DIY ‘Heater’ for outdoor Plants
I came up with this simple, effective method for extending the growing season for a variety of plants. In fact, I used several of them a couple of years ago to grow many heirloom tomato plants all the way through the winter in my Northeast Florida garden. It would be most effective to use this as supplimental heat in a greenhouse or hoop house - and I used them in the latter manner to grow the tomatoes above.
As pictured, all you do is take a fairly large nursery planter, place a plastic garbage/trash liner inside, and then fill with water. You can then just twist the surplus plastic and let it lay, or better yet, place leaves on top. The black surface functions as a solar heating by heating up the volume of water throughout the day. When night approaches, it slowly releases heat back into the ambient air. It is the same principle as the Wall of Water, except that this method is free and doesn’t require placement around the plants! The more of these you can use, the better, and just place them as close to the plants as possible. Also, these nursery planters can many times be obtained for free from landscapers, nurseries, and by the roadside.
