So I bought a mini greenhouse... Now what?!?

9 years ago

Hello! I love in cold MN and I am getting anxious for starting my garden. I bought a cheap greenhouse on impulse today, but I have no idea what do with it! Can I start all my seedlings in it? Can I grow veggies year round? Indoor or outdoor? Our nights dip into the low 30s still, so can I put it outside, or would it be too cold? I am having a very difficult time finding anything online. All the resources refer to large greenhouse structures with special heating systems, but what i am using is very minimal. I'd love ANY kind of direction... I'm feeling lost and I don't want to ruin any of my precious plants. AND if there is a better way to use it, I would love to know!! Here is a photo of anyone wants to see it. I'm not interested in buying anything extra to add to it. I would just love to know what exactly I should do with it

Thank you so much!!

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Comments (3)

karin_mt
9 years ago
Congratulations!
These little greenhouses can be fun but have lots of limitations. You can read a similar thread here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1603467/is-this-inexpensive-big-lots-greenhouse-worth-buying
jnjfarm_gw
9 years ago
I bought 2 of these last week from menards. $20.00 with a $10.00 rebate. I have them on my back porch and put plants in them to harden off. I am using one right now with tomatoes plants that will go in hoophouse soon. I put a thermostat and a heat bulb in the bottom. the thermo is set for fifty degrees. and we are getting down to about 32 degrees overnight . the plants are looking good . since I have been using a few days, I will withhold judgement on how they will perform. but for ten bucks you can't go to wrong
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Hi Steve, I just want to agree with Jamie on getting and using one of the oil-filled radiators to heat it. From my experience with catalytic heaters (assuming yours doesnÂt have much of a temperature control), I think in that small of a space you may find it produces way, way too much heat. The electric radiators have quite a wide range of temperatures and I bet putting it on one of the lower settings would give you plenty of heat at this time of year. YouÂd want to keep the temps on the cool side overnite anyway so the plants donÂt grow too quickly yet at this time of year, and so they spend more time producing a good root system without getting all leggy on top. IÂve had one of these heaters for over 15 years now, and theyÂre really great for heating whole rooms. And when I was commuting to SFO and had a "crash pad" room in someoneÂs house, they gave me one of these to keep it warm (I donÂt have a clue why people in San Fran even put furnaces in their housesÂthey NEVER turn them on!). It was a pretty big bedroom, and I had to keep the heater on the lowest setting or it got too warm. Check out the link below. I noticed the DeLonghi one even has an automatic switch that turns it on if the temp gets down to 44. I think you can buy fancier models with timers to turn them on and off for you, but I donÂt know where or how much theyÂd cost. But I really do think youÂd be very happy with it if you decided to use one of these. Oh, and I concur with everybody about sticking a remote high-low thermometer in it soon too. TheyÂre not all that expensive these days, and youÂll be SO glad you have it so you can keep an eye on the temp without constantly running out there. In any eventÂhave fun playing in your new GREENhouseÂas if you wouldnÂt! Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Oil-filled radiators
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wyndyacre
9 years ago
These shelving units with a plastic cover are not really "greenhouses" per say. Rather, they could be called a coldframe....they are really just meant to be used as an assistance to protect some seedlings or young plants from the worst of the elements.

The cover will help protect young plants from wind, will help hold in some humidity. It will NOT do a very good job of holding in heat in cold temperatures....the plastic provides no insulation to speak of. On the other hand, if it is in full sun it will overheat dramatically and burn all your tender young plants very quickly.

So...you have to learn the optimum conditions for making it useful. Use it indoors to start some seeds, with the cover zipped up to retain humidity inside. Move it to a protected spot outdoors in warmer weather, where it won't get blown away by wind and in partial shade to use it to grow on your seeds and to harden off young plants before planting them in the ground. Unzip the cover and pull it back to provide ventilation and air movement.

My Mom would place hers in the open door of her garage on nice days in the spring, just back a bit so it wasn't in full sun, to grow on and harden off seedlings. It was easy to just close the garage door and zip up the cover at night when it got cold, to protect the seedlings.

Jnjfarm is using theirs exactly the way they are meant to be used.

The rest of the year...fold it up and put into storage.

So I bought a mini greenhouse... Now what?!?

Comments (3)

karin_mt

jnjfarm_gw

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