On Candlemas, we started our season’s greens—kales and mustard, lettuce and celery, as well as the leeks—as we always do. For years, I carried the flats to my classroom and grew them under the lights there, where I could keep a close eye on them. I loved patting the tomato plants and dreaming of summer on a stressful afternoon. But then, the pandemic happened and school closed. I needed a new way to bring the starts along; the greenhouse worked well, but it’s chilly and germination was slow and the plants were a bit leggy in the later stages. Changes needed to be made.
First, we hung two plant lights on chains from the rafters. They can be lowered over the tiny plants and raised as needed. When we are done for the season, they are tight to the rafters, out of the way of the hoses that water my home for the summer classroom plants. With the lights on a timer, the leggy problem was solved. The next year, I acquired a propagation mat for the tomatoes. They were thrilled, so I bought another. Both trays of seedlings can now have warm toes. The greens use them in February and the tomatoes in March. The peas, unfortunately, have to grow on their own.
This last week, the temps dropped to the low 20s. I didn’t make it out to the greenhouse for two days; the combination of schedule, ice on the back step, and cold snow kept me inside. When I did look in on Saturday morning, I was dismayed. The cold, it appeared, had hit the starts. I brought them in and noticed that they were not cold, but dry. A few hours later, after being thoroughly drenched in the tub, they had bounced back. Our system will work to at least 20 degrees!
This morning, I moved everyone back out to their warm mats, adjusted the light timer to stay on a little longer in the evening and start a little later in the morning (it was waking Mark up), and checked on the rest of the plants. It’s not toasty out there, but the rosemary plants for school and all of the geraniums are doing just fine, despite the grim weather outside.
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