The reason you can't trust the volume of nursery pots, Jim, is that those black nursery containers are all "nominal" sizes. That means the volume of the pots is vaguely related to the stated gallon size. A "5 galllon" nursery can is 10.5 in. diameter and 12 in. tall. My online calculator says that is only 3.75 gallons if you pot 2 inches from the top of the pot. That isn't large enough for any rose past the first year or so if it puts on vigorous growth. The foot stomping is an old landscaper practice. It's just a cheap way of determining settlement without taking the time to water a plant in. I wouldn't do it. Water your plant in to settle the soil. I've seen people planting roses into dry potting soil. I wouldn't do it. Many potting soils have peat moss which sheds water once dry. Those of you in climates with steady rain year round may not have this problem, but in the desert West, once peat dries out, it takes a concerted effort to dampen it. I open the bag of soil, stick the hose in, fill it up and mix. Then I pot with dripping wet potting soil and also water it in. It's mud pies for grownups. It assures that the soil comes to the optimal height in the pot (about 2 inches down) and fills major air pockets. I unpot roses all the time and have never found an air pocket. I don't drop pots on purpose. Our summers are too hot to grow a lot of roses in pots well. We can't keep the roots cool enough through June and July. I overpot extensively. A 3 x 3 rose goes in an ornamental pot that is 22-24 inches high. I use various decorative pots from the big box store and always buy the biggest size. Why? They bring to rose up to height and look more in scale with a landscape. It's funny how a pot looks big in a store and miniature in the garden. Also, with those big pots I'm approaching the 15 gallon actual size I find any healthy rose needs. I do a seat of the pants volume-of-cone calculation to guesstimate the volume of the pot, taking into consideration the potting soil is probably 3 inches from the top of the container. Here's a nice online volumetric calculator. http://www.online-calculators.co.uk/volumetric/conevolume.php

Winter is over, it's early spring i'm worried about. Your greenhouse appears to be polycarbonate. Mine is 6 mil plastic. I just came in as it has turned cloudy. 50 degrees outside the greenhouse 59 within. It's not completely closed up. I need to tape, patch holes and sorta seal the base from drafts. Definitely not an ideal structure. i'm about as early as you can get because these plants were started about 1 year ago. They are the suckered growth of a suckered tomato plant but i consider them to be 1 year old or more. I have got away with a 6 month old tomato plant(same variety)I had grown in the house on Halloween because that year late blight wiped out everything. I wrapped it up in heavy row cover and set it outside April 1st. It got a bit frost bitten. That was 2 or 3 years ago. Last year I tried to get an early jump in March and the tomatoes all died. They were set in the ground though. no double greenhouse just a single one.

Chris, You might want to try the bubble wrap - it is very light in weight and inexpensive. I've only seen photos of your type of greenhouse, but don't think the solar pool cover would be a good idea. First, it's going to cost you about least half as much as your portable g'house; the lowest cost one I saw was, I think, around $80. Also, they are quite heavy and I don't know if your frame is built to carry that kind of load, especially if you get a late snow. So far as I know, everyone uses the "clear" type of solar pool cover (it's actually kind of cloudy-clear), so lets a good amount of light through. I don't know how cost-effective it might be in that type of structure, but if you get strong, cold winds predominantly from one direction, you could probably stand a sheet of rigid foam insulation inside that wall ... just don't block the sun from coming in your south-facing wall, and try to allow in what morning and afternoon sun you can. Hope this helps, and good luck with your peppers. Are you starting anything else? Diane

Go to your recycling center and look for free windows. I did.