Oh, forgot to mention. This test was set up 03/29/08.

Day 2. We had snow last night...

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I figured the test was over....Nope! Inside the WW...

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Yes, that's snow and ice on the top. I poked my finger into it....And it's warm in there.

I'm loving this test.

Will you tell us what is planted in your WOW?

digitS'

Good point Digits....Those are Straight 8 cukes. Not sure why I chose them. Wanted something that couldn't handle the cold I guess.

Do keep us posted on your progress. I bought a package of WOW's, and I've never used them before. Thought I would try them on a couple of my tomato plants once they germinate.

Bonnie

Bonnie, As the song says "I'm a believer"!

I used the WWs to start my sunflowers (from seed) last year, and the results?

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Toni (in the pic) is 5'-4".

Snow and below freezeing again last night. The cukes are still doing fine! We actually had more snow than the previous pic, enough that the openings at the top were covered with it. I suppose if we have any really cold snaps I'll put a five gallon bucket over them. I'm definately giving them a thumbs up especially with Colorados unpredictable spring weather.

This is the first year I'm trying WOW's---gonna use them for my tomatoes. Just wanted to let anyone who might be looking for them know that I got mine at WalMart for just $7.50 for a package of 3. That's the best price I had ever seen, and way better than I've seen them at "real" garden centers. So if anybody's looking for some, I recommend picking some up there before they run out.

It looks like, if they're still ok, your cuke experiment is going to be a huge success, meteor! Think of us all when you're eating cukes long before the rest of us!

Skybird

Thought I might give my 2 cents worth on this thread.

I've seen a lot of pros/cons on using Wall-of-Waters (WOW) especially when it comes to early production of fruit. This prompted me to try a non-scientific experiment similar to what Meteor is doing.

On April 11, 2004 I planted an Early Girl tomato seedling into a raised bed using a WOW. Mid-April is roughly one month before average last frost date for my area. I pulled the bottom few leaves from the plant and planted it deeply so that only the top of the plant showed, placed the WOW around it and watered it in. I continued to water as needed.

In mid-May the tomato had grown to the point that the top growth was about 4" above the WOW. I had a couple of snows during that time and numerous frosts. The plant survived in the WOW with no damage at all.

On May 16th I planted another Early Girl tomato seedling about 2.5 feet away from the one in the WOW. It was planted the exact same way, pinching off the bottom leaves and planted deep. I removed the WOW from the original plant at this time.

By early July, both plants were roughly the same size. The one thing I noticed was that the plant that was not planted with the WOW showed water stress several days sooner than the plant that was in the WOW. This watering difference was obvious up to early/mid August.

The plant in the WOW produced a ripe tomato 4 days earlier than the plant not planted with the WOW.

I'm not sure that having a tomato 4 days earlier justifies the use of Wall of Waters, but the fact that the plant in the WOW needed to be watered less than the non-WOW plant indicated to me that planting earlier, using WOWs, allows more time to develop a stronger root system. The stronger root system seems to reduce the amount of water required during the hotter months.

Another plus to using the WOW is that I am able to get out in the garden and do some planting earlier than normal.

Regardless of my non-scientific results, getting out in the garden a month earlier than normal more than justifies the use of WOWs in my opinion! :)

-Doug
-Lyons, CO

Overcast and snowed off and on all day. It was coming down hard when I was driving home from work around 4:30. checked the cukes...Still alive! I think if they make it thru this, they are gonna make it.

Oh and Bonnie (and any other first time user of WWs. They are a pain in the keister to set up. First year I used them I was filling them 1 cell at a time, basically crossing over side to side until they were full.

Read about the 5 gallon bucket method here (dont know if they come with instructions, I found a big stack of them in my shed when we bought the house 3 years ago). Basically take a 5 gal bucket, turn upside down, arrange the WW around it, start filling the cells, when full pull out the bucket. I read on here that some had problems with the bucket handle swing down and hitting the plants. What I did was fill the cells about half way, pull the bucket and lift the WW, pull the WW so the cells are touching inside, set next to the plant, then lift it up and over the plant, reach inside down to the bottom and push it out until it's in a circle again.

Woo, long post!

I have used WOWs a lot. I suggest that you put them out at least a week before you plan to set your plants out. They will warm up the soil and that makes a big difference for seedlings (probably an even bigger difference if you are planting seeds).

I have set my tomatoes out in WOWs as early as April 1 and I've never lost a plant. That's about 6 weeks ahead of my usual planting date. Filling them is a pain, and getting them off is no picnic either. By the time I take them off, usually sometime in June, the tomatoes have grown well out of the top. I think leaving them on this long has big benefits for warm-weather loving plants. As we all know, the high plains/mountains have night-time temps that dip quite a bit, even in June. Tomatoes love the constant warmth in the WOWs. I think the earliest I've gotten tomatoes is mid-July, about 2 weeks early. It's worth the trouble for me.

And, if you have limited indoor planting space, and you start your own sets, you can ship the tomatoes out to the garden before they have a chance to get leggy.

This year I'm going to try an experiment - plant sets indoors to set out and plant seeds directly into the soil under my WOWs. If the direct sown tomatoes do well, I'll have 3 extra tomato plants to trade. :-)

Very cool. I've never used these before, but I might have to try it with a few of my seedlings. Thanks for all the information!

Test over :-(. One of the dogs chewed on the WOWs and they collapsed onto the plants killing them. Still, It was working as advertised, so I wouldn't call it a failure. I'm planning on using them for my Toms and peppers next month. Wow, that felt good to type "next month". Almost time!

I've used WOW for years too. I've even improvised my own using water filled milk & juice jugs to surround plants at the beginning or end of the season. Seems to help stave off frost damage a bit longer so long as it's not a really cold frost that freezes the water in the jugs too. Also doesn't help if the plants are too tall.