Anyone ever use floating row cover?

[OnionPatch]

I'm waiting for some of this stuff to arrive. http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=2005
I've never used it before but I think it will be perfect for us. You lay it right over the rows. You can prop it up a bit if you like but it's supposed to be able to float right on top of the plants without causing damage.

We live in an area that gets light frost throughout the winter and an occasional dusting of snow. This will be our fourth winter here. One winter it was mild enough that I had lettuce and broccoli growing all winter! (With no row cover.) The other two winters, stuff was growing well until January or February when a frost killed off most of it. So it seems that we are just on the border of being able to grow stuff all winter and I'm hoping this will help. It should get here today.

I've planted broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, a bunch of different kinds of lettuce, snow peas and snap peas, beets, cilantro, carrots and green onions. Let's see if this row cover helps us to eat good this winter.

Edited to add: I've also got three young cherry tomato plants growing in the garage in pots in the south-facing window. (I should start a thread on this alone....I wonder if anyone else has tried this.) Last winter I did this and got some tomatoes. This winter, my method has improved and I think I'll get even more. I'll be eating fresh salad all winter! :bounce:

[OnionPatch]

1. Here's a link for the tomato project

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic_Gardening/2004_October_November/Winter-Tomatoes

I'm thinking of putting a shop light over them on a timer for just a few hours every evening to lengthen the day. We'll see what happens.

[Kolesar]

3. Buy a "T8" shop lamp for efficiency.

T5 lamps are even more efficient. You will find those in gardening or coral-growing catalogs and they are definitely more expensive. I don't recommend T12 designs or the vintage "F" bulbs like F32, F40, etc. The "F" series are being discontinued in a program by the Dept of Energy and the electrical manufacturers because they are old designs and not efficient.

[OnionPatch]

5. I actually have a big grow light of some kind

I don't know what it is exactly, someone gave it to me a while back. He used to grow hydroponic veggies with it. I think it needs a new bulb but I never knew where to get one. I don't know if it's one of the ones you mentioned. I only see the number S145 on it. :shrug: Maybe I can dig up the papers that came with it. I'll bet it's not very efficient. It's very big and very loud.

[Kolesar]

9. If it has one big fat bulb, then it is an HID or "arc" lamp and it is efficient

That buzzing sound is the transformer in the "ballast". Google that part number and "HID" lamp and you will probably find a gardens supply catalog or a lighting catalog to get a new bulb. They sell HID bulbs at Home Depot. I have never worked with an HID lamp, so I am not sure of the terminology.

[Kolesar]

2. I am planning to use recycled campaign sign frames to hold mine up

We would surely like to start gardening earlier next year. The plan is to put black plastic down on our 30" x 22' raised beds to warm the soil for a few weeks. Then, plant a third of our crops about a month early and cover them with the thinnest row covers we can find. May is still a cold-soil month where we live. There is a huge frozen lake five miles away that keeps the May days chilly.

I found row covers recommended by an author who gardens in Northern Vermont, about two chilly zones north of us. He uses them to extend the season. Our problem is that late in the season, the shadows shift and our garden does not get enough light.

[OnionPatch]

6. I love that idea!

Campaign signs! A lot of them have the U-shaped metal frames. Darn, if I had thought of that, I could have gone around the day after election day and got a bunch of them.

I grew up in Ohio! But not that far north. I know you get a lot of weather from the lakes.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Yes, we use it to protect lettuce from light frosts.

It doesn't get cold enough here to hurt the broccoli but the floating row cover is handy for baby greens and young shoots in the spring. The row cover for your area would be a thicker mil than the stuff we use but the idea is the same. Row covers help minimize the insect damage in the spring garden too.

We don't prop it up but we do weigh down the edges (keeps it from flying off on a windy night.) It does retard grow if left in place all day every day.

From the sound of your weather pattern you should consider building a cold frame. We have inexpensive knockdowns that we use in some of our raised beds. Cold frames would give you a little more frost protection than the row covers.

[OnionPatch]

7. Well, one of these days

I will have a small greenhouse. My husband promised to make one for me. He has a plan to use the old house windows when we replace them. I should probably invest in a little cold frame, though, at the rate those things get done around here. ;)

[FloridaPat]

8. I used it one year and it didn't seem to help much. This year I plan

on using blankets.

[OnionPatch]

10. Where in Florida are you?

I lived in St. Pete for ten years. (I sometimes miss FL very much...all that moisture....my skin is cracking out here!! And warm beaches....California beaches are COLD!!) We never got any frost in St. Pete. You must be further north? Too bad the row cover didn't work for you. I hope I have better luck. It wasn't very expensive, so I think it's worth the try.

[FloridaPat]

11. I'm in Lakeland. In the cold section of region 9. Last year we had

one night of a hard freeze. Destroyed 4 years worth of growth on some of my trees. Really annoying.