water tents?

I'm a newbie at gardening. It seems no matter what you read, the real thing is different.

I started my tomato and pepper seeds very late this year. I purchased some water tents and am going to try the seedlings in them. This is obviously a HUGE experiment. I figure I can still get buy plants if it fails.

Does anyone else have experience using the water tent?

I bought clear ones for peppers and the red tinted ones for tomatoes. I'm letting them warm for a 60+ degree day and then commencing.

Wish me luck!

I have heard of the Wall'o'Water a which a friend of mine swears by. Are your water tents anything like that? (by the way, my friend and I harvest our tomatoes at about the same time).

I purchased a pack of 3 Wall-O-Water plant protectors at the end of last summer, but have used them yet. I am also curious if they work and when I should put them to use.

Thanks!

JennAndCompany wrote:I purchased a pack of 3 Wall-O-Water plant protectors at the end of last summer, but have used them yet. I am also curious if they work and when I should put them to use.

Thanks!

Did they come with directions? In your zone, I would think with in the next few weeks. When is your last frost date? May 30ish?

I use WallOWaters for peppers all season, since our evenings to mornings are so damp and chilly, and tomatoes. I remove the ones on the tomatoes once the plants have grown about a foot above them, but still keep the tomatoes either under plastic cloches or in an unheated, ventilated greenhouse (that has windows that can be closed in the evenings) because of the iffy weather and temperatures. We can't grow peppers (at home) without them because of our home's location.
I've used both the red and green and honestly don't see much difference in production. The main thing the WoW will do is to protect the plant from significant drops in temperature overnight or on an unexpected cold snap. If used early in the season, the plant sometimes will outgrow one that doesn't have one but gets more sun during the day, but quite frankly, I don't see an earlier harvest with them most of the time.

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I got the 6 water tents up yesterday. I will let them soak in the sun for a couple of days (supposed to mid 60 to mid 70). Then perhaps add a HOT water bottle to the inside for transplant day.

Our last frost date is June 1 per published dates.

I bought 3 clear with drawstring tops for peppers (available on amazon) and 3 cozy coats for tomatoes in red. I really am looking for the accellerated early growth. Harvesting at the same time would be great since my plants are playing catch up anyway!

You will notice that I'm more of a container garden person, but I do use MM and selfwatering containers mostly. I also bought container soaker cloth to help hold moisture as well. I do have a 3x4 box currently growing greens, onions, broccoli, and carrots in MM too.

camprn wrote: Did they come with directions? In your zone, I would think with in the next few weeks. When is your last frost date? May 30ish?

The directions are on the package. In addition to explaining how to set up the Wallo'Water, the package says "...start your cold-sensitive vine crops such as tomatoes, peppers, squashes, and melons up to two months early."

My last frost date is 5/20 - So I think you are right, camprn, I can start using mine in the next few weeks (providing I can get plants this early - lol - I have yet to successfully start plants indoors).

@hruten your water tents look great

Thanks JenandCompany!

I'm like what your byline says, 1st year doing it right! or at least trying hard

I stuck my hand in a red tent after 1 day and I could not believe the temperature difference! Even though I filled the tent with cold water the evening before there was already a significant rise in temperature within the red tent. The temerature rise in the clear tents was less, but still evident. I'm shooting for a weekend planting of my "tiny guys".

Side note: today's Arlo and Janis comic strip had Janis Staring at her garden with a magnifying glass and yelling at it.... Arlo comes up 4 frames later and says, "Be Patient" SO TRUE I PUT IT ON MY FRIDGE!