Building a Cold Frame
If you’ve started indoors from seed, you might be feeling as CROWDED as I am this time of year. Been planning on building a cold frame since winter, and now its time to work things out. It’ll be nice to give the plants room to breathe!
Cold frames dont need to be pretty, expensive or even sturdy for that matter. I started with no cold frame designs or plans, just a stack of 12″ shelving salvaged from a closed down foot locker and a handful of screws that were already in my pocket! They should disassemble easily to clear them out when the weather gets nice.
How to Build A Cold Frame:
My cold frames were as simple as screwing 4 boards together to construct the frame. Cold frames need a cover, so you could use old windows or plastic. Here I just used boards.
These cold frames need only to be functional, serving a very simple purpose. Keeping wind out and warm air in on cold nights.
Yep, its just a box. Covered with boards and an old blanket to keep the heat in. In the next week, I’ll be experimenting to figure out the best way to keep the heat in so that my overcrowded plants can be transplanted into pots as soon as possible and have a cozy place to stay until the weather is warm enough.
I threw the $2 thermometer in there and will be checking often against the outside temperature to see what makes the biggest difference on these crisp spring nights.
UPDATE!
I have learned from trial and error, well many errors, that a coldframe with no buffer doesnt to much to retain heat. It worked well however to keep shield tender plants from wind and sunscald, which can be devastating to new plants trying to harden off. I did have to wait until the weather tamed to put all of the plants out. It was a safe bet when the overnight temperatures were consistently 45 degrees. And I built hoops with pvc and straps and used an old bedsheet from the resale shop. I like white bed sheets because they seem to let just the right amount of light in without having to shell out a lot of cash for shade cloth. I surely will be trying this again next year.
Other Posts You Might Like
Tips For Early Spring Bonfires
Seed Germination & Growing Indoors
Hoop House Gardening
Tomato Plant Progress
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