Thinking ahead to next year. Greenhouse ?

[Santa.ClausHOHOHO]

Being in my second year doing an outdoor grow, second year growing in general. Contemplating a greenhouse.
I realize Bugs can and will still get in, but these fricking winds, heavy rains and Humidity would be nice to avoid.

I would imagine the light from the Sun is not as intense ? Is that the biggest down fall to a Greenhouse. ?
I would make sure it had adequate air circulation etc..
For those who have switched to a green house, was it worth it. Something that your glad you did and will never look back ?

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Being in my second year doing an outdoor grow, second year growing in general. Contemplating a greenhouse.
I realize Bugs can and will still get in, but these fricking winds, heavy rains and Humidity would be nice to avoid.

I would imagine the light from the Sun is not as intense ? Is that the biggest down fall to a Greenhouse. ?
I would make sure it had adequate air circulation etc..
For those who have switched to a green house, was it worth it. Something that your glad you did and will never look back ?

I have a greenhouse. My summer run is also indoors this year, but that's due to a problem with an over-bearing neighbor and not the greenhouse itself.

Greenhouse grows at least in Michigan struggle with high humidity during the wet Michigan fall weather. Lots of cloudy days and lower night temperatures means that it's difficult to burn off the night time condensation during the daylight hours and that can lead to bud rot. If your climate is similar to mine, pick early maturing strains that will finish by the first week of October or before. The deeper into the fall you try to run your grow, the harder it is to control that condensation and the more you'll deal with bud rot issues.

P.S. I have high powered ventilation. I'm using two 1650cfm attic fans. One as an intake, and the other as an exhaust.

 

[YnoTony]

I'm in MA and have had the same problem early to late mornings..

 

[PauliBhoy]

Being in my second year doing an outdoor grow, second year growing in general. Contemplating a greenhouse.
I realize Bugs can and will still get in, but these fricking winds, heavy rains and Humidity would be nice to avoid.

I would imagine the light from the Sun is not as intense ? Is that the biggest down fall to a Greenhouse. ?
I would make sure it had adequate air circulation etc..
For those who have switched to a green house, was it worth it. Something that your glad you did and will never look back ?

You'll still have high humidity in a greenhouse, but you can use a sulfur burner to keep bud rot to a minimum. I usually see only a small percentage of losses from mold depending on the phenotype with this system rather than half or whatever with outdoor grown flower.

The light intensity issue is insignificant. It's going to only be 10-20% less than outside and, as you can see in Yno Tony's posts, people often use shade cloth during the heat of summer.

The deeper into the fall you try to run your grow, the harder it is to control that condensation and the more you'll deal with bud rot

They do make greenhouse films with anti-drip coatings. As long as you don't bump the cover it drips next to nothing.
Really the issue is humidity and air circulation and sulfur burners are the way to deal with it. You'll still get a bit of bud rot but it will be a tiny fraction of without it. Most importantly, sulfur vapor won't affect the smell or taste of your buds.

Also heat helps! Imagine it is 50F (10C) and 90% humidity in your unheated greenhouse. Just by raising the temp to 75F (24C) the humidity drops to 43%!
I use those diesel torpedo heaters for greenhouses 1000 sq ft or more. They're awesome because in addition to heat, they release CO2 and, if you use off-road diesel, a good amount of the anti-fungal sulfur vapor. Just don't let them blow their hot air directly on your plants, and those HAF fans will distribute the heat pretty evenly.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

You'll still have high humidity in a greenhouse, but you can use a sulfur burner to keep bud rot to a minimum. I usually see only a small percentage of losses from mold depending on the phenotype with this system rather than half or whatever with outdoor grown flower.

The light intensity issue is insignificant. It's going to only be 10-20% less than outside and, as you can see in Yno Tony's posts, people often use shade cloth during the heat of summer.


They do make greenhouse films with anti-drip coatings. As long as you don't bump the cover it drips next to nothing.
Really the issue is humidity and air circulation and sulfur burners are the way to deal with it. You'll still get a bit of bud rot but it will be a tiny fraction of without it. Most importantly, sulfur vapor won't affect the smell or taste of your buds.

Also heat helps! Imagine it is 50F (10C) and 90% humidity in your unheated greenhouse. Just by raising the temp to 75F (24C) the humidity drops to 43%!
I use those diesel torpedo heaters for greenhouses 1000 sq ft or more. They're awesome because in addition to heat, they release CO2 and, if you use off-road diesel, a good amount of the anti-fungal sulfur vapor. Just don't let them blow their hot air directly on your plants, and those HAF fans will distribute the heat pretty evenly.

My greenhouse has hard polycarbonate sheets, not a soft film, and the condensation collects inside on the glass. I also have a propane heater in there too for the heat like you mentioned, but the by product of burning propane is moisture. The deeper into fall, the harder it is no matter what you do because once the summer ends, Michigan doesn't have a lot of sunny days during the fall/winter and into the spring. You can thank the Great Lakes for all that cloud cover. However, with that said, the greenhouse works great for starting garden plants in the spring ... and it should do well with early maturing strains. Anything that finishes in September should be good. The strains that finish through out October would do ok with some help from burning sulfur. Late finishing strains should probably stay in my basement grow area and not be put outside.

I've got Delicious Candy Early Version by Delicious Seeds, Sugar Black Rose Early version by Delicious Seeds, and Shiskaberry by Barney's Farm already purchased and I will run them next year. They were what I was going to run in the greenhouse this year but decided against running due to the issues with the neighbor.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Being in my second year doing an outdoor grow, second year growing in general. Contemplating a greenhouse.
I realize Bugs can and will still get in, but these fricking winds, heavy rains and Humidity would be nice to avoid.

I would imagine the light from the Sun is not as intense ? Is that the biggest down fall to a Greenhouse. ?
I would make sure it had adequate air circulation etc..
For those who have switched to a green house, was it worth it. Something that your glad you did and will never look back ?

Just like @PauliBhoy said, the sun's intensity is not the issue during the summer months. My plants last year tried to grow through the roof and had buds a plenty through out the whole greenhouse. What happens in a Michigan fall is lots of rain, lots of cloud cover, and with the cooler nights a ton of humidity/condensation on the inside of the greenhouse. There are still plenty of 75-80 degree days during a Michigan October, but the much cooler nights and the overcast days doesn't allow for the humidity to burn off so its hot and wet inside the greenhouse.

If I were already retired, I'd likely find a way to deal with the moisture issue ... I spend about every other week to every 3rd week working on the road. A greenhouse during a humid fall needs daily care.

 

[PauliBhoy]

My greenhouse has hard polycarbonate sheets, not a soft film, and the condensation collects inside on the glass. I also have a propane heater in there too for the heat like you mentioned, but the by product of burning propane is moisture. The deeper into fall, the harder it is no matter what you do because once the summer ends, Michigan doesn't have a lot of sunny days during the fall/winter and into the spring. You can thank the Great Lakes for all that cloud cover. However, with that said, the greenhouse works great for starting garden plants in the spring ... and it should do well with early maturing strains. Anything that finishes in September should be good. The strains that finish through out October would do ok with some help from burning sulfur. Late finishing strains should probably stay in my basement grow area and not be put outside.

I've got Delicious Candy Early Version by Delicious Seeds, Sugar Black Rose Early version by Delicious Seeds, and Shiskaberry by Barney's Farm already purchased and I will run them next year. They were what I was going to run in the greenhouse this year but decided against running due to the issues with the neighbor.

Well I certainly don't envy you northern growers!

They do make anti-drip polycarbonate panels if you've got the money to spend and the time to replace them on your greenhouse. Not cheap or easy for anything bigger than a hobby greenhouse, and possibly useless with a bad neighbor. Sounds like the money might be better spent on a good fence

Definitely some good early strains out there. Jack Herer, Northern Lights, White Widow are some of the classics.

 

[MIGrampaUSA]

Well I certainly don't envy you northern growers!

They do make anti-drip polycarbonate panels if you've got the money to spend and the time to replace them on your greenhouse. Not cheap or easy for anything bigger than a hobby greenhouse, and possibly useless with a bad neighbor. Sounds like the money might be better spent on a good fence

Definitely some good early strains out there. Jack Herer, Northern Lights, White Widow are some of the classics.

I have that fence project going on right now. I bought 6' tall vinyl privacy fence earlier this summer. I just last week bought the lumber when it finally dropped about 75% of what it was costing in May. Now if only my body can hold up long enough to build it. Drilling the holes with a fence auger just about killed me. I already deal with carpal tunnel issues and the fence auger really did me in.

I don't have Jack Herer or Northern Lights in my collection ... but I do have White Widow.