i made a greenhouse

[caregiverken]

Most of the regulars here have seen it ;)

Its gonna be a work in progress......and
of couse I want you guys imput and help along the way:)

I think I made it too big too heat:confused: but Im in Ca.
last night, it was cold enough to make ice one the cars but the weater website says it was 38
I have a male out there with no heat no lites...lol
He seems fine
We wont get many below freezing nights here, maybe a dozen at the most.
But the frost wont get them in there... (will it?)

What im worried about is.
Taking the woodbe, stretched out, Moms out of the 74* mom room and into the 38*to 70* GH o_O
No doubt it will shook them a bit..hopefully they will recover quick.
Maybe I will do just a few at a time...I have the 1st female recruit in the garage with a nitelite right now :D

Thanks for looking guys I will poist pics when there is something to see.
(my lights are in the mail still)

 

[paulycali]

Way to go caregiverken! That greenhouse looks great. Funny with the lone male warming up the greenhouse. Hopefully your ladies don't get shocked to much from the drastic change. Good luck and some more pics would be great :)

 

[fishwhistle]

Froze here too even though they said it was 37.
Have you thought about adding some thermal mass in there in the winter?If you put say 4-55 gallon poly drums full of water against one wall the sun will warm it during the day and at night it will in turn give off its heat helping to stabilize the temps.Ive seen the same sort of idea used in growdomes with ponds in them to grow veggies year round even in the snow.
growingspaces.com

 

[caregiverken]

Froze here too even though they said it was 37.
Have you thought about adding some thermal mass in there in the winter?If you put say 4-55 gallon poly drums full of water against one wall the sun will warm it during the day and at night it will in turn give off its heat helping to stabilize the temps.Ive seen the same sort of idea used in growdomes with ponds in them to grow veggies year round even in the snow.
growingspaces.com

weird..how does it freeze windshields...when its not freezing ?


the Water barrels are a Great idea..I might do that ..Couldnt hurt i guess..unless it raises the humidity..
But its gonna be rainy for while anyway o_O and Im not flowering...yet

 

[Amber]

Is there a way you can slowly introduce them to the greenhouse like take em out during the day when temps are high and bring em back inside at night for a couple of days?

 

[caregiverken]

Is there a way you can slowly introduce them to the greenhouse like take em out during the day when temps are high and bring em back inside at night for a couple of days?

:) Yeah I might be able to do that...
I will take a couple out there tomorrow :)

Im also gonna do one at a time in the garage at night for a few days

But I just now realized,
I could slowly cool the whole mother room down a little too before i take a bunch out there
.that migtht help too...i think..;)

 

[caregiverken]

Way to go caregiverken! That greenhouse looks great. Funny with the lone male warming up the greenhouse. Hopefully your ladies don't get shocked to much from the drastic change. Good luck and some more pics would be great :)

Thanks Brother :)

 

[caregiverken]

My Mother room is really a mess because I dont have enough lights in there and I suck at growing indoors..

The plants are stretched and kinda spindled ..and the mites were eating on them for a while too. :(

Good thing I have F2's seeds of the important stuff...
Im gonna start seeds in there soon :)

But I think some of these will do fine outside...I mean, I hope they do. ;)

 

[Amber]

:) Yeah I might be able to do that...
I will take a couple out there tomorrow :)

Im also gonna do one at a time in the garage at night for a few days

But I just now realized,
I could slowly cool the whole mother room down a little too before i take a bunch out there
.that migtht help too...i think..;)

Sounds good. I noticed they dont mind the cold so much. Its the drastic sudden change that they are not into.

 

[caregiverken]

Sounds good. I noticed they dont mind the cold so much. Its the drastic sudden change that they are not into.

yes...that is what I was thinking too...

 

[bckwht]

Hey ken, if you have time you should take a look at these sites.

Fiveacesbreeding.com

Citrusinthesnow.com

 

[fishwhistle]

Should not raise humidity ken ,fill em with water and put the lids on them and the sun will warm the water,when it gets cold at night the barrels will give off the heat and be cold again by morning and the process will start over.Should keep the cold at bay and then in spring just drain them and store them empty and out of the way til next winter.Plastic barrels are pretty easy to come by on craiglist.

 

[bckwht]

At a small farm convention the local university greenhouse operator told me if you use transparent barrels to dye the water black..said something about the water itself absorbing more heat that way...never tried it so can't say for sure how well it works compared to the other

 

[delae632]

Yeah Ken! I've done a few greenhouses in my time...I love it! The last one I did had a climate controller in it, a heater, intake, and a carbon filter (exhaust), automated light dep and everything. It was fun to do a sort of fusion indoor/outdoor grow. It was a loaner from these folks

Best of luck man. I'll be posted up for sure.

D

 

[drbombay]

i have used water barrels i had them stacked three high against the north wall. reflective insulation behind. now i use a single tank (different greenhouse). every winter it suprises me how long it is between waterings. the humidity i think is mostly from the plants themselves during the warmerdays then plates out during the cold in the same pattern. 10 days later patches of deep dry in the soilbeds. for me keeping soil temps high enough and not overwatering are the greatest challenges. good growing!

 

[kolah]

From my experience with outdoor growing, my plants here in CO can handle 32 degrees for only a few hours. RH and dew point also plays into the mix. Other folks have stated that their plants survived snowfalls, having plants covered in snow and still surviving. I have never been that lucky. Recently I had one night with a light freezing rain at 36 degrees which destroyed a large outdoor plant that was a week away from harvest. Yes it "recovered" but all the buds turned to mush once they thawed out. I no longer take those risks and even as you stated Ken, things can get ugly, even at higher temps so one definitely needs some type of heat in a GH when temps are going to go below 40. It also helps to get up in the night and check on things as well. From my observations once the plant tissue becomes damaged from a freeze, the effected leaves and buds take on a burnt appearance once they thaw out. They soon turn limp and slowly degrade....and resemble cooked spinach.

I'd acclimate your plants slowly into the GH....as some will probably not like the transition very well and others may love it.

The water mass thing would be a good way to heat...for Cali weather but not for here. They will take up some space though. I think you'd be fine with just one oil/electric heater and get the GH closed up pretty tight. Just watch for RH spikes...but since they are in veg it shouldn't be much of an issue.

A great job on the GH, Ken with good pictures as well...it shows other folks how easy it is to build your own GH and save hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars. Good Luck!

 

[caregiverken]

Thanks Kolah. Your imput is greatly appreciated. :)
yeah I guess I might have to heat it...
I want these plants to grow ...not just survive..

I did a makeshift GH last year (with an oil heater)
and the plants did pretty good.
but I was working out of town and we had a hail storm.
then snow...and The plants were in flower..
didnt work out so well :(

But I think made this GH too damn tall. :confused:
all my heat is gonna be up at the top (ceiling fan?)
I still need to get a clear ridge cap

thats gonna run about $150 for 24ft

And I dont have any bird blocks in between the rafters at the top plate yet
I thought about leaving a few of those open(screened)
But I think I may need to seal the whole thing tight?

like I said a work in progress and Im not even sure what im doing...just wingin it I guess

Glad you folks are here to help and encourage newbies :)

thanks again

 

[kolah]

150 bucks for a fancy ridge cap??? Go to HD and get a tin one for about 40 bucks (unless the prices went up). That little bit of blockage won't effect your plants. Hell, if you were really desperate (or penny-pinching) you could cover the ridge opening with shingles. Maybe even buy a sheet of rolled metal and bend it yourself and affix it with a cement adhesive like Liquid Nails.

IMO, the best thing would be able to open up windows AND to have them seal up nice and tight. :)

 

[caregiverken]

lol..yeah its fancy...It's 20 bucks for 4ft o_O
the Gray polyplastic is 15
I could go with tin :)
Its only 12 bucks for 10 ft :D

I am Always Pinching penny's..but they always get away..:confused:
thanks again Kolah!

there will be windows that open and close :)

...Just didnt think I needed em yet :cool:

 

[Amber]

You can get clear corrugated plastic just like the tin and for a little cheaper at HD.