BLACK PLASTIC WRAP AROUND WHITE 5 GALLON BUCKETS

[sprtsguy76]

SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS. I'VE GOT A TON OF 5 GALLON WHITE BUCKETS. I PLAN ON GROWING SOME TOMATOES IN THEM. I THOUGH THAT SINCE MY BUCKETS ARE WHITE IT WOULNT HURT TO WRAP THEM WITH BLACK PLASTIC TO DRAW IN SOME HEAT JUST FOR THE EARLY PART OF THE SEASON. OF COURSE I WOULD TAKE THE BLACK PLASTIC OFF AT THE END OF SAY APRIL. DOES THIS SEEM LIKE A GOOD IDEA OR EM I WASTING MY TIME?

DAMON

[ContainerTed]

Give it a try. Your area will dictate what you need to do. A simple thermometer will answer your question as to whether it works.

Ted

[fishntime]

Give it a try. I think it will work fine.

[sprtsguy76]

Ok so I decided to wrap my 5 gallon buckets with black plastic and it has worked like a charm. It has jump started my plants. I'm keeping tabs on temps, but so far 70-80 degrees has been the daily peek which is perfect. I will probably leave the black plastic on for the rest of the month. When May rolls around I'll probably remove it. Here are a few pictures.












Damon

[ireilly]

You could probably just buy black plastic trash bags of the right size and thickness and reuse them for trash later, if you use plastic trash bags. We do here. Wouldn't even have to cut them apart.

[Tom C zone 4/5]

I might want black wrappers of some kind when temperature of soil/air is cool. I suspect when summer rolls round, you may well want wrapper off.

[Sun City Linda]

Looks good, did you make those cages? LInda

[sprtsguy76]

Tom- yes I plan on removing the plastic at the end of the month.

Linda- thanks, yes I made them all from CWR

[kath]

Those are some sturdy, healthy looking mater plants, sportsguy! Looks like you're making great use of your space, too.

[chalstonsc]

Sprts,
Nice plants!...I grow in buckets too, but it gets hot around here so fast the black plastic hasn't seemed worth the effort. Looking at yours, maybe I'll try a side -by- side next year though.

This year I'm putting one white bucket inside another to see if I can keep the soil cooler, longer when it really heats up around here....have you ever done that?

[geeboss]

Damon

Where are your Tan GeoPot's?

George

[sprtsguy76]

chalstonsc- I've never tried the bucket in bucket but I've heard good things about that method.

George- My one and only Tan GeoPot is in the very bottom left corner of the first picture. I decided not to buy more GeoPots because I get 5 gallon buckets for free. I'm growing some more tomatoes in larger totes 10-15 gallon not shown in the pictures above. Did you ever pull the trigger on your GeoPot order?


Damon

[lakelady]

Just saw this , great idea Damon, I'm thinking of ways to get my plants out a tiny bit earlier and the black plastic is a good idea!

How did you attach your cages to the buckets?

[sprtsguy76]

Antoniette- I drill 1/4 holes through the side of the buckets about 2 inches down from the top and secure with uv resistant plastic zip ties. Works great!

Damon