Old clear plastic storage bins as cold frames in the garden

[bittibuddha]

I discovered last season that upended clear and opaque plastic bins make exemplary cold frames for growing things in the garden in cool weather.

Because I have lead a craft-centric life for many years, I have close to two dozen large stackable clear plastic tote bins that have been used to store fabric and crafting supplies. The lids tend to wander off and crack more quickly than the bins themselves, however, so they were no longer suitable for their original purpose.

I brought them out to the garden, and rather than use them as containers for plants, I propped them over some seedling lettuces, letting just a crack of space show through at the bottom. I anchored the bins down from blowing away with the wind with a few large flat rocks on the sides, and voila! in just a few days, the lettuce had grown much hardier with the protection from the cold.

Hope this is helpful to any of you gardeners!

Karen

 

[Beekissed]

That is an excellent and useful repurposing!!!! Kudos for the great idea....am storing that one for later use. Reusable and can be used for other things when not being used as a cold frame....LOVE those kind of ideas. Just might make it in my book......

 

[hqueen13]

OohHHHHHH... I like it!

 

[hwillm1977]

I think I'm going to try this one Great idea!

 

[mhseesk]

I think its a great topic. I like it very much. Its so interesting.So i want some information for sharing this side with some of my friend. Thanks.

 

[mhseesk]

Good post. It is really help to us. Its give us lots of interest and pleasure. Its opportunity are so fantastic and working style so speedy. Its really a good article. It gives me lots of pleasure and interest.

 

[peteyfoozer]

Love it! I used mine, with a top, for a mini green house this year!

 

[liudaolunhui]

That was a great piece of information.Thanks for sharing.

 

[elijahboy]

AND im going to steal your idea because im going to plant pineapples and that would work well in winter to keep them safe

 

[~gd]

AND im going to steal your idea because im going to plant pineapples and that would work well in winter to keep them safe

I am going to throw stones! CLEAR plastic is usually strynene (spelled wrong) it tends to get brittle when exposed to sunlight. The stuff that replaces glass is polycarbonate but expensive for totes. clear plastic soda bottles are PET but that only works well for blow molding. Yep I use stryene for SHORT TERM cold protection but not fpr long.~gd