Seedling Freeze Emergency

It's April 4 and we are having the biggest snowstorm of the year! This would be great for skiing cross country (which we haven't been able to do yet this winter!) but the accompanying cold weather is threatening our pepper and eggplant seedlings. Our greenhouse has not cooled below 45 degrees for weeks and our flats of sensitive plants there are thriving. But tonight it's heading well below 20 degrees and with the greenhouse temperature just below 40 degrees at  noon, we could lose many hundreds of peppers and eggplants. It would take six to eight weeks to grow replacements!

Over 300 Pepper and Eggplant Seedlings Growing Above Beds of Lettuce and Parsley

With outdoor temperatures now hovering near 20 degrees it would be very difficult to move these sensitive plants back into our warm house, 300 feet away. So we needed to add some heat. The flats of seedlings ride on a long beam so a member suspended above the flats can support both lights and a plastic film tent. Inside the tent, fluorescent and LED lights should add enough heat to keep the plants from freezing.

A Slender Member Suspended from the Rafters Supports A Fluorescent and LED Light 

Wrapping Plastic Around the Member and Plants Should Keep the Baby Plants Warm

Shoveling away the pile of snow that developed at the base of the greenhouse glazing allowed most of the rest of the snow to slide down, opening the glazing to the sky. Even though it continued snowing all afternoon, the temperature inside the greenhouse went up a few degrees.

Snow Piling Up at the Base Keeps the Rest of the Snow from Sliding 

Shoveling Away the Piles at the Base Allows Most of the Snow to Slide Down, Opening the Glazing to the Sky