Cold Frames Jump Start Your Tomatoes
Cold Frames help produce healthy tomato plants, making a successful transition from indoors to outdoors. Your cold frame system can be any size and as simple and inexpensive as you desire. It's called a cold frame because the only warmth comes from natural sunlight. The most common home made cold frame is a small frame placed on a raised bed, made from leftover wood, hinges and pane windows.
Many gardeners have given up starting their vegetables, especially tomatoes, from seed because they do not use the cold frame process and often their plants die during the "hardening off" period. Cold frames can help keep you from losing your delicate new tomato plants by reducing the stress going from a protected indoor environment to outdoors. It can be frustrating, after spending money for the seeds and starting supplies, babying new plants indoors, the excitement of watching them break through the soil and begin to grow, many times if you plant them straight into the garden - they don't make it. You can use cold frames with any vegetables as well as flowers. If the temperature is going to temporarily drop a bit, it is easier to simply cover your cold frame at night with an old sheet than to try and cover an entire garden of tender seedlings.
There are many types of cold frames available on the market, from commercially sold metal and plastic mini-greenhouses to large systems that can be also used as hotbeds. Old fashioned cold frames have been around for hundreds of years in one form or another: There is one style cold frame that uses four straw bales, a recycled un-broken window and a brick for propping up the window on sunny days. Another uses recycled bricks and metal frames covered with polyurethane or window sashes. You don't want it to get too hot in your cold frame so you must make sure you have a way to prop open the top. Of course my favorite method is to place 4 pieces of wood, in a rectangle shape, making sure the back is higher than the front. The size depends on the size of the recycled windows you will using to attach with hinges, making the top open for easy access to your transplants. Be sure and use a brick or prop up the windows with home made 'legs' on nice days. It is also a good idea to use a slightly raised area for drainage.
Another bonus for using a cold frame is being one of the first in your neighborhood to have home grow tomatoes and vegetables. Just remember when deciding which type of cold frame you desire, make sure the area you choose has proper drainage and Southern Exposure. You can start your seeds 4 to 6 weeks earlier than normal and give your garden a jump start before you are officially frost-free. Why not try a simple home made cold frame this year, you can use your savings to try that new variety of tomato you have had your eye on.
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