Temporary Green House

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Peanut

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First, I needed a temporary Green House that would last through the winter. I have two Yarrow plants that needed to be transplanted to permanent locations here on the farm in late summer/early fall. Because of my health issues followed by the health issues of my elderly parents, I did not get time to set these plants out. It’s now December and they have a much better chance of surviving in their current containers.

I found this cheap little rack with plastic cover being sold as a mini-greenhouse. 2nd... I also intend to raise another batch of chicks in early spring and needed a heat source. I combined the two, an idea I swiped from the internet.

The brood heater I bought has 3 settings, Off, 40W of heat or 200W of heat. I placed it in the bottom of the greenhouse.

The greenhouse was very flimsy, a couple of dozen tie wraps took care of that. It’s now much more sturdy, able to stand up to gusty winds. As a cover back up I bought 300sqft of clear plastic house wrap.

I’ll run the heater tonight at 40W to see what temperature it stabilizes at. I have a thermometer hanging inside the greenhouse.

I’ll keep the two yarrow plants in this greenhouse until spring. If I can find a cilantro plant, I might grow a couple of those. Fresh cilantro is sooo much better than the dried herb.

Fingers crossed!

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First, I needed a temporary Green House that would last through the winter. I have two Yarrow plants that needed to be transplanted to permanent locations here on the farm in late summer/early fall. Because of my health issues followed by the health issues of my elderly parents, I did not get time to set these plants out. It’s now December and they have a much better chance of surviving in their current containers.

I found this cheap little rack with plastic cover being sold as a mini-greenhouse. 2nd... I also intend to raise another batch of chicks in early spring and needed a heat source. I combined the two, an idea I swiped from the internet.

The brood heater I bought has 3 settings, Off, 40W of heat or 200W of heat. I placed it in the bottom of the greenhouse.

The greenhouse was very flimsy, a couple of dozen tie wraps took care of that. It’s now much more sturdy, able to stand up to gusty winds. As a cover back up I bought 300sqft of clear plastic house wrap.

I’ll run the heater tonight at 40W to see what temperature it stabilizes at. I have a thermometer hanging inside the greenhouse.

I’ll keep the two yarrow plants in this greenhouse until spring. If I can find a cilantro plant, I might grow a couple of those. Fresh cilantro is sooo much better than the dried herb.

Fingers crossed!

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That's neat Peanut. Nice and compact too. :thumbs:
 
Having two layers of plastic on it will help with the insulation if it is necessary. My wife bought one of those early in the spring to start some plants to transfer to the herb garden.In direct sunlight it quickly killed the plants and I ended up venting and partially shading it. For this time of year you may need an alternate light source to add to the lower light levels depending on where you are but I suppose you have that well in hand.
 
I didn't expect the plastic to last. Circumstances forced me into this choice. I did not have time for better. If it lasts until spring I'll be happy.

I will add, these flat panel brooder heaters leave more to be desired than the plastic. I thought the first one was defective and took it back to the store. The second unit is no better. I simply do not see these units keeping chicks alive or a brooder warm. I'm going to return the 2nd unit and get my money back.

As yet I simply haven't had time to come up with a better heater. I could mount a red infrared bulb pointing upwards. I have considered a one burner hot plate as well. I have an infrared light. A single burner hot plate is $11 at walley's.

I'm busy taking dad to medical appointments tomorrow and Friday so it'll be the weekend before I can get back to this project. I'll just bring my plants into the laundry room tonight. Daytime temps are in the 50's creeping into the 60's for the rest of the week and above freezing at night.

This is the nice part of dealing with wild medicinal plants. They are tough! They can survive far more than domesticated garden plants. One of my yarrow plants is going to bloom despite being out in below 32 degrees one night and near freezing several more. I took these photos moments ago, you can see the flower starting to form.

yarrow winter (2)a.JPG
yarrow winter (3)a.JPG
 
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I returned the 2nd flat panel heater. I do not recommend them. Before purchasing the first one I glanced at the numbers on the reviews, most were positive. Before returning the 2nd one I took the time to read a good number of the positive reviews. I could tell a large number of those were written by people who had never raised chicks before. They had no real idea if it was a good product or not... live and learn.

This afternoon I hung the old reliable infrared heating bulb under the bottom shelf of the mini greenhouse. I monitored the outside temp and with a second thermometer monitored the temp inside the greenhouse. I checked the temps every hour for 7 hours. The inside temp stayed about 20 degrees higher than the outside temp, more than enough to keep plants alive here. Rarely do nighttime temps get below 20 degrees. On average we have less than a dozen nights a winter when temps drop below 28 degrees.

I'll have to be careful when watering plants but other than that, this set up should work fine all winter.

green house sm .JPG
 
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Did a little greenhouse cleaning this morning still much to do.
I want a lean-to GH on south wall so I can use indoor heat plus have it closer to the house. We could put a door where window is now. Also can use it to help heat house. Use fans to cool the GH if it gets too hot like they do at times.
 

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