flowerbug
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i was thinking that a grease pencil would work well and not wash off...
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ducks4you
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Sorry about your cold frame. It is a BIG job to build one. 
They cannot hold up to high winds. The one that I am building this year is going to have a wooden wind block on the west side, along with soiled stall bedding. I hope that you will be able to rebuild.
They cannot hold up to high winds. The one that I am building this year is going to have a wooden wind block on the west side, along with soiled stall bedding. I hope that you will be able to rebuild.
digitS'
Garden Master
In my greenhouse, if 55 gal drums were against the insulated north wall I have no doubt that it would help with heating. However, I wouldn't have a place to walk and tend to the central bench.
If the drums went under that bench they would interfere with me using that area for plants. It does receive a fair amount of sunshine but I have treated sunlight as a plant priority not for passive heat retention. Still, I have thought about having water there - perhaps using drums but a stock tank would give me the opportunity to have tilapia fish during the summer
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The natural gas furnace failed several times during spring, 2017. The furnace guy recommended replacing rather than repair ... dang, I don't like the idea. It did not fail often. I could insure temperatures by using 2 small electric heaters. Fiddling with them, I could set the thermostats a little lower so that the gas furnace would come on first. I figured that the furnace was failing about once out of about 50 starts.
It's just about time to fire it up. It's over 20 years old and the repair guy says that humidity has damaged its controls. He recommended replacing it with an electric furnace or putting a gas furnace outside the building. Hhmmm ...
Steve
If the drums went under that bench they would interfere with me using that area for plants. It does receive a fair amount of sunshine but I have treated sunlight as a plant priority not for passive heat retention. Still, I have thought about having water there - perhaps using drums but a stock tank would give me the opportunity to have tilapia fish during the summer
.The natural gas furnace failed several times during spring, 2017. The furnace guy recommended replacing rather than repair ... dang, I don't like the idea. It did not fail often. I could insure temperatures by using 2 small electric heaters. Fiddling with them, I could set the thermostats a little lower so that the gas furnace would come on first. I figured that the furnace was failing about once out of about 50 starts.
It's just about time to fire it up. It's over 20 years old and the repair guy says that humidity has damaged its controls. He recommended replacing it with an electric furnace or putting a gas furnace outside the building. Hhmmm ...
Steve
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@thistlebloom, we have a greenhouse I just don’t know how to use it properly. It nice for growing the starts in spring, but I haven’t been able to do much more with it. We have tried growing tomatoes and peppers in it, but we have better harvest in the open garden. I think I need to find tomato’s and peppers that are greenhouse varieties. DW grows some of her flowers in it during the summer and the do very well. Just going to have to keep working at it.
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@digitS' , I do need to figure out some kind of insulation for the greenhouse to help keep it above freezing at least. I checked into bubble wrap but it tough to find any that is wide enuf to be practical. When you do it starts getting pricey. I have thought about a propane furnace also, thought about salvaging one out of an old RV or camp trailer or anywhere I could get one. I used a electric heater last year, it did not ever shut off at night. Not sure what I’m going to do , but positive it won’t happen this year.
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@ducks4you, definitely want to build a new one. It was so useful for growing starts in. It was much easier to harden the plants off in also. Hardening them off from the greenhouse is a lot harder, I load them on a wagon and pull it in and out of the car port and hope I don’t burn them by forgetting to get them out of the sun on time. I burned a few last year that way grrr.
digitS'
Garden Master
Protection from freezing overnight may be tuff.
I had a "what are they capable of" thread on my greenhouse and hoophouse several years ago. I could tell that those who responded were disappointed that it wasn't quite easy garden stuff ...
Yesterday, I bought a new thermometer and with some helpful instructions, may have gotten Thomas Thermometer and Coralbell Remote talking to each other again! Anyway, after fiddling around, I've got two instruments reading temperatures out there this morning.
It froze. Oh not inside, the neighborhood was full of fog at 3:30 and continuing. Not real hard frost but all upper surfaces were covered with ice. In the greenhouse: one thermometer read 38, the other 39.
I wasn't totally naive about heat loss when I built the greenhouse. I had a little expert advice on heating costs for 200 square feet and had years of experience working under about an acre of glass. Glass or plastic lose significant heat during hours of no or low sunlight when outdoor temperatures are 30° or 40° below what the greenhouse plants need.
What I mostly wanted from my north wall was reflected daylight. There is no reason to have glass or plastic on the north side other than ease of construction. I could imagine some protection from winds but you know the direction of our prevailing winds ... it's not from the north except during the coldest of winter days. So, our 25° breeze from the southwest will freeze things in my unheated greenhouse overnight.
(A different situation is a sunny midday 25° may see the greenhouse interior at 80° and Steve trying to figure out how to cool it as it WARMS thru the afternoon ..! But, that is another story.)
Steve
I had a "what are they capable of" thread on my greenhouse and hoophouse several years ago. I could tell that those who responded were disappointed that it wasn't quite easy garden stuff ...
Yesterday, I bought a new thermometer and with some helpful instructions, may have gotten Thomas Thermometer and Coralbell Remote talking to each other again! Anyway, after fiddling around, I've got two instruments reading temperatures out there this morning.
It froze. Oh not inside, the neighborhood was full of fog at 3:30 and continuing. Not real hard frost but all upper surfaces were covered with ice. In the greenhouse: one thermometer read 38, the other 39.
I wasn't totally naive about heat loss when I built the greenhouse. I had a little expert advice on heating costs for 200 square feet and had years of experience working under about an acre of glass. Glass or plastic lose significant heat during hours of no or low sunlight when outdoor temperatures are 30° or 40° below what the greenhouse plants need.
What I mostly wanted from my north wall was reflected daylight. There is no reason to have glass or plastic on the north side other than ease of construction. I could imagine some protection from winds but you know the direction of our prevailing winds ... it's not from the north except during the coldest of winter days. So, our 25° breeze from the southwest will freeze things in my unheated greenhouse overnight.
(A different situation is a sunny midday 25° may see the greenhouse interior at 80° and Steve trying to figure out how to cool it as it WARMS thru the afternoon ..! But, that is another story
.)Steve
ducks4you
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@digitS' , I have built an area in greenhouse that is clear plastic with a small ceramic heater that I can keep the temps up during the night and uncover at daytime. It will hold a lot of plants but not as many as I will have another few weeks.hoping warmer spring temps will be here before then.
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@ducks4you , that is pretty good idea, I think that I am going to try hanging concrete blankets on the north wall. Concrete blankets are black on one side to absorb heat during the day and let it out at night to keep concrete from freezing and getting ruined. The blankets a reasonable price so worth a try.
