Confronting cold Comfort

[digitS']

My shed-attached hoop house to catch greenhouse overflow is baaack! (picture taken yesterday, after rain clouds cleared)

44°f Cold in there this morning!

The commitment of tomato plants had been made and I should have nudged up the heat when I was checking temperatures at 1:30 ... instead, I went back to my warm bed.

The WS revised its predicted low last night but still missed it and there is frost on the lawn. I can't blame anything on them ... I'll blame The Tool ..! He should not have relied on the little fingernail polish dot on the dial when the chance of freezing outdoors was so likely.

"The heating system" lacks a thermostat that amounts to anything reasonably functional ... I have to get out there and turn the dial.

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

I would there there is a cheap thermostat that you could add too your system.

 

[digitS']

@catjac1975 , I remember seeing ads for a thermostat that plugs into an outlet. I've considered that for the exhaust fan in the greenhouse. That is another un-automated system. Intake is automatic.

My outlet in the greenhouse sits in the sun. I think of all sorts of excuses to keep Steve right in the middle of the "systems." There's probably something pathological about that approach to life .

Lots of fog this morning, the frost has melted off the shed roof and I've now got the air inside 17° above the outdoor chill.

We will be pushing record highs early next week.

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

My husband wanted to get one of those for baby chicks to turn a light on only if it got cold. I did not want to have to trust it.

 

[digitS']

The WS may be conspiring against me! Dang 'em! Nah, I kid - they are a lot better at weather predictions than I am. Hey! Did you see that moon at 2:30am?

It was lovely ... the outdoors was supposed to be a little warmer overnight than yesterday. It was a degree cooler at 2 but the 6mph breeze and plastic film means the hoop house was only 3° above outdoor temperatures ..!

At least, I had the wisdom to check what Clarabell the thermometer had to say at 10:30, 1:30 and 2:30! Because ... I was playing cheap odds rather than turning on the heat out there ...

Warming nicely now! I've had an early breakfast and the jasmine tea is not gonna keep me from napping during the next few ... z-zzzzz

Steve

 

[digitS']

After record high temperatures, I think that the frost may be back, this morning.

What a show with the moon and planets and the stars of the zodiak, hugging the southern horizon on this clear night!

I'm pleased that the moon is still so bright. It helps me see as I get power cords to heaters and fans ...

It's working fine right now but the greenhouse furnace has failed repeatedly this spring! I paid $300 for a repair about 10 years ago. This time, replace the furnace?

If it was gonna have problems, this is the spring to have them. I don't think it has dropped one time below 53°f in the greenhouse. It's not me catching it quickly, it's the warm spring saving the plants from the cold.

I have to allow the furnace to reset by shutting the electricity off and turning it back on ... I'm not prepared to make repairs. It would probably be a violation of code if I tried.

A little risky that it won't start that second time, and fail completely! I better think of having the repairs done about the first of October, when I could even have the bench out of the way. Less worries in 2017.

Anywho, it will be a long day - up since 1:30. Weather Underground says I'm surrounded by temperatures in the 30's.

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Yep, it froze. There was ice on the birdbaths and the grass was extra crunchy.

I have a pallet loaded with annuals for a client, they're here so I can take care of them and keep them safe from freezing.
I didn't pull the frost cloth over them last night but did kind of absent mindedly pull the plastic over the wire hoop. Everything looks fine except for the coleus.

You must be exhausted this morning Steve, but you did get to see that sky, and that sweetens the deal a bit.

 

[digitS']

Ice on the shed roof, ice on top the pickup ... none on the grass. The 10mph breeze was a little chilling! Good thing I was wearing my hat with the bathrobe .

Sky? By sunrise, I'd dozed off ... overnight, there was that Big Dipper directly overhead - pointing towards the North Star! The moon was so low, I was walking in and out of moon shadows messing around out there with the hoop houses. Ya know, our summer moon is as low as our winter sun ... Man, what a wobble! If I was any further north on this olde Earth - I'd likely fall off during these escapades!

This was easy to do:


The larger hoopie is available for when I can get the tomatoes and such out for hardening off. The inner hoopie has what might or might not be frost-hardy plants. (If no "gardening authority" ever tells us if statice is frost hardy, how are we ever gonna know??)

Anyway, the 4 inner pvc hoops are cut at 7'. The 4 outer hoops are cut at 9'. I think I will leave both on today in anticipation of tomorrow morning's low temperature. Upside-down, large pots can sit under the rolled up plastic and boards on each side for today's ventilation. This is all a bit hard on the lawn (there are 1 by 2's under the flats in there). But, if I move them once a week, the bleached lawn is back to fully green in another 7 days.

Steve