Snap and Grow 8 x 6 greenhouse

[RosieC]

I've insulated my greenhouse in bubble wrap a few weeks back. I do it every year. I use the big bubble strong stuff and bought it off a big 2m wide roll at my garden centre. I use wire through the frame of the greenhouse and poke holes in the bubble wrap to tie the big sheets to the walls.

I have to empty all the shelving (and remove the shelving from the greenhouse) autumn and spring to put it in and take it out again, but it's well worth it and makes a massive difference to the temps in there. The bubble wrap is re-used year after year, and didn't cost masses.

I'm not aiming to keep mine as warm as you, I only have the cool lovers out there for the winter so I'm aiming for 5C/41F. A couple of nights ago it was 3C/37F outside and I maintained 9C/48F with nothing more than a 200W electric bar heater. I do have a 2kW fan heater for when it get's even colder outside, however I find the bubble wrap makes a noticable difference to how much heat I loose in the greenhouse and I can carry on with just the bar heater for a lot longer into the winter when I have the bubble wrap in.

[RJSquirrel]

bubble wrap I like anyway just to have it around

got down to 37 and I used 2 bottles ov heat to keep it between 55 and 70. by 4 am it went from 55 to 70 inside the greenhouse that is...

the air space in the bubbles provide the insulation s why bubble wrap works.. after time the bubbles will shrink as the air inside turns to water from the effects of heatin then being cooled.. the product of the enrgy being transferred..called work ...see what you learn from rkids?

[RosieC]

Didn't know that about the water being produced inside. I've had my bubble wrap several years, I think this might be the 5th year of using it. Yes maybe the bubbles aren't as firm as when it was brand new but they are still full enough I think

[RJSquirrel]

heh we had 37 degree low the other night then the next day was back up to 80 plus and stayed all week ....

if you dont like the weather in texas, wait a minute

[dounoharm]

I used the bubble wrap, in the form of a solar pool cover, on the outside of the greenhouse, grommeted and tied down well, then covered with a light shade cloth too for more wind resistance...that was in nc....it worked very well, and saved me quite a bit on the propane there...but propane is a very expensive way to heat a greenhouse I discovered too....you really need natural gas to be anyways cost efficient...I cant imagine taking everything out of the gh and putting bubble wrap inside!! I sealed everything I could with silicone, but, actually the gh needs to 'breathe' to an extent to retain fresh air inside...the plants stay healthier...the pool cover was HUGE and draped really well down the sides as well as covering the top....

[GardenTheater]

Your greenhouse looks great and all the blooms are amazing! Congratulations!

[RJSquirrel]

heh its been a lot of work......but Its fun work not like work work ya know...I realized at some point this was suppose to be fun...fun keek yur buns too sometime.

I like amazing my neighbors with flowers that seem so wild and un common to them, but to us its just a run of milll ho hum bum

[RJSquirrel]

.....as a part of my frustration with just about everything in my greenhouse now after this crappy unseasonal cold and my inability to keep it warm, it wont be going back up when it comes down. The catts took a hard hit and after this winter I probably wont have many left. Pretty much going to be done until I can do this right and stop trying to do something out of the parameters of possible.

A real greenhouse with heat, water, and electricity. I have about 15k saved up. yup that's a k. Found a few very nice cedar built 16' x 24' packages I really like.

No more of this. When it blows up on me Im done with the 8 x 6. Its just not made to take any extreme conditions and its beyond being able to control the internal environment.

Im out to start crushin plants.

[Silje]

I know what you're talking about, but my problems are rather on the other side of the scale. Well, during cold winter nights, I have to use heaters, but that's managable, I've realized.

I live in an area that is too hot and dry to manage well with my greenhouse, roughly your size, I think. I'm going for high ceiling, proper fogging on a automated hydrostat/thermostat system that gets water from a larger RO system. Costs some bucks though, so I'm also saving. In the meantime I'm cringing together with my plants when the humidity drops and the temps reach unbearable heights, and the lime deposits cover the root systems.

[RJSquirrel]

I guess if ya didn learn from your 1st winter in a smallish greenhouse then you haven't had a good one yet....frustrating to see all the hard work in the plants. If I wanted to eat my plants Ill start growin tomatoes .

Im not thoroughly defeated yet....we pick thru see whats gone bad remove it. Move on see whats doing well and concentrate about keeping them up and in shape. phals and others are doing okey. Its just the catts leaves r all turning yellow and dyn off. Feels like a direct hit in the gut.

But I made a holiday planter for the porch out of one of my old cedar boxes...recycling..



happy holidays to yoo and boo hoo hooo