Keep your fingers crossed. - Orchid Board

bil · #1 03-24-2015, 04:24 PM

I swear to god, that you can't win. Got the greenhouse all fitted out, heater and thermostat, all working well, and then a well meaning neighbour comes round, and while we were discussing how to plant out the peppers, he unplugs the heater to use the cord to illustrate a point. No problem, and I plug it all back in securely.

Trouble is, I didn't notice that he had put his thumb on the off switch for the timer, so the bloody heater didn't come on last night and the temp went down to 11C. I'm just greatful that it wasn't a really cold night.

So far nothing is looking immediately sick.

Sometimes it feels that the whole damn universe is against you.

DeaC · #2 03-24-2015, 04:46 PM

Time to put up signs to ward off well intentioned friends from touching switches,outlets etc.. I do this in my own home...and it's just me!

bil · #3 03-24-2015, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeaC

Time to put up signs to ward off well intentioned friends from touching switches,outlets etc.. I do this in my own home...and it's just me!

"Please do not touch my stuff as a punch in the mouth often offends."

I'm not violent, but the idea works for me.

Raqsharqi · #4 03-24-2015, 05:44 PM

Bil, we have been struggling to get conditions right since ours went up in October. We didn't have a cooler at first, figuring in October temps would not be extreme...and then we had a heat wave. Once we had a makeshift cooler, the temps dropped to the upper 30s (F), and we hadn't gotten our heater yet...so we tried to keep things warm with candles and Christmas lights. It's an ongoing battle! I hope your experience is much better than ours was!

katrina · #5 03-24-2015, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bil

"Please do not touch my stuff as a punch in the mouth often offends."

Perfect...and hilarious to boot.

bil · #6 03-24-2015, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raqsharqi

Bil, we have been struggling to get conditions right since ours went up in October. We didn't have a cooler at first, figuring in October temps would not be extreme...and then we had a heat wave. Once we had a makeshift cooler, the temps dropped to the upper 30s (F), and we hadn't gotten our heater yet...so we tried to keep things warm with candles and Christmas lights. It's an ongoing battle! I hope your experience is much better than ours was!

Yeah, always the way. I want two oil rads in there each on a seperate thermostst, and a third stat that sounds a warning and switches on a fan if the temp gets really low.

Two more good stats plus postage is 60 quid, and the oil rads, 50 - 60 each, so I was going to put it off till autumn to get them as the weather was improving, and then the last week has been almost continuous rain and low temps. Wouldn't have mattered but for a nice guy just touching the damn button and me not noticing.

Feh, I can't even tell him as he'd feel bad about it and he wasn't to know.

AnonYMouse · #7 03-24-2015, 08:23 PM

11°C (~52°F) shouldn't be traumatic. Of course there are exceptions.

kmccormic · #8 03-24-2015, 10:47 PM

Gosh I'm so sorry Bil! And one bad night can ruin a year of growth too.

silken · #9 03-24-2015, 11:01 PM

I think you should be OK. I keep my entire greenhouse at 12.8C (55f) at night in the winter. I do have a couple small heat mats for some of the fussy warm growers, but the rest do fine as is. I think they grow slower than the same plants grown in peoples homes or warmer climates. But we have very cold winters here and I can't afford to increase the heat any further.