I recently set up a small, inexpensive greenhouse (tent and metal pole style, 6x8x8ft peak). It's housing about 10 plants now, and I'm hoping to extend their season (full of ripening pods) and maybe get them through the winter. I have 25 small incandenscent lights on a timer near the roofline. I was thinking about installing some shelves to get the tops of the plants closer to the lights/warmth. But, then again the roots may stay warmer on the floor (made of weed barrier coverered in about 2 inches of dry mulch). What do you think? The shelves would also allow me to get more plants (starts, etc) in there next spring. This is all a big experiment for me. Our winters (Portland area) can vary from relatively mild to 3 weeks of snow and ice, but there's plenty of hard frosts. The first big temp drops are coming up in a few days.
-
Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.
overwintering Greenhouse Shelving in Winter Question
- Thread starter hottoddy
- Start date
I am living in Wisconsin that has real hard cold---like down to -25---I only use my greenhouses after about the end of February and only then with a thermostat heater set to about 50 degrees. Right now I have about 75 plants in my living room all cut back to the stalk with a 1000 Watt lamp giving them light.
I looked at your airport temperature report at;
http://weathersource.com/account/official-weather?location=portland+OR&start-date=&end-date=&subscription-demo=1&sid=d4k136gq21tc2fi2ottc0g2gi4&search=1&station-id=27646&latitude=45.5126&longitude=-122.659
on Jan 1;2 and 4;5;6 it showed you had temps below freezing---which is in the danger area. The lowest temps recorded for you are -3F and so you can get some real hard frost days according to the historical data.
When the temperatures outside get below freezing outside there will be a chance of the plants freezing. Never, never keep them on the ground because cold air will collect on the lower areas given no air circulation. If a heating fan is on that mixes the air around the building then you can keep the plants on the ground but only if you have good air circulation down below. You can tell if you do have by placing a thermometer down low away from the fan/heater and one higher up and check the temps.
The heater with fan is needed to mix up the air in the greenhouse and one with a thermostat is better because it will save energy and provide only the heating energy when you need it. The best heater location is about 1/2 the way up the far side so it will mix both top air and bottom air equally; and try to seal up the floor and door so you will minimize air infiltration. That means no big gaps in the floor or doorway.
good luck
I looked at your airport temperature report at;
http://weathersource.com/account/official-weather?location=portland+OR&start-date=&end-date=&subscription-demo=1&sid=d4k136gq21tc2fi2ottc0g2gi4&search=1&station-id=27646&latitude=45.5126&longitude=-122.659
on Jan 1;2 and 4;5;6 it showed you had temps below freezing---which is in the danger area. The lowest temps recorded for you are -3F and so you can get some real hard frost days according to the historical data.
When the temperatures outside get below freezing outside there will be a chance of the plants freezing. Never, never keep them on the ground because cold air will collect on the lower areas given no air circulation. If a heating fan is on that mixes the air around the building then you can keep the plants on the ground but only if you have good air circulation down below. You can tell if you do have by placing a thermometer down low away from the fan/heater and one higher up and check the temps.
The heater with fan is needed to mix up the air in the greenhouse and one with a thermostat is better because it will save energy and provide only the heating energy when you need it. The best heater location is about 1/2 the way up the far side so it will mix both top air and bottom air equally; and try to seal up the floor and door so you will minimize air infiltration. That means no big gaps in the floor or doorway.
good luck