Had a very successful outdoor run over the summer with seeds and help from @Tracker Was my second grow, first one last summer was a half hearted attempt. Now I’ve set up a greenhouse in the backyard in hopes to replace everything I smoke for the year with home grown buds.
The greenhouse is an 8x7 that I’ve outfitted with 2 spider farmer SF1000D lights, because the greenhouse doesn’t sit in a place that maximizes sunlight. I have a greenhouse space heater that’s been doing a good job keeping the GH warm over night with outside temps getting into the 20s this week it’s stayed consistently above 60 over night. Still working on some better insulation. Right now I have 10 seeds starting in 9 solo cups from the summer grow.
Any and all help and suggestions are welcomed. Below are some pics of the set up. Going to be working on wire management today and taping the cords to the side walls to get them out of the way. The plan is to grow 4 females in 5 gallon buckets.
Going to be making an accompanying thread offering free seeds and trades later this month once they’ve dried out and are ready for storage.
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Man that electric bills gonna rise… I shut my green house down mid Nov - late March two states north of u… 2 x 4 tent in the house if I need a winter grow… Good luck…
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That’s definitely a concern that I’m going to feel out as we go here but as long as it doesn’t exceed the $500/month I’m currently spending on bud then I consider it a win. But if it’s that extreme I will take your advice and look into a tent for the deep cold months.
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Not sure what happened to the other 2 that didn’t sprout. I’ll give them another day or 2
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Good luck my friend
Winters are not too friendly here
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hold up.
The plan is to run this greenhousee outdoors all winter in Jersey* England rigght?
I dont know much about that but i do know that think wont make it through a winter in New jersy USA
although if your in england your space heater is at 147degressF ?
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Lmao this does seem like it will be a challenge. But I refuse to believe it’s impossible until I see the failure with my own eyes. Also a good way to get some data on insulation and the relationship between the outdoor temp and the indoor temp. Plus I have some insulation techniques I’ve been wanting to try so we’ll just have to see. So far the space heater has handled low 20 degree nights very well keeping the greenhouse in the mid 50s. Learning experience.
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At 70 degrees in my tent, i’m dealing with slow growth and long periods of retained water levels in the soil. Winter is hard to grow the way i like. Good luck on your grow. You might want to tarp it at night if that’s possible.
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Significantly slower ? It gets up into the 80s-90s when the sun is shining directly on the greenhouse but typically sits in mid 60s to low 70s during the day.
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U better but some water tanks to radiate the heat at night time
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Also consider using the heat to warm the roots, which is a bit more crucial than leaf
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I was looking into this. Do you think full 5 gallon buckets with lids on stacked on top of each other in a wall would work?
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Get yourself an inexpensive wood stove to do most of the heating. Then add a couple humidifers to keep the RH% where it needs to be.
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Putting the stove inside the greenhouse with an exhaust to the outside or stove on the outside while pumping the heat inside somehow ? Can either be left overnight safely?
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I second this 100%.I grow in a garage over the winter that will get at a baseline 55 degrees with the heat radiating from the baseboard heating pipe and on demand water tank.I had to start getting really big seedling plant heating mats the 2ft by 4 ft kinds and putting them under my pots to get better growth and proper feed consumption.Just in 55 degrees let them grow just enough to live but not enough to satisfy me.They will grow sluggish and you will constantly be tinkering with the feeds because The plant wont be eating as much and you will be trying to use regular veg doses and you will have overfeed issues with those plants trying to store instead of eat because thier stunted growing .I started keeping my pots and roots warm and problems went away.Keep heat concentrated twords the pots hot air rises is also a plus so stuff up above gets warmed up on the way up and out.
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Think of the greenhouse the same as a house. Stove inside with the stovepipe outside. You can build one on the cheap with a 36 gallon metal drum and one of those stove building kits for barrels.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/us-stove-barrel-wood-stove-kit-3192628?cid=Shopping-Bing-Product3192628-&msclkid=589f5ae255ea105cc80e3dac6489dd49&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20-%20All%20Products&utm_term=4585375807245420&utm_content=All%20Products
I’m thinking even if you just use a woodstove to supplement your electric heat source it should save you a good bit of money.
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Make sure your surge protecters/ timers/ electrical cords are rated for the amount of draw your using.
Do you have any solar panels or a jackery type of battery back up?
I hope everything works out great for you. I am close by on LI. I would love to run a lil greenhouse all winter. Maybe what you learn will inspire me.
Please keep us updated.
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I’ll double check that. I don’t have any solar panels at the moment or battery back up. I’ll be looking into both of those. Are solar panels easy to DIY? I’m sure YouTube can help me.
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Just wait till mid spring, summer to fall, I get 110F + temps daily with ridge vents and rollups all the way open, hope you have summer ventalation worked out in that house… time to plan for that is now… only a few months away and don’t want to wait till it happens… cooked plants instead of frozen…
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