The little greenhouse I set up back in January now has 3 sets of Christmas lights in it, and its maintaining about 10 degrees above air temp, despite having little to no sun to warm it.
The lack of sun on the greenhouse worries me a bit. Shoulda remembered that this is upstate NY and we get, like, no sun here. *sigh* I’m now researching grow lights to go inside them.
One tray’s worth of seeds have sprouted and are going strong.
The other tray sprouted one seed.
I’m not sure what the difference is, BUT, the “good” tray IS 2ft higher than the other, and apon wielding a thermometer I discovered that the water in the bottom of the higher tray is 5degrees warmer than the bottom tray. So, I re-did the insulation under that heat mat (the bottom one was looking sketchy), and swapped the trays, to see if that makes a difference. Oh, and replanted those pots…..I also picked up two more heat mats, we’ll see, but this way I have backups, just in case.
I got my little greenhouse out today and I am also concerned about having it warm enough to germinate anything. I’m thinking of filling 2 liter soda bottles with hot water, laying them on the bottom shelf and changing them morning and evening. Don’t know how it is going to work, but worth a try I think
I’ve got extra christmas lights if you want a few strings. I basically bought out two different stores after they went on clearence. I figure the rate the country’s going eventually I won’t be able to get non-LED ones. But for now I have extras if you want some!
Thanks, actually we have some too, but I am hoping to stay away from plugging anything in. I think I am just going to start some of those big zuchetta squash we grew last summer and wait a bit on the rest. Still fairly early
Dang, I can’t even think about starting stuff yet – glad you can though.
As for light, I wouldn’t worry about it. The overcast skies actually produce more light than those grow lights. It also gives them a gently start – strong light can stress them. Of course if you go from majorly cloudy to a long stretch of strong sun, then you may need to shade them a little to keep them from burning.
My greenhouse was in the woods for several years, so light was really low and my seedlings and plants did just fine. If I were you, I would spend my money on keeping them warmish – just my 2 cents.
I had need of something green and growing after my hell of a January! Otherwise I’d be only just now even considering starting stuff.
I hope they do well, I had such a hard time keeping my greenhouse warm last year ( I too am in NY) that I don’t think I quite want to start anything out there quite yet. I am sure if I didn’t mind how high my electric bill went I could keep it quite toasty but for now I will wait till maybe lows in the single digits go away!
Nothing’s actually in it yet, everything’s inside under lights. I don’t trust this winter weather! But the incandescent christmas lights in it are producing enough heat to keep it noticably warmer than air temps, so I’m hopefull that I can use it by the end of the month.