Cloudy, so Out to Greenhouse!

digitS'

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It's too cloudy! The forecast this week has one partly sunny day - tomorrow. Always it's better weather, tomorrow or some future day. Except, it isn't because we may have nighttime snow beginning Friday and right through the weekend. Hope that they are wrong!

My son will be making the long drive here from Portland. Not only do I want better and safer driving conditions but the south room and it's plant-friendly Window will be for his use during his stay. It's time to fire up the greenhouse!

I did that yesterday morning on a day when I never saw the sun. It even sprinkled rain while I was touching up the fence panel I installed in the front yard. I think that the paint dried okay. Fortunately, the daytime temperatures look okay, not only is there a possibility of more fence work but my greenhouse heating costs shouldn't go through the roof .... only, through the South Wall!

@Collector , I have Celotex on the interior of the northside. That brand of foil-wrapped insulation board seems to only be sold in the UK now but Johns Manville has something similar (link).

The gas furnace fired up and has been running okay for almost 24 hours. When I started it in late morning, it was 37°f outdoors and 43° in the greenhouse without the furnace. I had the thermostat at 50° overnight and that has been right-on, according to the 2 thermometers out there. It's dark and freezing outdoors again right now.

The plant starts are in the house and there is only the onions and a few potted perennials out there. Howsomeever! There is more than a full South Window to deal with this week! I've gotta get these plants out where there is more light and room!

Steve
 

flowerbug

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our south room is the garage! of all things... this place was not designed for common sense. it was meant as a summer home and the artist (now-ex-step-dad) wanted his studio facing certain directions for the light. so this room is it, and i get some morning sun once the equinox gets closer. by mid-summer i have light in my face.

the south face of the garage would be the place to put a small greenhouse, but i would more likely put in a solar water heater because that has the best return on investment (even if it just pre-heats well water for main hot water heater and supplements heating in the winter if we have some sunny days) and is better than solar electricity.
 

digitS'

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My first backyard greenhouse was a lean-to against the south wall of a garage. So some reason, I can't recall it's dimensions. That might be because I showed up at the used building materials place first and built the structure around the door and windows that I picked up.

The 3 walls and roof was put together with bolts because I knew that I was moving. Failing to have a good wall to build against, I built a 20' wall in my new backyard. That's it, just a wall. Then, my lean-to had a home. It didn't require the entire 20' length; I think it was only about 5' x 10'. It's long gone but that wall is still there! Still a greenhouse on the south side of it :).

Yesterday wasn't nearly as cloudy as I expected and tomorrow morning looks good, too! I think I can finish rehabbing the picket fence in what I think of as my "front yard." Side yard fence will have to wait ... if we actually have some sunny, dry weather where I can get into the garden - that fence may have to wait until 2019!

Greenhouse is up to daytime temperatures. Time to move plants outta house and back to the bench :D.

Steve
 

digitS'

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And, here l go!

82ADE91D-C0F5-4657-BA59-BD9A04583D70.jpeg
from the first sowing of peppers

Several hours spent in the greenhouse. The concern I had about cold wind and sunshine and trying to moderate temperature wasn't met. Furnace running, there wasn't enuf daylight to cast a shadow until after 3pm. Fairly warm after that but the wind began to blow in earnest, Earnest is in my backyard these days ;). Nearly 90 minutes later and the greenhouse temperature is only 74°, not warm enuf to be a concern and the sun isn't direct enuf to bother the peppers in their 4-packs.


Taking a book back to the library ...

:) Steve
 

jackb

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Our weather is still cold and cloudy also, but I decided to put the olives in the greenhouse as they can take temperatures into the high twenties. Several years ago a man who tried hydroponics and gave up gave me a high pressure sodium growlight. I never used the light but I decided to try it this year for the olives. I have to say one big light that could cover all of the trees worked better than several small lights. There is very little evidence of the trees going leggy reaching for more light. And, it made very little difference in the electrical bill, in fact, none that I noticed. My starts are much too small to even consider using the greenhouse as I got a really late start this year.

trees.jpg
 

digitS'

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Ack!

Something chewed 2 of the peppers off at the soil line!

Sunny days and newly transplanted so they were on the floor in the shade. I can imagine a slug or two down there. Wow! March. Okay, the peppers will be lifted and slug bait shaken under the flats ...

Steve
 

jackb

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Ack!

Something chewed 2 of the peppers off at the soil line!

Sunny days and newly transplanted so they were on the floor in the shade. I can imagine a slug or two down there. Wow! March. Okay, the peppers will be lifted and slug bait shaken under the flats ...

Steve
Is damping off a possibility?
 

digitS'

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I don't think it was, @jackb . Absolutely: a possibility.

I didn't inspect the stems carefully but slugs often show up in the greenhouse a little later. Even the invasive leopard slug has made an appearance in there, now & then. They can kill a lot of cabbage plants, overnight!

Damping off was a problem with the snapdragons this year. Like a hole was burned right into the middle of one of their common containers.

Steve
 

digitS'

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Four dead slugs! They are the brown, invasive type - not nearly as big as they will be in a couple of months!

The 200 sqft of greenhouse space loses (& gains) heat quickly during weather like today: a day that starts off at 27°f, has wind gusts above 20mph, broken clouds, by afternoon it's 42° outdoors, the greenhouse is open on east & west ends with an automatic fan at ceiling height, it's 80° ...

Now, the :rolleyes: skinflint :rolleyes: has turned the heat down to 60° for overnight.

I was up-potting more peppers today along with zinnias, marigolds and broccoli. Should get to the cabbage and tomatoes ... what a mixed lot in there!

Steve
 

Collector

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I have potted and moved about half of the tomatoes out to the greenhouse, still no insulation. So far they are ok , I really need to get something going out there before I have a catastrophic failure.
 

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