Thank you for this video. I might attempt the same. I searched but couldn't find your pepper tunnel that you mentioned.. I would love to see that video too! 😊
Cheap and effective! Love how between your and Kevin's videos we get to see both low and high cost approaches at a gardening endeavor. I'm sure we all dream of a glass house but this is how I'll be growing for the foreseeable future.
You should add a few rocks or bricks inside the cloth frame to act as “thermal batteries“. They would store heat during the day and release it during the night. With enough mass, that would help to even out the temperature swings. A concrete, gravel-, or sand-filled table top could potentially do that without taking up extra space.
I was about to comment something similar! Could do even better if you were willing to move something in and out at night so it can get direct sunlight all day.
On my seedling table, I put down thick cotton throw rugs about two by three feet placed under the trays. They add warmth. I have even placed the plastic seedling tray dome on top of the seedlings and then the rug over that, to "blanket" them. Works great. The carpets make great knee protectors in the garden too. I just pop them in the washing machine and dryer and reuse them.
Great video thanks Jacques! Really enjoyed seeing your set up. I’m reusing materials from around my home rather than buying so I got great ideas from this. Hi from Australia 👋🏻
Don't look at the temp only. The advantage for plants to stay out of the wind and draft is enormous. I found that out over my years doing container gardening. Moving my plants out of the draft made a huge difference. :)
Totally! I can't recall now if I mentioned that but that was a huge reason for this. The cold gusts and drafts of winter are really good at stunting transplants
An old trick in New England with our long winters is Cold Frames. On the South side of your house, use straw bales - lower in front, sloping higher toward the back & window frames slanted over bales. Fill the bottom with horse manure - which creates a small amount of heat as it breaks down. Look up Elliot Coleman's books if you are anywhere that gets a true winter ! He's in Maine and has lots of excellent advice. California is a whole different climate, and I would suggest the pink or blue insulation in place of the cardboard, but if I remember correctly, that is either not available in Ca., or crazy expensive?! We've had a weirdly mild winter here in Massachusetts, but it is still jarring to see all the green in CA. & seed starting outside ! Very enjoyable video, Jacque !
I have always wanted to try making a hot bed like that! Charles Dowding is also a big fan of them. I have also been considering making a cold frame just for germination of things like peppers and I might still do it 👀
@@jacquesinthegarden and horse poop is normally free ! (You might have to shovel it!) LOL. I love learning about old time low tech ways of addressing issues. Would definitely be interested if you do the peppers that way. I DID have a friend grow tremendous melons accidentally in her compost pile. The heat of the compost breaking down boosted the plant & it was green & growing way ahead of everything else. That is what I would call "NO TECH!" Versus low tech ! ;)
I’m loving the ingenuity! It’s a pretty sweet setup. 10 degrees is a huge difference; it could be do or die for some plants. The white cover kinda makes me think what if Dexter was a gardener, what would Dexter do? 🤔The ‘Inspired by Dexter Seed Starting Table Collection’. I dig it.
Cool build. You mentioned having the structure lower. What if you drilled the holes in the corners all the way through so that the conduit could slide up or down? Then use some type of clamp to hold the structure at the specific height you want. Maybe get another 1x4 to test that out? Regardless, always fun to see the projects you have around the garden.
At some point I realized that the corner connectors can actually just slide down to any height. The trade off is that I would have to rip holes into the fabric to allow it to slide down as well. In theory that's fine but I couldn't think of the best way to stop those holes from falling apart. I have some ideas now but I foresee this being an evolving build and look at this as v1!
2:22 I have that exact greenhouse! Perfectly sized for my gardening space (a balcony). I got it for Christmas, and if I recall correctly it was on my Amazon wish list.
My man Jacques starting seeds outdoor & protecting them with a cloth so thin you can see through it, meanwhile we're still freezing our asses off in the top half of Europe. This table is a good idea, but we wont be able to use it before the end of april/early may and that's kinda too late for summer crops, we can use it for fall crops though.
Jaques, having watched this video to the end, I feel you need to embrace sewing machines. You could make a glorious fabric sheath with the power of sewing.
Interesting Jacques! If I grew that many seedlings I definitely would want a set up like the one you just built. I just haul all my trays in at night. Thanks for the vlog!
I like your set up! I have a seedling table I got from a recycling center. We keep in the garage with grow lights and heat mats. I harden them off and place them in a greenhouse until they are ready for transplant or pot up.
Just the interesting differences from garden to garden. So many things you showed us kept me thinking that won’t work for me because of current temperatures or wind. I love to see what others do. Thanks for this content.
Hey Jacques great showcase of a build on a budget. If you wanted variable height you could drill the conduit holes all the way through the 2x4's and use your clips as stoppers. Would be an easy way to change the height to fit whatever you have inside.
I just put the plastic on the low hooptunnel I'd been building. Seed starting and growing to transplant size/waiting for the weather to be ready is the single biggest reason why I built it. I also want to see if peppers and cukes will grow better for me (summers here don't get that hot), and get nicer overwintered greens. I'm tired now.
If you ever really want to up the heat with a long lasting device, you could pipe it in from a solar oven. Keep the oven locked open on hotter days to prevent fire hazard. And, it will last longer than the greenhouse you bought from aldi for seedling heating.
Something you might consider. Places like Lowes etc. have 4X8 foot sheets of foam insulation fron half inch to one inch thickness. Easy cut to fit material .
You can buy the little green houses online from Home Depot and I'm sure other places. They come in different sizes. I'm intrigued by those conduit connectors and building possibilities, What is the longest span these connectors will support? I looked on the website but it doesn't say since they are designed to go with the Birdies beds.
They are all designed around standard 10 ft conduit spans, the one I linked can easily support a 10 foot span without issue. We also sell the 8in1 Birdies kit (look under accessories) which comes with a t connector so that you can attach two 10 foot spans together making for something that is technically 10 x 20 feet. I am not sure how much that could realistically support though.
I’m going to ask the dumbest question. Why was the humidity lower in seedling tent then outside I’m confused cause you’re still kind of trapping in moisture, correct
my seedling table is built out of a couple of old saw horses that the roofing crew left behind at my house 4 years ago along with some plywood i had left over from re doing my bathroom floor.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing, Jacques! You mentioned the seeds might be even warmer inside if the structure was lower because heat rises but I wonder if the fact that there would be less surface for the sun to hit would cancel that out? I don't know...just a thought experiment. I'm shit at physics :-)
Amazon has that greenhouse secure referring to for $43.77. I’ve had one like that but the wind took care of it. I think that if I had had it up against the house that would’ve been a different story.
I have the exact same Aldi greenhouse 😂 what I don’t like about it is lack of airflow though. I decided this season (literally this morning) to set it up as my seedling shelves but just without the cover on it
If you have a table or setup that is difficult to level, then one thing I do is to rotate the tray 180 degrees after a minute or two to help even things out
Can we get the epic cells and that tray in stores? I love Walter Andersons but all they sell is that flimsy crap plastic tray that flakes away after 6 months outside.
I did nothing but throw a sheet of plywood on top to stop the rain from flooding the seedlings. The wind didn't do any damage which I thick is due to the fact that I kept all the fabric really tight.
Its titled "My Best Tips for ABUNDANT Pepper Harvests" ill link it here and see if that works: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vlQc41IWOl4.html
Only question I have about seeds vs seedlings is How much water do they really need at each stage? Do you water once a day? Botton water for germination or just seedlings once emerged? Also do you soak any of your seeds? For reference of how I am starting this year, I do have the EG 6 cell trays.
Would a tarp zipper work with that fabric? These are used in construction when blocking off work areas with tarps or plastic to keep dust and debris in the work zone. The plastic film is sliced like you did the fabric after you apply the strong self adhesive zipper (unzip it and slice a door in).
where do you get the fabric hold down clips to hold fabric on conduit?. i found a maker kit not the 161.. i love the make it yourself idea but the greenhouse amaon has 29$. thank you. love your videos.
I tossed a plywood sheet on top weighed down with a paver to dampen the rain and the even with the wind there was no issue with the fabric and I didn't have any tearing or issue like that.
I was wondering the same (especially concerning the use of cardboard). With a week of rain forecast for San Diego starting tonight, looks like he'll know very soon!
So I did just get some rain and discovered that the low point of the fabric collects all the water and drips it down in a stream. One of the cells of my tray got washed out. So now I am considering adding a clear polycarb roof sheet!
I have brought them out to full sun without any major issue, this cloth lets in 85% of light which is enough to not have to go through the hardening off process.
those 2x4 not 1x4. and from the end they look like 2x3. I envy you your climate. Missouri is a rough place to grow things. Too hot at time. Too cold at times...and highly variable weather..
I was almost tempted to start some seeds with the new moon last weekend but I knew how cold it gets at night this time of year, today the weather included snow flurries here just four miles in from the mendo coast! Your structure wouldn’t,t have stood up to the wind gusts we,ve been getting either😢 HOWEVER if I made one not so tall it could possibly work here. I,m also going to use those bubble envelopes under my trays because my table top is made of hardware mesh. I will also try using water filled laundry soap jugs as thermal mass in with the seed trays under the tent. Thank you for showing how it can be done!
Aren't you the guy that did a video with Kevin from Epic Gardening where you said that we have to be careful about not having chunky things in the seed starting mix because the tiny little seedlings can't push up under the weight of that chunky thing? Stop and think about it....if that were true, we wouldn't have any forests. Don't you think God makes those little seedlings strong enough to push away a chunk of wood so it can grow up and see the light? Haven't you ever seen weeds growing out of asphalt? Think about it. That comment from you is so absurd...and where in the world did you even get that idea?
I am that guy, and It is because I am referring to things that aren't weeds. The seeds we sow aren't wild native plants that readily exist and thrive in nature. Most seeds would be fine to push through most soil but it isn't true for every seed. Smaller seeds like small herb seeds or flowers would struggle to germinate properly. Obviously a squash is going to plow through whatever is above it but there are other seeds that aren't as vigorous. There is also the fact that if you are growing in sees trays the bigger chunks of material won't keep the seeds hydrated leading to worse germination. Also, you are always welcome to ask why I said something instead of plowing in with conjecture that doesn't connect in the future. Most gardeners aren't seed starting with weeds so that is an important distinction.
@@jacquesinthegarden I have seen my own seedlings pushing up against a bit of chunky weed, so no, you're statement doesn't make sense. And I believe I did exactly what you asked me to do: I asked. I did not plow in with conjecture. I did not conjecture why you made that statement, I just said I thought it was absurd. I still think it is absurd because you seem to imply that herbs and small flowers don't grow in the wild. It just doesn't make sense.
