Hoop House Monitor

[digitS']

That's me, the hoop house monitor. It's 2am and no more imaginative title occurs to me . . .

It is 38°f outdoors and on its way to 33°, the weather service say. Fortunately, the strong daytime winds have died away and the waning moon is bright. I've been out turning on my simple heating system for the shed-attached hoop house. Opening the gate in the back fence, I step right into the shed. Combined, this protected growing covers 8' by 16' of the neighbor's garden . Except, it isn't all that protected.

At 40°, the shed is only 2° warmer than the nearest WS station. It might be even cooler out under the plastic film! The fan behind the little 800watt heater is moving some warmth out kitty-corner from the shed's north wall, also known as our back fence and gate.

Okay, the "system" has been running for 25min and its now 41°. Maybe I will have a little breakfast and check things out there again before dozing off here in the lazyboy . . .

Steve

 

[digitS']

At 5:30am, it was 33°. Oh, those WS meteorologists look good! I can see frost on the neighbor's roof. It's 39° in the hoop house. Seems like what the "system" was accomplishing last year.

I'm calm. The greenhouse is fine with its big heater. All the real tender plants are in there. The hoop house isn't full and the marigolds in there are about the only thing of concern. They have never experienced this much cold but the snapdragons and asters may have to take below freezing after they are set out in the garden. The asters shouldn't but those snaps are tough.

Tomorrow morning shouldn't be so chilly outdoors. Should I put some of the tomatoes in the hoop house if the WS continues to predict a 37° morning??

Steve

 

[digitS']

At 7am, the frost has begun to melt off the shed roof. It's 41° inside and I will be shutting down the heating system soon.

Yes, the frost even showed up on the lawn.

The blue sky morning is promising plenty of early sunny warmth but the WS is still promising afternoon rain and plenty of wind!

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

Yes rather chilly this am! It was 30* in my greenhouse around 7:30 when I looked. Nothing out there to be concerned about, the tomatoes, peppers, basil and quinoa are in the house. I told DH to haul them out to the greenhouse before he left for work around 8:30 though, so they may be shivering for a little while til this nice sun gets it toasty in there.

 

[digitS']

Heather, I rather disliked all the afternoon wind!

The air was 63° and there was quite a lot of sunshine. The three protected-growing structures have to be open . . . So much wind, I get tired of being out there feeling like they are going airborne or will come crashing down at any moment!

Of course, I'm tired with so little sleep. Nearly half the tomatoes are now in the hoop house and they have dropped the forecast by a degree to 36°. I've killed tomatoes at 37° doing this exact same thing - the first night out of the heated greenhouse. The little heater & fan are plugged into their separate extension cords & ready for the juice. Barring a personnel or electrical power failure, I'll cover the monitoring again tonight . . . .

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Steve you should get a medal for dedication! I think I might be able to do that for one night, then I would surely collapse into a puddle of nerves.
That wind came up so fast! And it's blowing hard again, I can hear the vent on the stove exhaust fan flopping. It only does that in the strongest winds.

I turned my two garden wagons into mini mobile greenhouse coldframes, and got all of the basil and kale and some of the tomatoes in them. My plan was to roll them out and into a good spot in the yard for the day so they would get better light than what I have available in the house. Then the wind came up strong while I was elsewhere and whipped the plastic off. Aaarrrgh! They are now rolled into the garage for the night, and blanketed, but I suspect they will all be moving back in the house soon. Darn.

 

[digitS']

Uh, oh! Well, that was something like what I was only imagining, Thistle'!

2am, the Addams Family is on the tube. Gomez has just ... well, never mind what Gomez did.

The WS says the "sustained" winds are only above 20mph and not gusting above 40mph as they were yesterday. Notice how wind has a multiple existence in English . . . Oh. It's 41° and was 45° in the hoop house. I've just turned the heat on, fan on high. Let's see how well it can counter this much wind.

It was 49° in there at midnight. I just went back to bed but I'd better stay alert for a few more moments. Gomez and Pugsley have worked out some scheme involving the neighbor!

Steve

 

[digitS']

The thermometer showed 49° before I dozed off in the lazyboy but it has had the shed at 44° since I woke up at 5am.

Nearly 7am now and 36° outdoors, the coldest of the overnight temperatures. Those WS people have been awfully good at their jobs the last 2 nights!

Steve

 

[digitS']

I may have the fan set correctly this morning. It was 41° when I fired up the system and 43°, 30min later. That's with me having the door open for a few minutes.

The 800watt heater has no fan so I'm relying on the other to do a proper job of moving heat around. I've got it on oscillate and that seems to have increased its efficiency.

We Americans are all about efficiency, you know. Yes, I just will not simply muddle through . . . riiight.

Steve
40° outdoors but seems warmer even with having forgotten to bring out a pair of sweats and having to go out in my jammies. A guy really should have a pair of pants stashed somewhere other than his bedroom.

 

[digitS']

The thermometer says 48° in the hoop house. Nearest WS station says 50° outdoors . . .

I know, I'll check underground.com . . . where? Have you noticed that the weather underground has lost a raft-full of volunteers since the weather channel has bought them?

Don't need to be up . . . nice to think that there's always breakfast.

Steve