Can you imagine potting up 54 tomato plants and then almost forgetting to protect them from frost? That’s what I did today. Fortunately I remembered just in time and they are now tucked in safely next to the house in my temporary cold frame covered with old sheets.

I brought the two flats of tomatoes upstairs several days ago when they outgrew the space under the lights in the basement. I have been saying “tomorrow I must get those potted up” for about a week now. Unfortunately, as a result of the wait time on the kitchen counter, the seedlings grew a bit leggy without the intense light and air movement my basement light & fan setup provides.

After finding pots for all the seedlings, I set up the second mini-greenhouse, but discovered that the tomatoes had grown too tall to fit between the shelves. Ideally, the tomatoes would come back inside after being transplanted, but they are too big for the lights. So I turned the box from the bagging attachment for my mower into a coldframe. The tomato seedlings should be protected from wind by the sides of the coldframe. It is against the back of the house, so the seedlings will be in the shade until mid-afternoon. I plan to cover the coldframe with a bit of shade cloth tomorrow so the seedlings don’t get sunburned. I have never hardened off seedlings in this way, it’s a little less than ideal, but I think it will work.

In addition to the tomatoes, I thinned the pepper, eggplant, and greens/brassica seedlings. They’re back inside under the lights, but I’ll move at least the brassica to the mini-greenhouse in the next few days to harden them off. I feel about a week behind, but it was so cold last week that hardening off would not have been wise.

Photos

1. Transplanted tomatoes in the coldframe.
2. Overview of the coldframe.
3. Before shot of tomato seedlings.
4. The rest of the seedlings before they were thinned. [200 seedlings in total.]
5. Tiny Tim tomato seedlings – the only ones that would fit in the greenhouse.