Excuses, too; or thinkin' won't get it dun.

[thistlebloom]

Is the the first year you've overwintered your greens in the greenhouse?
It seems like you already have figured what to improve next time, and this year seems like it's been pretty successful.
If I ever get some sort of greenhouse going, I'd like to use the same method to keep some greens going through the winter.

 

[digitS']

With the the aluminum-covered insulation board, what this sunshed does best is reflect light off the north wall. It cannot store much heat. Some.

The film-covered hoophouse should work nearly as well. A 20' x 100' roll of film can cover my pvc hoop, 3 times. Sunlight is what kills that cheap plastic. Not January sun, July sun. Actually the uv-resistant film isn't much more expensive. Easy build.

Never tried this before. They haven't grown during December. Doubt if they will grow in January but they are alive, could be harvested and are ready for growing in February!

Steve

 

[so lucky]

With the the aluminum-covered insulation board, what this sunshed does best is reflect light off the north wall. It cannot store much heat. Some.

The film-covered hoophouse should work nearly as well. A 20' x 100' roll of film can cover my pvc hoop, 3 times. Sunlight is what kills that cheap plastic. Not January sun, July sun. Actually the uv-resistant film isn't much more expensive. Easy build.

Never tried this before. They haven't grown during December. Doubt if they will grow in January but they are alive, could be harvested and are ready for growing in February!

Steve

Well, the experts say two layers of plastic is effectively raising your growing zone by two zones, so if you are in a zone 4 right now, your two layers would raise it to a zone 6. I am in zone 6 and it is -3 degrees right now. Maybe you ought to try for 4 layers?

 

[digitS']

Well, if it is below zero in Georgia . . .

I don't know, So Lucky. Low light conditions at this time of year is something to be concerned about. More layers of plastic, less light, less light, less light.

Maybe a blanket over the plastic film overnight.

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Frost cloth?

 

[buckabucka]

I'm not having any luck with our winter hoop house this year. Last year, I was eating salads right through Christmas. This year, everything froze solid fairly early in December. We put reemay over the plants, but it is just too cold here this year.
Still, I think it is worth planting a few greens to extend the season. I'm hoping some of them come back to life in the spring, but this is only our second year trying this, so I really don't know.

 

[digitS']

The subzero (single digitS') in early December certainly killed some of the plants outside the little tunnel but the smaller, covered ones came through.

It may be that a mustard would be more hardly than the bok choy but there were too many the final weeks outdoors. I was tired of them.

I didn't put the extra plastic over them when it was 15. Didn't know it would be that cold but 15 is my cue to cover. My thermometer in the greenhouse needs to be replaced.

Steve

 

[digitS']

Over a month and there has hardly been any growth here:

I ran the sprinkler can over the plants after the picture. The temperature was very warm in there on a sunny day (43°f outdoors). It isn't heat that makes for growth - it just "allows" growth. Sunlight hasn't amounted to much over the last month, of course. We've had some sub-zero weather and the bok choy & such has spent about a week, covered with that additional layer of plastic.

Growth or no growth, they will soon have to come out. Replacing the bench can wait until after 3/1 but that isn't far off. I think there is some fresh stir-fry in my immediate future !

Steve

 

[buckabucka]

The plants look lovely, even if they are not actively growing!

 

[digitS']

Thank you, Bucka'.

There are still no plans to grow any warm season crops thru the winter. I bet the cool-season plants would be fine down to about a -10°f, outdoor temperature. They may just need a little fairy dust for anything below that . . .

I had originally thought to have plastic film both inside and outside of the "glazing bars" of the greenhouse. That was about 15 years ago when I was still thinking of turning the furnace on in there. . . that must have been just prior to the 20° below zero we had one November . . .

Anyway, if I had believed the nonsense that some of greenhouse supply outfits had out at that time, I'd have thought that some of the plastic films could have had no reflection of sunlight whatsoever. I came to accept what more reasonable (to me) people had to say which was any layer of glazing (glass or plastic) will cause the loss of about 10% of the sunlight.

I also have weighed what Eliot Coleman says about each layer of plastic contributing to an increase of about 2 hardiness zones. Okay, but what about sunlight? Would we really expect someone in zone 6 Southeast Alaska ~ with 6 dim, cloudy, angled hours of daylight ~ will have the same growing conditions as someone outdoors in zone 8, southern California? Southern Cal will pick up over 10 hours of bright sunshine on New Years Day! Imagine!

There are some things I could have done differently: stagger the outside sowings of plants to be moved into the greenhouse and direct-sow seed a little earlier in the greenhouse bed.

Also, I've got more space in there than this! I don't see why this wouldn't work just as well in one of my outside hoop houses - little tunnels inside, also .

digitS'

 

[so lucky]

Your greens look lovely, digitS', like an oasis. And your rosemary! I bought a little pot of rosemary at bigmart not too long ago and am slowly killing it, despite my best efforts. My 4 year old garden plant died last summer. Did you tell us your rosemary is from cuttings?