Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie
My coldest weather is usually from about Christmas through the end of January. It's a good time to give up gardening and let the cold weather kill the bugs and disease I have cultivated all summer.
I am just about to start my first seeds of the year inside, which should be moved out into the greenhouse about mid-Feb. When I only have a few flats of small plants, I can stack them on shelves, cover them with plastic, and put a heater underneath. They are fine that way, even with night temps into the low 20's. My problems arise when weather that cold arrives later in the spring, when I have a greenhouse full of larger plants.
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I am not sure all your environmental circumstances ....but maybe it seems a bit counter intuitive ...just to move your seedlings start time and back time about 10 days
save some heat time/budget .....less of a risk for cold ....and greater photo period in the day etc.....also if you start them to soon ...there may not be a safe place for them to go when they get bigger etc.
In my circumstance it made sense to move my seedling start times back ..for
heat/ space / photoperiod / in order to be more efficient for my open tunnel .
I always used to chomp at the bit to start seedlings week of Ground hog day (Feb.2 +) But I always now actually activate seedling start about Feb.15(or later) and
have open tunnel and it works out much better for .....protection/ heat / space /.
It didn't solve all the risks and problems ...but sure made it better.
In your case a later start may save you some heating /cost and lessen /avoid that "late spring" freeze problem . ????