I won't plant the tomatoes out there just yet, but the directions say it is a good idea to fill them up 1 week or so in advance to help warm the soil. Got them filled today. Plants upstairs in the sunroom looking good and eagerly awaiting their new home! :)
Karrie: I've been thinking about getting Kozy Koats/Wall-o-waters. I'm curious to see how yours work out. When is your last frost date? How far ahead of last frost can you put your tomatoes out?
BTW: Love the sight of green grass in your pic. Still have yucky, crusty snow here!
Rhonda
This message was edited Mar 29, 2004 9:30 AM
Hi Rhonda.
Normally, without the wall-o-waters I would plant the tomatoes outside in mid May (rule of thumb in my particular area).
These little Teepees allow me to do it 6 weeks earlier. Aside from even the teepees, our weather has been "consistently" on the warmer side this year, and where you see these in that pic is on the east side of the house, near a rock foundation that gets very warm. There is little if any wind there. I was tempted this morning to jump the gun and go ahead and plant. Instead I chose to just take the maters outside and let them harden off a little. I just might transplant them tomorrow. This nice weather is really nice, but still wonder. The directions on them say that even if they turn into ice, they serve as an "igloo" and warm your soil and plants anyways.
I have reserved other plants to pot in bigger pots, and transplant outdoors in mid-may in case these don't work out. There are people who have asked for my extras should I not need them.
Where is NS? Netherlands?
This message was edited Mar 29, 2004 12:23 PM
Thanks Karrie! I think I'll give them a try. I'm in Nova Scotia, here on the east coast of Canada. I haven't found any place locally that sells them, but I've found a few places where I can order them off the 'net.
Good luck with your tomatoes!
Rhonda
http://www.mrtomato.com/
it's a canadian company and they have them
Karrie
Thank you again, Karrie! I'd been to the Mr. Tomato site but I had no idea they were Canadian. Bonus! : )
Rhonda
I went ahead and planted the maters in them yesterday - couldn't resist. They did fabulous. The weather forecast says lows in high 30's low 40's, and since April 1st was my plan, I just went ahead and went for it. I can't believe how warm that water gets in them! People driving by think I'm having an alien experiment.
Oh! What is really funny, is I just cleaned out that garden from all the cats going in it all winter long. Two nights ago, after dark, a stray cat headed that way and "freaked". They see in infra-red - so i think the cat saw huge big "glows" and I never saw anything so funny as it ran away like it had seen a ghost (or a bear, or something). lol! Hey! They serve another purpose for me! :)
Dual purpose garden equipment--gotta like that! : ) I love kitties, but I don't really care for the "gifts" they leave in the garden! It's only happened to me a couple of times, though, and that's when I accidentally left my poor old kitty out all night (but that's another story.) ; )
Question--how long do you leave the Kozy Koats on? Do you take them off eventually, or do you leave them on all season?
Rhonda
I plan to take mine off around the time I would have normally transplanted the tomatoes without them, around mid-may for me (when all danger of frost is over, and our temps are more like summer).
Karrie: I took the plunge and ordered two packages of "Wall-o-waters". I was going to get the Kozy Koats from Mr. Tomato, but the price there was $12.95 US, and I could get the Wall-o-waters for $12.95 Canadian, so I "cheaped-out". : )
The difference between them is that the Wall-o-waters aren't red. I'm not too concerned about it. I'm planning on using a couple of them for dahlias anyways.
How are yours doing? I know, it's only been a few days, but I'm anxious to see how yours come along.
Have a good day!
Rhonda
That is odd that Mr. Tomato actually makes the kozy koats and sells them for more than what their distributors do. I bought them through parkseed and a pack of 3 for less than $10.00. The more you buy, the bigger your discount. I gave your the Mr. Tomato site, because it was Canadian. Perhaps you would have been better off buying them from the states, lol! (just like US manufactures drugs and they are cheaper to buy in Canada).
http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10066&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=9260
I doubt there is much difference in the color. I've been using the Walls of Water for years, they work fine, and mine are light green.
The only thing I notice with the Walls of Water vs. the Tomatoes that I put out in May are the ones in the Walls of water seem to be more spindly, but they do give you a jump on the season, so I keep using them. :-)
Got my wall-o-waters and stuck them outside today! I think I like the red ones better, though; they look more "alien" lol. : )
lol Erma - I think the people who drive by that don't know what they are think so too!
Melissa, I was told the red ones work better for tomatoes - it has something to do with the light & color spectrum & photo-synthesis. However, I mostly bought these because I thought they were a good price.
I stuck my finger in the water today and WOW - it's so very warm! Almost like bath water! They should line swimming pools with this stuff and save on electricity!
