Spent the day playing around with little bolts to put this together. Should extend my growing window by a month, won’t be able to extend end of season I think though.
Where did you get this, or did you build it yourself?
this post was submitted on 02 May 2025
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Just look at these tiny things!
A quick suggestion as those don't look like nylon lock nuts; grab yourself some medium strength locktite and put a drop on each of the threads otherwise that frame will slowly become loose due to thermal expansion/contraction cycling
Good call. I was gonna silicone some joints to make everything more permanent as well.
Looks at post
Looks at calendar
Looks at thermometer, showing 79°F at nearly 9PM
Looks at post again, more confused than before
I'm sorry, being however far North you must be that buying a cold frame in May makes sense for you just doesn't compute for me.
halp
Well, at least Monday's low isn't a zero... 🥶
My lawn this morning. Frosty!
Okay, okay, I get it; you live in the Frozen North. Say hi to Santa Claus for me next time you pass him on the street!
Well now it is thanks! Haha. I live in a valley, so I take extra degrees lower. Large city, the official temp is at the airport on the other end of the city.
3 degrees this morning, vehicles have condensation on them, last frost is around May 24 and it can still snow.
Solo cup (or generic equivalent) starts! I do the same thing. Way cheaper than buying "gardening pots", but you do have to put holes in them.
I have a very cobbled together grow light getup for my starts, but have thought about trying to make an enclosure around one of my raised beds to get the temp up earlier and push the season out.
Only cheaper if they survive a few rotations haha.
They’re double cupped, so inside cup has a hole, second cup collects the water. As these were and still mainly inside in my tents.
I've had mine going for three years and they seem to be holding up as well as the cheap poly grow pots, so woo. I keep my starts in a tray to keep the extra water and keep the bottoms moist if I miss a watering.
I’ll likely do something like that in the cold frame, swamp watering or bottom watering does have some advantages! It’s so dry here I don’t think the solo cups will last a whole day.
Toasty.
Also Canadian. I bet you can extend seasons depending on what you are trying to grow. A small cold frame would be beneficial for greens, brassicas and other cold weather crops. We grow these year round. When we were in the city I made some from some old pallets and a window I picked up in alleyway junk piles.