Portable Greenhouses for Jump Starting Question??

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tobee43 groveland, FL(Zone 9b) Mar 25, 2006

ahhhh what we do when we are desperate for that jump start! i have never used one of these outside before and would like to know if anyone has used them to jump start their seeds in a zone 4. i have a plan and was hoping for someone to tell me if i'm on the right road...or on a dead end! they never covered this in the master gardeners program!

we purchased two 9x10 potable houses. we put one up in a glass room we had over winter and it did ok with some of our tender tropicals we have. now we want to take the other one and put it up about the end of april. the idea i had was to start the seeds indoors in the glass room mid april, then about the beginning of may move them out to this portable greenhouse for a few weeks and then the third week in may give them one week outdoor hardening before planting the last week in may. we do have a portable heater so maintain temp. but i'm thinking i shouldn't put the plants outside in the house until the first week in may. anyone have a better way?? we would appreciate any suggestions.

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Chicory31 Mint Hill, NC(Zone 7a) Mar 26, 2006

Right now I have some cuttings and some pansies i grea from seed , aquilegia and a few other things that can take the cold out in a cold froame with a kerosene heater I bought from England (ebay from Growarm , looks like a latern almost) anyhow it is keeping the cold frame above freezing around 35-37 maybe. Anyhow I cover the cold frame with a comforter at night too.
My cold frame is just 2 pieces of my round pen for the horse leaned against each other to make a what looks like a tent(these look like fence pieces made of metal tubing). over that I have 6 mil plastic I got at the hardware store. I hold it down with some 4x4s and rock (which grow here). The ht is only about 4', so it is hard to move around inside but so for far not one plant has frozen or gotten damaged by cold.I have lettuce growing in there too.
I think if you wait until the night s are about 28 and your plants were grown cooler they will not have a difficult time in the grow house you have , I have a small greenhouse I grow things around 55 degrees even the trops, so the transitions was easy for the seedlings, I would cover it with a blanket or something at night to keep some heat in . The more you have in it the warmer it will stay just remeber that, so even if you put empty pots in it they will help keep the GH warm.
Good luck!

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tobee43 groveland, FL(Zone 9b) Mar 26, 2006

chicory....thanks so much. unfortunately the seeds i'm working with this year can't take 28 degrees they need about 70. so i'm thinking once i have them started in the sunroom and move them out i'll put the heater in and set it at 70 for the night times. during the day it should reach that temp i would think on a sunny day?? this should prove interesting if nothing else!

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