oh I'm eager to hear too... as I might be getting close myself....

do you make sure you get at least one set of true leaves going before going topless? And at night, tops go back on?

Depends.

I have only removed the tops on my lettuce and dianthus. They have finished germinating, and although they don't have their first set of true leaves, they are starting to grow. Other sprouted containers have their tops on.

I keep my sprouted jugs on a table on my patio under a huge locust tree. They are snug and safe there. some folks enlarge the holes, others like me just whip off the tops when it's time. They go straight to the recycling bin and do not go back on at night. I expect to strip off the tops on other early germinators in a week or so.

Remember, I am no coddler and endeavor to keep things simple. Other folks with other conditions have different styles.

bakemom,
may I ask what kind of weather you have now? just an average, I wouldn't ask for specifics. we have wild weather changes here so I am trying to gauge. I have increased the ventilation in my lettuce, but tops are still "on"
Since I personally have lots of "hail damage" on my posterior, it stands to reason that I would not hail damage on my jugs as well. LOL
justsaymo

Another beauty of milk jugs- the ability to change my mind. We have had unusually cold and wet weather. I mean wet, wetter, wettest. Milk jugs stayed closed. Finally a warm sunny day today (supposed to be 53 degrees later). I folded open the tops of jugs with sprouts. They're still attached at the hinge, though, and when frost/freeze returns, which it will, I can flip the top closed again. For the time being I'll most likely leave them open.

I do love milk jugs.

Karen

Lows in the upper 30s to mid 40s. Highs in upper 50s. For me, that is mild enough to open the lettuce and dianthus.

I love milk jugs too and have used Karen's techniques as well. It is cooler here and wetter, but it's still ok for the early germinators.

I think a lot depends on your weather. Where I live we have a lot of very, very warm days this time of year - up to the high 80s. Nights are typically much cooler (that changes in summer -whew) and we can have a frost or freeze on up til the middle of April.

The problem with taking the tops off sooner is that the containers dry out and since my job keeps me away from home for 10 hours every weekday, that could be fatal. I like to use the 2 liter bottles with long v-shape openings in the tops so I can just pull them up to enlarge air vents. But I tend to leave the tops on until the sprouts are up to the rim of the lower part of the container. Once I take off the tops it is a trick to keep them moist. Those tops really hold in a great deal of humidity.

So another element in the equation for me is keeping the containers in part shade. This really helps keep the covered containers from cooking AND ALSO keeps the uncovered ones from drying so fast. And it blocks the hardest rain so that nothing gets flooded.

Once the tops are off, I seldom put them back on unless really cold weather is predicted. Then I only panic about the tender annuals like zinnias. Other plants, like bachelor buttons for instance, can easily handle frost and freeze around here so I don't worry about them at all.

Try to keep it simple and logical and you will soon figure out what works best in your particular climate. The sprouts are remarkably tough and can usually handle more than you'd think.

I've been wondering about this too.

It's beautiful today--sunny, close to 60--and all the tops are off my containers, except for a few that I just don't feel like removing. I have a wide variety of containers, and it is a ROYAL pain going out there and puttting them all back together again at night. The milk jugs are the worst; I can't seem to figure out an easy way to make them work. I tried cutting the tops off completely, and then just tucking the tops into the bottoms, but then I didn't see any condensation because it was just too loose. So now I'm stuck out there taping and retaping every single night, and it's getting old. Last night I put the whole darn things into grocery bags and tied them loosely at the top. Are there other/better ways to do this?

farfaraway, I know what you mean... I just went this am to let my little maters breathe, and took the tops off their cups, but 120 of them... then, didn't want them to get too much sun, so relocated all of them, then tonite, have to put the tops back on... urgh.

on Trudi's website, there is a "tomato tunnel" I'm going to quickly make one, and they're going in there topless this weekend if the weather looks ok... this way, if I want, I just have one big top to roll back or open the ends for all of them.

hope that works, because removing the cellophane from 120 cups and then reapplying in wind is getting old fast.

I have two little plastic pop up greenhouses that I thought would do this for me, but it gets god awfully hot in there.... flats only go in at night to protect from wind & excessive rain. If I left them in during the day they'd fry fast.

I would group all of the uncovered containers together. If they needed to be covered at night, I'd try using a tarp to tent all the uncovered containers at once. Put some heavy objects on the ends of the tarp so it doesn't blow off. Just be sure to remove it in the morning before the sun has a chance to cook them. It works nice when there is a chance of heavy rain as well.

You guys are making this too hard. I know, easy to say when you have been doing this for years, but I NEVER re-cover my containers once they are done sprouting and I plant out at first set of true leaves. The sprouted containers are moved to dappled shade and, as the plants finish germinating, the covers come off. They are in those potting saucers that waters them from the bottom and keeps them from drying out.

That being said, if we get a freaky deaky late hard freeze, I wouldn't hesitate to throw a beach towel over the top at night, but otherwise I'm done.

Remember, the seeds that can handle this weather are the ones who have sprouted. Those with spotty germination or no germination yet keep their lids on and are out in morning sun waiting their turn to move to the dappled shade. The seeds know what to do.

I flipped open tops of jugs today on germinated ones, probably won't close again unless heavy rain or hail. All of these are hardy ones, not bothered by cold. They're under roof now, I moved them because of so much recent rain. Another 2 to 3 inches of rain due tomorrow, but they're under roof so no problem.

I only do the open/close thing for tender annuals, which I haven't even sown yet, except for a very few. Those haven't germinated yet because the weather is too cold for them.

Karen

Being a newbie and in a warmer zone has its disadvantages. LOL But trial by error has been fun.

I did what Trudi's site said. (I think!) Once I saw some green peeking through...I started venting the tops. I did wait until there were several germinated seedlings rather than just one. I vented gradually until the tops were completely removed.

We did have a couple nights where the temps got down to 35-38 and I threw towels over the pots but they've been topless for about a month now. Our night time lows are in the upper 40's-50's. Days in the 60's-70's.

The only thing I've messed up on was not planning for all this rain we've had. I have a couple of shower curtains that I think I'm going to swap out and use as a rain protector rather than trying to put tops back on 100+ containers or move them. LOL

We've had heavy rain for several days and everything is just swamped. Some of my planted seedlings (in my problem bed) don't look so hot. But I've got replacements growing now. LOL Even with the rain, all the others are just peachy.

I keep telling myself that by July, I'll be praying for rain. LOL

Bakemom, I like your style. Those covers are coming off today and that's that. So much easier than this open/retape/open/retape nonsense I've been engaging in.

Do it baby! Spend that extra time doing bed prep.

Already done. The lids stayed off yesterday, last night, and today. SO much easier! I'm just pulling tops off of partially germinated flats/jugs so that they can dry out a bit after last night's soaking. But I'm loving how much easier this is!

Bakemom,what you said makes perfect sense ,thanks for helping me iron that one out! :)