So Excited.... First Ever Greenhouse!

@Irmemac

 

Shouldn't Betty Boo go
"Boop boopy doop"

or is that someone else?
(Marilyn Monroe? )

G.

 

Oh dear.. I had 3 pairs of bell bottom cords in pink, purple and black in my teens. I'll pass on having another pair, they soak up water to your knees! Quite like them earrings though!

 

Jack, right first time, you clearly know your vamps....:rasp:

 

I'm not just a pretty face


G.

 

Well, not a lot going on in the greenhouse right now. Some nemesia cuttings have taken well, and are looking very green, with buds, compared to the yellowing parent plant outside. Couple of arenaria cuttings are stretching too, but the lavender is just sitting there not really doing anything. I have a bunch of plants overwintering there, but removed the geraniums to the house and they are flowering prolifically.

Temperatures are considerably lower here, and we have had a few frosts. The inside of the greenhouse has had frost on the polycarbonate panels, but I have noticed that condensation in general is very high and I have got puddles and drips from it every day. Should I just let this happen, and keep everything clear of wet areas, or do you do anything about it? Although I have dropped subtle hints about it I have no chance of getting even a little heat into the greenhouse..... well, not this year anyway

 

Heating your whole greenhouse will be expensive even if you just try and keep it frost free at about 3 or 4 c.
Find one of those plug in power meters very handy to see how much is being used.

You can add bubble film all over, but always found it a bit of a job and always looks a bit messy and so easy to get a massive cold draft when you go in and out.

Some say section off part and just insulate and heat that, but again in a small 8x6 it can be more trouble than its worth.

Found making a growing frame placed on the bench, eg 4x2x2h ft quite economic and allows a lot of smaller plants to grow happily at higher temps.
Running mine at 15c and its costing about 20p a day, including one of those heated seed tray propagators which are great for cuttings and seeds with minimum power use, though I throw a layer of bubble film over them on cold nights.

Not essential , but very helpful to have both of them on good thermostats which helps avoid overheating when you have some strong winter sun, various ones on the market but with all electrics you need them safely installing for greenhouse use.

 

Thank you very much, Ricky, for your very interesting response. I hadn't thought about doing that - a greenhouse within a greenhouse - but what a clever idea. I'm also surprised to find the cost of heating that is so low. I'm not going to get away with buying all the materials needed to do that this winter (will never admit to anyone how much I have spent on "essentials" so far), but I could pick up one of the plastic zippy greenhouses next year. They're too flimsy to last in my windy climate, but would do inside the greenhouse.

Ingenious!

 

Well heating costs depends on size, temp required and insulation.
I use a 1 or 2" sheet of polystyrene under anything heated and cover with a layer of 25mm bubble filmon the cold nights. ( 25mm a lot stronger and thicker that the common small stuff)

My original heated frame was a diy wood and some scavenged polycarbonate/ acrylic sheets from a mate. Nothing fancy, but giving the wood a spray with some silver /aluminium paint makes it look more like part of the greenhouse.

Been raising some seeds and fuchsia cuttings at 20c in this little propagator, about 12 watts if I remember correctly, so very low cost, though some other makes do have more powerful heaters.
As you can see, now the cuttings are actually growing, have been experimenting with one of those little grow lights , which seems to work ok.

I bought one of those little plastic greenhouses for about a tenner last year to act as a hardening off frame for the summer bedding plants and it worked well, easy to put together and disassemble once finished with.

Just the other day I had decided to use it in the greenhouse along with a 75W heating cable I have had for many years.
Havn't actually run it yet so not sure what temp it can achieve in the really cold weather, but it will need covering in 25mm bubble film to have any chance of retaining the heat.

Hope that gives you some ideas of whats possible without breaking the bank /meter !

 

Without heat the greenhouse will cool overnight in lockstep with outside. Adding mass to the interior slows this down.

 

Hi Lori, and thanks for the info. If I pass it on to my husband he's going to make me get all my 'stuff' out of his garage and into the greenhouse. Can't have that, so will see if I can do a bit of a clear out from the sheds into the greenhouse.

 

If you have nothing g under the tables, use it!

I use mine to store everything possible during the winter. It is high priced real estate. Use it year round. Whether for storage or whatever.

Plus you will gain support from the OH. It's all a win

And I can enjoy extra Christmas cake bcause I'm .working off the calories..

 

If use plastic storage boxes with lids under my staging to keep everything tidy and dry, plus deprive slugs and snails of hiding places.

 

@Scrungee - good idea about plastic boxes. I've been getting puddles where condensation has dripped from the roof, and have been hiding things under the potting bench. Plastic boxes make more sense.

 

Thought I would write an update on my greenhouse, as this thread is a kind of record of my experiences. The greenhouse has withstood everything a Scottish winter (so far - we are not out of the woods yet up here, and I have known much worse winters than this one!) has flung at it. High winds and 5 inches of snow have not caused any issues, which impressed me very much, given how flimsy the greenhouse appeared to be during construction.

Condensation has been a big issue, and it has got very wet inside the greenhouse. I will definitely invest in a few large plastic tubs with lids for winter storage next time. Some tender plants which I overwintered in the greenhouse froze, so I will also pick up a plastic greenhouse as mentioned by @ricky101 to put up inside the greenhouse for insulation next winter too. I'm not sure how much time I am going to be able to devote to the greenhouse this spring due to an ongoing health problem which started a couple of months ago. However, I have lots of seeds so I will at least try to make a start on germinating them if nothing else. I don't anticipate the (unheated) greenhouse being of much use until at least the end of March. We can get frosts into April here sometimes, so I presume it will be a case of just monitoring the temperature and waiting until it stays consistently above freezing.