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overwintering Winter Greenhouse Growing
- Thread starter theghostpepperstore
- Start date
I don't know much about carnivorous plants other than most of them are tropicals. Tropical greenhouses have to maintain higher temps, which probably isn't a big problem down your way. Humidity will probably be his biggest challenge. Here are some of the things to think about.
Thermal Mass - Make sure to have a bit of thermal mass in the greenhouse, I would recommend a 55 gallon drum, painted black, full of water. This will keep the temperature swings from being too drastic and sudden.
Exhaust - I really recommend powered, and preferably automated, exhaust. Even when it is 20F, if it is a sunny day the plants will cook without some kind of air exchange. A good exhaust fan will have a sealed motor to protect it from moisture.
Misting - Some sort of misting system may be necessary in order to keep humidity up. This can be a issue if you have hard water, lime and calcium will build up everywhere and need to be removed a couple of times a year.
Water and Power - If you can run water and power then do it, it will save you headaches in the long run.
Lighting - If you are growing tropicals you will probably need to supplement light in the winter. Equatorial areas have a longer day in the winter. We are down to 10 hours a day here so I put my grow lights on 1 hour before sunrise and 2 hours after sunset to give my plants 13 hours of light.
Seal EVERYTHING! - When you think you have it all sealed, seal it again! Actually a trick that can be used is a smoke bomb. Set it off inside and see where you leak out.
Foundation - Most greenhouse kits recommend concrete foundations. My area doesn't have many problems with ground settling so 6 inches of #1 limestone was ideal. It gives me great drainage and the light color reflects the light giving plants a boost. What ever the foundation, make sure you set up solid. The frame of mine is set into 3 ft of concrete at every ground point.
Thermal Mass - Make sure to have a bit of thermal mass in the greenhouse, I would recommend a 55 gallon drum, painted black, full of water. This will keep the temperature swings from being too drastic and sudden.
Exhaust - I really recommend powered, and preferably automated, exhaust. Even when it is 20F, if it is a sunny day the plants will cook without some kind of air exchange. A good exhaust fan will have a sealed motor to protect it from moisture.
Misting - Some sort of misting system may be necessary in order to keep humidity up. This can be a issue if you have hard water, lime and calcium will build up everywhere and need to be removed a couple of times a year.
Water and Power - If you can run water and power then do it, it will save you headaches in the long run.
Lighting - If you are growing tropicals you will probably need to supplement light in the winter. Equatorial areas have a longer day in the winter. We are down to 10 hours a day here so I put my grow lights on 1 hour before sunrise and 2 hours after sunset to give my plants 13 hours of light.
Seal EVERYTHING! - When you think you have it all sealed, seal it again! Actually a trick that can be used is a smoke bomb. Set it off inside and see where you leak out.
Foundation - Most greenhouse kits recommend concrete foundations. My area doesn't have many problems with ground settling so 6 inches of #1 limestone was ideal. It gives me great drainage and the light color reflects the light giving plants a boost. What ever the foundation, make sure you set up solid. The frame of mine is set into 3 ft of concrete at every ground point.
Awesome! That thing looks sweet. I'd love to do that some day. Early this fall, I picked up a cheap little 6x8 greenhouse (metal pole-tent style). It helped me extend the season a few months, and am really looking forward to starting earlier this spring. Today I picked the final 30+ peppers hacking back my best 7 plants for the garage.
The biggest problem I had this fall was water seepage. It's so wet in Portland, the ground underneath the edges of the greenhouse became saturated. The water evaporated inside the greenhouse making it too swampy. Leaves and peppers started molding! I tried my best to air it out on warmer days with the roll up windows, but that didn't help much. I have some heating lights for night, but no fans. For spring, I plan to building a better (drier) foundation and possibly rig a small fan. It's a learining curve!
The biggest problem I had this fall was water seepage. It's so wet in Portland, the ground underneath the edges of the greenhouse became saturated. The water evaporated inside the greenhouse making it too swampy. Leaves and peppers started molding! I tried my best to air it out on warmer days with the roll up windows, but that didn't help much. I have some heating lights for night, but no fans. For spring, I plan to building a better (drier) foundation and possibly rig a small fan. It's a learining curve!
Great info and pic's Ghost! 
I figured I would give this thread an update since I took some pictures. I had been fighting aphids, got them under control, then I got hit by thrips, and somewhere in between, spider mites. So, overall things haven't been great, the plants that were sowed mid-November are finally bouncing back. I hate thrips more than any other pest, but I already know all of these seedling will be big and bushy from the early thrip damage.
Untitled by GhostPepperStore.com, on Flickr
Here are the plants that were started in September. Their growth has really slowed in the past month due to temperatures being too low, but they are slowly putting on pods. They should really be pumping them out in March/April. They too got thrip/aphid damage. The two peach bhuts are going to be bushy MONSTERS!
Untitled by GhostPepperStore.com, on Flickr
Finally, my broccoli! Going to enjoy it for dinner tonight.
Untitled by GhostPepperStore.com, on Flickr
Untitled by GhostPepperStore.com, on Flickr
Here are the plants that were started in September. Their growth has really slowed in the past month due to temperatures being too low, but they are slowly putting on pods. They should really be pumping them out in March/April. They too got thrip/aphid damage. The two peach bhuts are going to be bushy MONSTERS!
Untitled by GhostPepperStore.com, on Flickr
Finally, my broccoli! Going to enjoy it for dinner tonight.
Untitled by GhostPepperStore.com, on Flickr
Looking nice Armac. Definitely watch those temperatures. It doesn't take much to start reaching 110+. If I had a nickel for every seedling I have cooked in the greenhouse...