  If it gets a little warmer, the lid gets perched halfway on the box and I take it off completely when the temp is about 55-60. 

They would survive without the lid in their greenhouse boxes, even in 39 degree wind chill, but I’ve found it sort of puts them in a coma.  They don’t want to wake up and get growing again after that kind of shock :)

And finally, these strawberries.  I ordered them online and their available shipping dates were way too early for us!  They were already breaking dormancy a full 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule.

Into the cups they went  and I’m so glad I didn’t go ahead and plant them out when they arrived.  Below zero temps and snow are tough for baby bare root plants to recover from!

So that’s it… Clear plastic totes.  Lids for climate control.  Handles for easy toting. 

Let me know if you try a mini greenhouse in your garden this spring or fall!

Wishing you all a safe and fun holiday weekend!