I am really interested in feedback on my set up. I have an outbuilding on my acreage that I just upgraded to better suit overwintering my citrus and super hot peppers, the electrician isn't even quite finished yet so pardon any exposed wires.

It had 3 banks of t12s that I just upgraded to 3 ballasts of t5s, each ballast holds 4 high output t5 bulbs that I bought in daylight. They are all on a wired in timer that also powers a bunch of outlets that I plan to plug 2 750 watt LEDs into (not bought yet).

I also have a large wall mounted heater not pictured and plan to use a stand up fan for air movement.

The plan is to position all of my citrus under the 2 ballasts closest together and perhaps put them on stands or a table to get them closest to the light.

With the walls being white it is super bright in there.

1. Do you think I need the LEDs? Or are the T5s bright enough to overwinter the citrus? Maybe I will buy a light meter to test the lumens.

2. What would the best temperature in the room be to overwinter?

3. How close should I try and get the plants to the t5s?

Sorry won't let me post all photos in one post.

If 2b is your temp zone then a greenhouse is useless. You seem to have the right idea. I don't know how to guid you on this. I can tell you that citrus tree roots stop functioning below 55 F.

Yep zone 2b Saskatoon Saskatchewan. A heated commercial greenhouse would work but I'm not there yet. Sorry hope I'm not hijacking your thread! The room will be heated just not sure what temp would be ideal, I can crank it right up to 38 degrees C but am hoping a temperature more moderate will do. Maybe 20 C /68 F?

You can run the temperature at 75 F during the day and let it drop to 55 at night and you will do fine. The closer you can get the tree to the lights the better they will do. If you are not expecting growth over the winter you can set the temperature to 55. You will probably get a lot more help if you start an inside grow room thread and leave the same questions there. Most people won't know of your question posted in a greenhouse question thread.

You have absolutely no where near enough light

found my lost pictures of lighting.

When the season ends the inside fun begins. HID MH converter bulb in older magnetic HPS ballast. No winter blues expected here.

Pip, I got my light meter to test my t5 light output and you are correct, it rated my light quite a bit below average summer daylight strength. However, I have had all my citrus inside now under these lights solely for almost 3 weeks while I research which LED to buy and to my surprise I have had no leaf drop aside from what is normal and also quite a bit of new fruit has set and is growing nicely and all the trees look super dark green and healthy with none of those huge weird leaves you usually get in low light situations. Bearss lime, chinotto, kumquat, calamondins all have nice new fruit growing.

So what does everyone think will it be sufficient through winter or will vigor eventually taper off? I also have figs in there that I want to ripen before I put the plants into dormancy but they keep setting new figs!

I don't want to buy the led if I don't have to.

Very nice Job. Great looking plants

Thank you I am pleased so far! I like your light bucket idea too.

Go metal halide dude. Those bulbs run hotter than Hades and so heat off the bulb will help keep your enclosure warm. Warmer anyway than if you use LEDs which run cool and which offer advantages other spectrum bulbs can't provide but it's still not there yet. If you want to use LEDs wait 3 years.

One thing that I would mention is to keep all of your pots off the concrete ground (unless you have heated floors). even if you just put the pots on top of bricks it will make a big difference.

Some us are lucky enough to have a dirt basement floor

Hi karlos, it's dudette actually if you were talking to me :). Since it's a multipurpose room the halides would be too hard on my eyes I think but I know they are good. I have a big wall heater I can turn on when needed but the room is pretty well insulated, until we go down to minus 40 anyway.

I just got back from a week long business trip and I swear these plants are growing better in this room under these T5s than they did outside its crazy! The fruit is maturing and setting more and the flowering is out of control. The plants are all super dark green and gorgeous. I will try and take some pics this weekend. My dream of perpetual summer may actually be a reality! In my grow room anyway. Even my pepper plants I brought inside are fruiting again, jalapeños, tien tsin and aji orchid!

Thanks bmelz, good tip, I will try that. The floor does get cold.

I would love to grow beets etc all year round Steve! Cool!

Hello dudette, I would say that the metal halide would be similar to the Sun in the glare that it would put off. As long as you don't look directly at the bulb it isn't something you would shield yourself from but rather it's something you what bask under like you were a plant yourself. I sit under the light for 30 minutes to an hour everyday especially between the beginning of December and March. The light negates that drop off people feel in Energy and their everyday moods and outlook. The dreaded SAD effect that people experience to varying degrees in northern climates. Just don't look at the bulb directly; otherwise you'll have a bright white spot in your vision for a while.

This is my tiny greenhouse in Oklahoma. I had it bubble wrapped last year before the first snow fall, but between tornado season and flooding, it has all come down :(. I've solved the flooding, I hope!

With the bubble wrap, it stays about 15-20 degrees warmer than the outside temp. 8-10 warmer without bubble wrap. I use a simple greenhouse heater at night if the night time temps drop below the desirable temp for what I am growing. We get single or negatives sometimes. It cuts off when it reaches a certain temperature. I surround it in big stones so it doesn't catch fire. I also place smaller stones in water trays to create humidity because the winters here get really dry. That's also why my GH is covered in bark (some warmer climates prefer brick or sand bottoms). No pest problems if you maintain it right. I let my trees drain in the bark (they are raised over it) and the heater then brings the moisture from the bark into the air. Had great humidity last winter. I don't let it get too warm so the trees still have a cool season. We get more ice than snow here (December-January), and then it decides it wants to snow or tornado...so my setup may not help at all, but it's fun to see what others are doing!!

:)

Expected more greenhouses. Don't solar water heaters work to keep temps up? What about radiant heat?

My latest in bucket light technologies

My lemonade tree will get a 3 light 13 watt daylight CFL trash can light 2 feet diameter. I hope to complete it tomorrow.

I'm sure my neighbors have something to say....

Awesome room! Probably best to leave the blinds up so any nosy neighbors can easily see what you have in there. Spare yourself the trouble of a raid!

I know! I've been waiting for the police to ram my door down for three years now. I'd give them a tour as long as they didn't destroy the door on a cold day, letting all the heat and humidity out...

Put blinds back up, staple black garbage bag on trim around window. Staple to the 1/2 inch side part not the face so it doesn't ruin the trim. Should reduce light levels to what a normal room with normal light should look like.

Used to to do it when I had thousands of watts in a room.

Just don't have anything in your domicile that you could be ticketed for. The narcs in our fine town followed me around for a couple days. Decided I wasn't dealing in small quantities anyway and then came in without a warrant.

Then again if you just let them look in your window whenever they want they could easily see that it's not weed.

I was on the third floor.

I never had a problem for years but never ran more than 500 watts. I I figured the assumption would be no one could be that dumb. The lights certainly weren't on enough for cultivation. I think it's was one pissed off neighbor who called the cops to complain. KY roommate let them in when I wasn't home. In the end, there were no ill affects. I've heard horror stories from people in mpls. Generally, it's the feds who won't even ask for entry. They'll come in warrant or not. I'm assuming I can expect no further troubles in this regard but the annual helicopter hover was a month ago. Where the sensors look for heat trails or whatever. That thing seemed to zero in on my place repeatedly. For two straight days every September, this helicopter slowly moves over St Paul/mpls, over and over.

Here is my one tree greenhouse