Hi Vicci,

Not only is there no snow or rain, but there's also no wind. WS containers are vented so that the elemants can effect the seedlings--creating hardy stock is what it's all about. Mother Nature culls the weak and only the strong survive.

I suggest you try the same seeds in a WS container and in your greenhouse and then compare the hardiness and productivity at the end of the season.

T

Vicci -

We are in Southeast Ohio (on the zone 5/6 borderline) and often considered building a greenhouse. But after the first year of winter sowing I changed my mind.

This was part of my WS set up in Feb 2009.
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That's how it looked after major ice storms, and an 8 day power outage followed by another 5 day one less than a week later. The only repair work I had to do from the ice storms was to re-clip a few strings. With milk jugs I would not even have had to do that.

Those ice storms, and the damage they did to trees and power lines in the area convinced us that we didn't want to try to build a green house and then have to worry about structural damage or plant loss during typical Ohio springs. A greenhouse is also tricky to try to manage around here during the February heat waves - it could be very hard to keep from cooking your plants in a greenhouse on those days.

The final thing that swung my decision on a greenhouse is that I could get a lot more "greenhouse" space for far less cost with my set up, and expand it or decrease it easily from year to year if I wanted. This is what one of the bags looks like up close:

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Instead of propping it up, I ended up hanging lines from overhead wires and clipping the bags with metal binder clips - but the final version was quite similar.

Each tray gave me 1.68 square feet of growing area. I planted around 100 trays and something like 500 gallon pots (6 to the bag) that year - so that would have taken about 200 square feet of greenhouse area if they were jammed in tight (not leaving me any room to walk in and look at them.)

Allowing for access paths in the greenhouse I'd have needed around 400 square feet for my 2009 sowing. And then in 2010 I'd only have needed half as much. Who knows what I'd need for next year - but with WS I can plant however much I want without worrying about having enough space in a greenhouse. Now having space in the garden? That's a different story. :)

With this year's winds early in the year I was glad again that we didn't go for a greenhouse. We had enough stuff to clean up and repair without dealing with damaged glass or racing to rebuild a section of greenhouse before the cold killed the plants.

We now got a number of our neighbors hooked on WSing and they've put their plans for greenhouses on hold. If you do live in one of the areas that can get winter ice and wind damage you might find that WSing works even better for you and with a lot risk.

Lynda

And just for fun, here's what we had to deal with during the first ice storm and power outage. :)

Lynda

Here is a link that might be useful: Storm damage

Vicci - if you're still determined to build it, let me tell you my daugher's experience. Her husband built her a beautiful greenhouse 2 years ago. First spring she lost all her seedlings to damp off because there's no electric to run a fan. The sun/shade pattern in her garden doesn't give the greenhouse enough full sun hours unless they put it right where their deck is or way down at the back of their property where it would cost a fortune to run heat from their conversion boiler and electric for the fan/air circulation.
I really wanted a greenhouse until I WS 486 milk jugs on my breezeway and have thousands of new perennials that are strong and healthy thanks to growing outside where they survived 10 degrees in February and 97 degrees the first week of April. My WS tomato plants are taller than I am, have grown taller than the tomato cages and are loaded with tomatoes.
Just more to consider as you weigh the pros & cons. WS plants don't need to be hardened off because they're already growing in whatever conditions Ma Nature throws at them. All things considered, you may find you don't use the GH as much as you thought you would.

Vicci, I have a greenhouse. It was given to me for my 50th BD. I used it one yr. Like gardenweeds daughter I had a hard time heating it, then cooling it in spring, and lost many plants to "dampening off". About 4 yrs a go I found this site and have never used it for plant starting again. But it does make a great place to work on my winter sowing. I live in east of Louisville, so my zone is the same as yours. In the winter when it was cold out, it was very nice in the greenhouse. That may not be good enough of a reason to build one though.
Jennie

{{gwi:398285}}From garden transformation

I absolutely love my greenhouse made from old windows. I find it to be both beautiful and practical. Two methods of watering are used, a pump sprayer and I also bottom water.

I say go for it.

mao

I WS and I love it. I did some thing like 270 jugs this year. I run a plant sale for charity using WS.
I WS all the perennials in milk jugs. I WS all the ANNULS and veggies in to flats in a low hoop house covered with agribond fabric and tuff light greenhouse plastic. for about 300 bucks I got enough material to do 4 or 5 40 ft long 6 ft wide tunnels. I USED to want a GH. The really warm loving annuals are a lil slower to get going this way,but the veggies and toms did great.

Thank you everyone for your opinions. This is what I have decided. I will ws all the things I have planned but not put them in the greenhouse. They will be kept out in the fenced garden away from the dogs. I will go ahead with the greenhouse to use for my tropical houseplants and for a place to do my potting and keep all the pots, soil, and containers I use for both ws and other plant projects. I have a daycare in my home and think it would be nice to have a place to work on my ws so I don't have to make such a mess in my kitchen. I do appreciate all of you sharing your stories. Jennie, I live just across the bridge from Louisville in Jeffersonville. Maybe I'll get to meet you at the fall Ohio Valley Swap in Sept.
Thanks again all. Vicci

I do a combination that works well for me. I wintersow all perennials and hardy annuals, usually hundreds each year. The day before Easter Sunday, we put up my "pop up" greenhouse - a 10' x 10' greenhouse that works amazingly well, has a door and window vents - and I start heat loving annuals in there. By Memorial day weekend they have all had a good start and the greenhouse comes down.