Table of Contents (Items Covered on This Page)

HOW DOES A WoW DIFFER FROM A HOTCAP?

COULD YOU USE SALT OR ANTIFREEZE TO MAKE THE WoW WORK BETTER?

WOULD A WoW MADE OF BLACK PLASTIC ON THE NORTH SIDE WORK BETTER?

DOES USING BLACK PLASTIC BENEATH THE WoW HELP?

DO TIRES AS RAISED BEDS WORK WITH THE WoW?

CAN YOU USE WoWs ON PATIO PLANTS?

CAN YOU GROW CROPS BETWEEN WoWs?

HOW DO WoWs STAND UP TO WIND AND HAIL?

WHAT DO I DO ABOUT INSECTS THAT GET TRAPPED IN THE POCKETS AND INSECT PESTS?

DOES THE WoW DETER PEST MAMMALS?

HOW CAN BLOSSOMS INSIDE THE WoW BE POLLINATED?

CAN ALGAE GROWTH BECOME A PROBLEM?

ARE WEEDS A PROBLEM?

WHEN DO I STAKE PLANTS GROWN IN THE WoW?

SHOULD I USE TOMATO CAGES?

 

HOW DOES A WoW DIFFER FROM A HOTCAP?

A Wallo'Water differs from a hotcap in three major ways:

1) You start using a WoW much earlier.

2) You continue to use it at least a month longer, in frost-free weather.

3) You handle it a maximum of four times a season.

 

Incidentally, point three means that the WoW is ideal for starting the garden of your summer home. As long as you can get there for a few minutes during the four critical times in the Wallo’Water Use Chart, you can forget about your plants at other times: The WoW will keep them cozy on cold nights and prevent them from cooking on hot days.

 

The use of the word "maximum" in point 3 also needs some explanation. Some users prefer to allow the growing plant to open the tepee WoW. Thus they only handle the WoW three times a season. The impact of this practice on earliness of, and increase in yield has not been thoroughly tested yet.

 

COULD YOU USE SALT OR ANTIFREEZE TO MAKE THE WoW WORK BETTER?

No, if it spilled, it would not be good for the soil.  But more importantly, it would cause the freezing point of the liquid to be below 32°F. The same 80 calories per gram of water would be given off when the liquid froze, but it would be at a temperature below 32°F, after the plant has already been damaged at 32°F.

 

WOULD A WoW MADE OF BLACK PLASTIC ON THE NORTH SIDE WORK BETTER?

Some of our more clever users have wondered about this. In principle, it should work, and it is easy to manufacture Wallo’Waters with a black half and a clear half. We have, and we did extensive testing on the resulting product. It turns out that the water temperature inside the black pockets can be several degrees higher than that in the clear pockets. This can even affect the temperature inside the WoW. However, we could detect no improvement in the growth of the plants grown in the modified WoW over those grown in the normal WoW. Basically this means that a few degrees difference in the high temperature that the water reaches in the day has little or no effect.

 

DOES USING BLACK PLASTIC BENEATH THE WoW HELP?

Both black plastic and the WoW warm the soil. However, the black plastic does absolutely nothing for the air around the plant. The WoW does plenty (see "HOW DOES THE WoW WORK?"). Although the WoW does warm the soil for a considerable distance outward, it can't cover the large area that black plastic can. Thus it is not surprising that tests show that a combination of black plastic and the WoW is better than either alone. (However, the WoW by itself is far better than black plastic by itself.) One "enthusiastic user of WoW (T. Wellnitz, Medford, MA) had trouble with ants building a colony under the black plastic. He suggested using the black plastic in the first month or so, and then removing it, which seems like a good idea to me (see next paragraph) .

 

Sheet black plastic can be awkward to work with. A simple solution is to cut the sheet into 30 inch squares with a 9.5-inch diameter hole in the center of each square. These holes provide a large area of soil inside the WoW which absorbs and stores the solar energy trapped by the WoW more efficiently than an intact surface of black plastic could. Some plants, like peppers, work better when they are crowed more closely than the 3D-inch blanket allows. Four can be clustered together on a 36-inch square blanket. A slit from the hole to the outside of these squares make them easy to remove from a plant. The 3D-inch blanket for single plants and the "pepper" blanket are illustrated in Figure 1.

 

 

Figure 1. Black Plastic Blankets for Use with the Wallo'Water

 

DO TIRES AS RAISED BEDS WORK WITH THE WoW?

A WoW sitting on one or more tiers of tires provides an efficient way to warm the soil and makes a convenient raised bed. The black tires will absorb the heat of the sun from the side and the tepee WoW will trap the heat of the sun from the top. Tires usually are designated by three numbers e.g. 205-75-15. The last number is the important one since it refers to the rim size. Tires with a rim size of 14 or larger are best since the smaller hole tends to scrunch up the WoW, especially in the tepee configuration.

 

Sawdust or dirt can be used to fill the tire. You should side dress each tier with appropriate fertilizer. Incidentally, potatoes will give a dramatic increase in yield if they are started in a single filled tire capped with a tepee WoW. A few days after the potato sprouts emerge, the tepee WoW should be changed to the open WoW (see "OPENING THE TEPEE WoW"). Each time the plant reaches the top of the WoW, a new tier of tire and sawdust (or dirt) can be added. Usually it is best to have two people remove the open WoW from the old arrangement and place it again on the new arrangement (see "REMOVAL"). Stop adding tires once the fourth tier of tires is reached. Incidentally, most garages are more than happy to let you haul away their used tires.

 

We have discovered that although the tires act as heat sinks during the day, their increase vertical surface area means they loose heat faster at night than the ground does.  Although this doesn't seem to bother tomatoes or peppers, it does cause the roots of vine crops like cucumbers and squash to grow more slowly, thus somewhat slowing the plant's overall growth.

 

CAN YOU USE WoWs ON PATIO PLANTS?

The WoW will work on patio plants, but it is not normally as effective as on garden plants. The containers for patio plants provide a large area on the side for exposure to ambient temperatures. Thus although the stem and leaves will be protected, the roots may be too cold. This effect can be ameliorated by planting transplants about two weeks after the time indicated in the Wallo'Water USE CHART or by putting a second WoW around the pot and filling it with as much water as the pot diameter will allow. Using a dark pot will also help.

 

CAN YOU GROW CROPS BETWEEN WoWS?

Plants just outside the WoWs do not get anywhere nearly as much protection as those inside, but they do get some. If space is at a premium (see "MY GARDEN IS TOO SMALL TO USE WoWs), you can use this feature to your advantage. Using black plastic (see "DOES USING BLACK PLASTIC BENEATH THE WoW HELP?"), you can intercrop early cauliflower and lettuce between the WoWs and harvest them about the time the plants in the WoW need more room.

 

HOW DO WoWS STAND UP TO WIND AND HAIL?

Another advantage to keeping the WoW around your plant an extra month is that it offers excellent protection from wind and hail. Often the plants in the WoW are the only things that survive the pummeling of a hail storm.  High winds can damage a plant by virtue of the whipping action they create. The plant in a WoW survives a wind storm better than a staked plant. Also see "FOUR STEPS TO SET UP THE TEPEE WoW" under HANDLING and "HOW CAN BLOSSOMS INSIDE THE WoW BE POLLINATED?" below.

 

WHAT DO I DO ABOUT INSECTS THAT GET TRAPPED IN THE POCKETS AND INSECT PESTS?

Insects sometimes get trapped in the pockets and drown. Most are pests and that's a good way to get rid of them. However, some may be bees. If this becomes a problem, floating a popsicle stick in each pocket will give them a platform to climb out on.  If you're in an area where the pockets become a good breading ground for mosquitoes, a drop of motor oil in each pocket will take care of the problem nicely.

 

Another advantage of the WoW is that it gets your plants over their small sensitive stage much earlier in the season. By the time most insect pests emerge, the plant is big and healthy and is more likely to withstand the onslaught successfully. Thus it provides another non-chemical tool for integrated pest management.

 

CAN MOSQUITOES BREED IN THE WoW?

Although we have never seen this happen, it is conceivable.  If it becomes a problem, add a few drops of U.S.P. mineral oil to each tube.  It is lighter than water so it will float on the top and should prevent the larvae and pupae from breathing at the surface.  U.S. Pharmacopeia mineral oil is generally environmentally benign.

 

DOES THE WoW DETER PEST MAMMALS?

If you live in an area where woodchucks, rabbits or deer can get to your garden, be assured that the WoW will provide an effective barrier to these pests. We have experience with deer and woodchucks and many of our users have had experience with rabbits, that confirm this statement. In fact many happy users are now growing crops they would not grow before because of these pests. Not only do they provide a barrier, but the open WoWs will "pulse" in the wind and this movement seems to frighten off most mammals. We have had one report of damage done by raccoons and although this appears to be an isolated incident, if raccoons occur in your area, perhaps some additional precautions would be appropriate.

 

Of course when the WoW is removed, it's a different story.  I have developed a solution that works well with deer and woodchucks.  That solution will be found under my Gardening page.

 

HOW CAN BLOSSOMS INSIDE THE WoW BE POLLINATED?

The WoW acts as a wind shield. This is good and isn't good. It's good because the plants won't suffer from wind chill factor and if it should drop below freezing inside the WoW, (It's got to be powerfully cold to do that!), the plants won't get whipped about. This whipping action can do a lot of damage as the ice crystals tear at cell structure. It's not so good because tomatoes are wind pollinated. Thus a limited number of flowers will set inside the WoW. We've found flicking the flowers with your finger or even shaking the WoW occasionally, does the trick.

 

CAN ALGAE GROWTH BECOME A PROBLEM?

Sometimes algae will grow in one or more pockets. If a large number of the pockets do this and the plant is not near the top of the WoW, it's not good for the plant because the algae will be absorbing the wavelengths of light the plant needs (unless it's a red algae, which I often get). A tablespoon of bleach in the green pockets clears them up over night. If, however, only one or two pockets develop a bloom or the plant is well above the top of the WoW, just ignore the algae; they can't rob the plant of enough sunlight to make a difference.

 

ARE WEEDS A PROBLEM?

The best way to answer this question is to divide our attention between the outside and inside of the WoW. Outside the WoW the weeds can be controlled in the usual manner. If you hoe, be careful around the WoW (see "REPAIR KIT"). Some hand weeding may be in order next to the WoW. If you apply herbicides, the WoW offers an excellent barrier to the spray. Inside the WoW you will find the weeds like the heat just as well as your plant and they'll grow... well, "they'll grow like weeds." If you are transplanting into the WoW (see "TRANSPLANTING INTO THE TEPEE WoW), the transplant will be taller than any weeds that germinate, so it will be getting the bulk of the light (see Figure 1, below).  If some weeds do catch up with the transplant, they can be pulled out easily.  If you are starting seeds in the WoW (see HOW MANY PLANTS GO IN ONE WoW), the weeds could compete with the sprouts and you should carefully weed them out by opening the WoW (if it is in the tepee) with one hand and weeding with the other.  However weeding is usually not necessary until the WoW is converted to the open configuration, at which time the weeds can quickly be hand-pulled.

 

Figure 1.  Small weeds inside the WoW around the much larger pole bean plants

 

WHEN DO I STAKE PLANTS GROWN IN THE WoW?

While it is being used, the WoW provides adequate support to your plant. Thus the best time to stake the plant is when you remove the WoW (see "REMOVAL"). This does damage the root system somewhat which can be good or bad depending upon the species. But if you want to stake the plant when you transplant it into the tepee WoW, go ahead as long as the stake is not over 4 feet tall. Remember, you will have to lift the WoW off the stake when you remove the WoW. Also try to make the stake come as close as possible to the center of the WoW at its top since the tepee WoW must fold around the steak snugly to provide proper protection. For that reason, I never stake any of my plants until the WoW is open.

 

If you are using pole beans, place a short stake (4 feet tall) when you open the WoW so the vines can grow around them and then after you remove the WoW, place the pole for the beans to climb on.

 

SHOULD I USE TOMATO CAGES?

If you use tomato cages, they should be placed around the plant when you change from the tepee WoW to the open WoW. As you slide the cage inside the open WoW, take special care to avoid puncturing the bottom with the anchoring prongs. You may have to temporarily pull the pocket next to the prong away from it before you push it into the ground. When it comes time for removal of the open WoW, you will definitely have to squeeze the water out of it (see "REMOVAL") so that the WoW will open up large enough to be lifted off the top of the cage. Because this is so risky, I recommend staking the tomato rather than putting a cage around it.  Also see "REMOVAL" for how this is done.

 

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