RE: The Pennsylvania Blues

Marv,
Here in the usually cool and cloudy northwet I use plastic to hold in
the heat.  This year I went the extra step of using the black fabric
ground cloth to help keep the weed seeds in my soil from germinating and
also to help retain heat and warm the soil.  With average night time
temps in the low 50's here and daytime highs so far this year seldom
getting out of the 60's my plants would be going nowhere unless they
were covered and warmed this way.  I haven't taken any measurements to
figure out how much of  a temperature difference it makes, I think some
people tend to overanalyze what we are doing here.  It's gardening.  And
when it comes to weather you get what you get.  I haven't used Remay but
I have seen it in use for other crops.  For my young plants I'll stay
with plastic,  I think it retains heat better, lets in more light and
with my buried soaker hoses under the plant I don't worry about spraying
inside the cloche with a hose once a week to wet the rest of the soil
that is under cover for the short time the cloche is up.  That's my two
cents worth.

Chris Michalec
Covington, WA

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Lubadub@aol.com [SMTP:Lubadub@aol.com]
> Sent:	Thursday, June 11, 1998 4:38 AM
> To:	pumpkins@mallorn.com
> Subject:	The Pennsylvania Blues
> 
> Pumpkinheads:
> 
> The weather in PA has not been a pleasant site. It is cold again today
> and
> very cloudy. It was warm and sunny in the land of Zoo Doo and some of
> the rest
> of you. My plants are just sitting there waiting. I don't have to
> worry about
> pollinating anything since so far I have nothing. Also the wind keeps
> blowing.
> My plants happily are safe in their little houses. I built them this
> year with
> plastic but think I might use Remay next year as the plants will need
> less
> watering under Remay than plastic. Anyone protecting their plants now
> with
> Remay? I was protecting them against frost but wind has been our
> problem for
> the last few years in spring and not a killer frost. Remay vs.
> plastic. Any
> thoughts????? Remay is cheaper and easier to work with and pretty
> tough too. 
> 
> Marv in Altoona
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