Spencer Vaterlaus

Got it; heating mats and humidity domes are just for starting seeds. I guess I'll just make temporary cold frames out of hay bales and plastic then.

I don't really have land and won't for a while. Right now I'm trying to come up with a highly portable system to start warm season vegetables in early spring.

There's not enough light indoors where I am and I don't want to invest in grow lights. My idea is to use seed trays and humidity domes (as pictured above) with heat mats to grow the seedlings outdoors. I'd take them inside during the coldest nights (<24F or so) and could use cheap thermometers to keep an eye on interior temps. I figure the heat mats would keep the plants warm and healthy until transplanting time.

Has anyone tried this? Any reasons why it wouldn't work? Any better options? I've searched around but haven't found any helpful info.

I've been thinking the same. My church has 6+ of them and I'm going to make a proposal for removal as well as some other landscape changes.

That'd be great! Natural strength (and, consequentially, ergonomics) is my favorite hobby. It perfectly implements the ideas of natural and whole systems thinking.

Maybe as a sub-forum under "living?"

"Biomechanics?" "a. the study of the action of external and internal forces on the living body, especially on the skeletal system."

Thanks Jim. At this point I think I'm going to use a 50/30/20 blend of topsoil, aged horse manure, and aged leaf mold.

I have a bunch of bare root trees coming in a few days that I can't plant on site until the fall. In the meantime, I'm planting them in fabric pots but I don't know what soil medium to use. Can I use the native clayey soil? I feel like that would help acclimate it to the site conditions before planting, but I've heard a lot about how that can cause too much compaction in pots. But these are fabric pots, so does that make a difference? I don't want to buy some manufactured soilless medium, but will if I have to. So, any advice and/or firsthand experience would be greatly appreciated!

(PS. I'm new here.)

Thanks!!!
Spencer