Cold in Colorado

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bevin

bevin

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Hello my plants are outside in a hoop house I am 2 weeks from harvest and today and tomarow is gonna be fridgid. Any idead to keeping my hoop house warmer. I have a small propane heater in there that helps a little. any other ideas are welcome
 
sky high

sky high

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Other than makin sure it's sealed up well/adding another layer of plastic....adding a larger heat source...or calling "Kolah" up to quickly build you a fireplace inside it....dunno what you can do

How cold was it inside there last night? What was the outside temp?
 
K

kolah

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This cold front should pass through in a few more days. I am assuming you have access to electic power.

A sealed up hoop house heated by propane is going to spike humidity levels and increase your chances of creating powdery mildew. Be careful. I would not advise doing it unless you have some good ventilation to move air around and keep RH low. I'd guess a dehumidifier would work too but I am not sure how many people own those here in CO.

Electric or oil heaters may be a better choice....and maybe even heat lamps. Those haolgen construction lights throw off some killer heat. But you are still going to have to babysit your plants through the night by checking temps and RH at around 9 pm, 1 am and 4 am.

Do not water them in the late afternoon or evening as you want to hold the ground heat in (or the soil pots) with the main goal of keeping the root-balls warm and cozy. If the buds are heavy with resin they can freeze up too and turn to mush.

You'll get varying opinions but my rule of thumb is not to let it go under 32 degrees for over 3-4 hours or they you'll risk damage or complete loss.

If you can get a hold of a campers woodstove and pipe it correctly that would be your best choice as it would get it plenty warm and lower RH levels. As Sky just mentioned I just made a small firepit for my GH out of cinder blocks and vented it with woodstove piping.

Keep temps above 32 and keep RH down and check them 3 times throughout the night. At least if you monitor them and can't keep you temps up then you can chop them down before they get damaged. Hell, if you have to, crawl in there with a sleeping bag and hug those suckers to keep em warm. Or invite some friends over for an all night party or card game as warm blooded humans are good heat generators. Good luck!
 
NaturalTherapy

NaturalTherapy

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Sadly harvested my outs a couple weeks early, just wasn't prepared for the snow that came down the other day... Woke up at zero dark thirty, saw snow on the ground, jumped outside in boots and boxers to harvest snow covered flowers. Cut them in time before any damage, but still needed two weeks. Should probably pay more attention to weather reports.. Oh well, probably they are still worthwhile...
 
bevin

bevin

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its been 5-10 degrees warmer in the hoophouse than outside. i just got a thermometer in there today and its keeping around 50-55
 
K

kolah

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Cold front coming in...temps in the teens and snow by the weekend. I still have plants finishing up in my GH. The fireplace will be stoked and I'll be feeding it three times during the nigh. Hell, I may just sleep out there. Man o man, I'm ready for a vacation after all this. :cool:
 
bevin

bevin

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harvested last weekend. Fire place in your green house? pleae tell me how you did this. I tore down and am rebuilding gonna be 16ft by 10ft
 
K

kolah

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A few cinder blocks, S type mortar and some woodstove vent pipe. I just fired it up as it's starting to snow here and we are in for temps in the teens for the next week. I got about another week, maybe more for some of my gals to finish up. I'll be busy. :)
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420Gator

420Gator

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kolah said:
A few cinder blocks, S type mortar and some woodstove vent pipe. I just fired it up as it's starting to snow here and we are in for temps in the teens for the next week. I got about another week, maybe more for some of my gals to finish up. I'll be busy. :)
Click to expand...

thats pimpin
 
bevin

bevin

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That is really cool! I just herd about doing this but haven't found anything on the internet for plans I'm deff gonna grab this from you. what type of plastic are you using?
 
K

kolah

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Just level the ground, drystack a shape to your likings (it's easier to build something where you won't have to cut the blocks. Disassemble, mix up ready-made S-type mortar and start stacking them up keeping them level (use a small 6 inch level) No need to cut a block but just allow an opening for your ventpipe and later fill it in with small pieces and mortar to seal it up. To cap off the top of your fireplace use a few sticks of rebar for added support and then place your blocks on top of them. I vented mine out the side but have plans to run the piping up through the roof and make use of all the vent tube heat. Lay some bricks inside for a base.

I bought greenhouse 6ml plastic from a large GH website and they claim a life expectancy of 3-4 years for my region (lots of CO sun and high altitude). It cost me 100 bucks to cover the entire GH and I covered the inside as well. They now make an 11 ml which is much tougher . Make sure its' listed as greenhouse plastic as the regular cheap stuff won't last a year in the sun. Solexx is one of the best GH coverings, a stiffer honeycombed poly product but pricey.
 
K

kolah

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I filled the cinder blocks with dirt as I stacked them. You could use cement as well. It's very good thermal mass heat. Any monkey could build one.
 
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