temp questions re: small greenhouse
dolivo
11 years ago
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dolivo
11 years agoRelated Discussions
suitable orchids for my greenhouse temps
Comments (20)Poetmama you can grow many things at 50-90. The size of your g/h is also important. The larger the area, the easier it is to maintain a more even temp. In a very small area, the temps change rapidly. On gray ugly winter days your heat will run constantly. On days with sun, the temps can go quite high. The colder outside, the longer it takes for the sun to heat it up. Yesterday here in zone 6a with the sun out and the outside temp at 20, the heat ran until 10 and was back on by 5:15. In the summer you will need a shade cloth over the structure to prevent the temps from going to 120. With a 50% aluminet shade cloth, you can keep the inside temps to the outside temps. In your zone the shade cloth will be removed around mid-Sept/early Oct and put back on mid-March-ish. I have a vent wall/swamp cooler so am not familiar with other cooling methods. There are some from misting to portable swamp coolers plus vents, fans, etc. As others have said, interior fans are a must, winter and summer. Stagnant air for any plant material in a closed environment is an invitation for disease problems. All of my recommendations assume your g/h is located with no trees or other structures producing shade. If you are going to attempt Phals at 50 degrees, I recommend they be mounted. Phals are warm growers and prefer to never go below 65, but do fine at 60 but a potted Phal at 50 won't be happy with cold roots. There are cool growing Phals but they are species and you have to love the unique blooms to grow them. They are not the "glamorous" tall cascading spiked Phals. Most Lycaste would love those temps except for some warming growing ones. They are not the most common ones. You have winter and summer blooming types so can have various bloom times. Most Masdies will love your winter temps and will do fine for you if your temps get cool over night during the summer. They are true shade growers. More from Nick's list - most Bulbos are warm growers - there are a few that like cool and dryer winters. Be sure and check their temp requirements. Again for warm growers, mounted would be better than potted in a cool g/h. Pescatoreas would be happy to keep your Masdies company in the shade. Other suggestions not on Nick's list would be Sudamerlycaste (Ida) and Sarcos. Most Vandas are warm growing but there are a couple of cool-er growing ones. There is a greenhouse forum here on the Garden Web and they can also offer recommendations regarding your set up. Any particular orchid that catches your fancy is or has been grown by someone on this forum. Good luck! Brooke...See MoreGreenhouse Temps
Comments (3)Add an exhaust fan, mounted at the apex of the roof...probably on the side opposite your door. If you're accustomed to propping open your door, you won't need an intake. Hopefully you'll have enough room above the windows you used. I recommend the Lasko 3300 Wind Machine, which you can purchase from WalMart for about $23 or so. If you're trying to save money, use a timer instead of a thermostat to turn it on and off. You'll also need louvers to keep rain out -- you can make suitable ones out of scrap materials. You'll be pleased with the difference when the exhaust is running. -Bruce...See MoreQuestion re: lack of temps/sunshine & lack of blooms
Comments (5)My neighbor Jannie and I were talking about this very subject yesterday while we were in my rose garden. When I compared the size of the bushes with last year's, I noticed they were about 1/2 to 1/3 smaller. It's almost August, and they should be pretty hefty bushes by now. They appear to be almost one-two months behind in growth rates. I haven't even had to prune Gertie but once and she's a good indicator of a growth thermometer. There's very few new basal breaks, and in many cases, some of the roses didn't even break dormany until June or mid-June. Jannie also commented that her mom's raspberry bushes are very small in size compared to last year. Our weather here has mimicked that of the northeast; cloudy with abundant rain, and below average temps. This week, we broke a record for the lowest HIGH temp recorded in July..believe it was 73F. While the rain has been great for the plants, I also believe it is the LACK OF SUN and warmth that is responsible for the small rose bushes this year. They just aren't getting enough sun to promote growth. It's rare that the sun even breaks through the clouds some days; it's so gloomy and it's been that way since spring like Phyl mentioned. BTW, the extended forecast for the next 90 days calls for the same weather...rainy, below average temps. Great for my electric bill, but I miss the sunshine. The mantra for our local weatherman anymore is "When will we dry out and see the sun"? -terry...See Morecitrus greenhouse temps
Comments (29)I feel so lucky that I decided last Aug to build my sunroom addition VS a greenhouse. It is 16 1/2' X 18'- framed in lumber with 13 1/2' cathedral ceiling. Windows facing south & east are 5' high..& 2 (wish & had 3 now) skylites facing south. It looks like a regular room addition, but since there is no heat or AC it is considered an "enclosed porch". I have glass Fr doors going out to it from my kitchen where there was once a window to yard. If I need more heat, I just open the door a crack to let house heat go in. I also bought a really cool ceiling fan that has heater in it. The fan mode blows air down & the 'heat' mode actually shoots out heat & blows it up & around & down the windows. I also insulated the walls, ceiling & floor. I put a drain in floor which goes to gutter downspout for any water that overflows on floor which is called spreadrock (hard as concrete). I have a tv in there now & we had dinner ther lately LOL----LOVE IT. My bf put speakers on wall & hooked to my stereo. Total cost for materials was about $7,000. I bought everything on sale & did it myself (with help from friends for rafters). Outside is finished & I only have to trim windows & finish mudding the drywal. I will paint walls either high gloss or semigloss white. A friend gave me mirror panels --8"x 6' that I will use to reflect more lite. E efficient flourescent lites on timer for winter. I'm so glad I did this. All my furniture will soon go in there so I can refinish my hardwood floors. Hopefully will finish that before plants have to come in for winter....See Moreourhappyhome
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11 years agoClaudia Groenevelt
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agodaninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
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