Anyone heating their greenhouse in Fall temps?

[Joel_BC]

Thanks, Daisy. Sounds like you're off to a great start. Many good ideas and experiments.

Yeah, the horse manure approach. Our neighbor down the hill keeps two riding horses. Maybe I could access some early-stage horse manure and create hotbeds.

How green is the horse manure that you use in your GH? Do you use the freshest stuff off the pile? Or stuff that's been agd for a week or two? Or...?

(This gives me the idea to start another thread specifically about using horse manure for hot beds... a different subject line on the thread might attract posts from other regulars - or lurkers - here.)

 

[Daisy8s]

How green is the horse manure that you use in your GH? Do you use the freshest stuff off the pile? Or stuff that's been agd for a week or two? Or...?

(This gives me the idea to start another thread specifically about using horse manure for hot beds... a different subject line on the thread might attract posts from other regulars - or lurkers - here.)

I don't really know exactly how fresh the manure was--but it was from the front of the pile so I guess it was pretty new! My expert analysis of features of freshness says it was less than a week old for sure. (We're getting it from a neighbor so I didn't do the cleaning of stalls myself.) One good thing about manure is nobody minds you coming to haul it away from their farm for them.

I also started a compost pile of fresh manure in the chicken run because they go NUTS for the stuff. Every time they escape my yard I know I can find the knee deep in the neighbor's pile. They composted down a 4x4x2 pile in a matter of weeks this summer because they were so dedicated to turning it for me!

 

[~gd]

This reminds me of how we used to raise chickens in western NY where we suffered from an excess of snow most of the winter. We used what is called the deep litter method where we would add litter and a little strach when the droppomgs became a problem the chickena would turn the litter searching for the strach feed. The bottom would be composting like crazy adding to the heat in the henhouse. At the end of a long winter we would clean the hen house using a front end scoop. Usual yield was 12-18 inches of the finest compost you will ever see and about 6 inches of compost in making [you could still see the straw that we used for litter] chicken poop is so strong in Nitrogen that we used to mix the rich compost 50/50 with soil to prevent burn. and the plants used to shoot out of the ground with that boost Anyways compost can add a lot of heat but it requires some heat yo stay alive and working frozen goods don't compost.~gd

 

[Daisy8s]

I am part way through reading Eliot Coleman's book, "The Winter Harvest Handbook" which is about producing winter crops in unheated greenhouses. It's pretty amazing. Essentially, there are two principles to his process. First, the latest date he starts seed is Nov 1. He says that you must have the plant already sprouted and started growing before cold weather hits because a young plant will continue growing, albeit slowly, but it's hard to start a seed at 30 to 50 degree temps.

Second, his only heating technique is using a double layer of covering. So, within the greenhouse he uses floating row covers (the lightweight stuff that lets sunlight through). He claims that being inside a greenhouse essentially "moves" his crop one USDA zone south, and then being inside row covers "moves" the crop another zone further south.

Incidentally, he is farming in Maine, on the 44th parallel, in zone 5, with an average of 150 days where temps are 32 degrees or below!! So, if this guy can make a living from vegetables in unheated greenhouses I guess about anyone could! (He does take a break for about 4-5 weeks from late Dec to late Jan.)

(gd, I also use the deep litter method in my coop. Love it for the east of maintenance and love it for the compost!)

 

[Joel_BC]

I am part way through reading Eliot Coleman's book, "The Winter Harvest Handbook" which is about producing winter crops in unheated greenhouses. ...

Incidentally, he is farming in Maine, on the 44th parallel, in zone 5, with an average of 150 days where temps are 32 degrees or below!! So, if this guy can make a living from vegetables in unheated greenhouses I guess about anyone could! (He does take a break for about 4-5 weeks from late Dec to late Jan.)

That's good to hear about - thanks. I really should read his book.

It's encouraging, because where I live it's not as cold as what you've described for Coleman's location. We're in zone 6, meaning we don't get Coleman's 'low lows' - though 150 days below freezing at night does sometimes occur here.

 

[moolie]

I've borrowed Eliot Coleman's book from the library a few times and enjoyed reading how he tackles the challenges he faces in his gardening zone.

On the surface, it seems like it could work here, but the extreme fluctuations in temperature that we get here in our Zone 3 garden due to warm Chinook winds every couple of weeks throughout the winter months (we're having one now) interspersed with weeks at a time below -20C/-5F mean that hist style of greenhouse gardening just doesn't work here between November and April. We are in a constant deep freeze/thaw cycle that is totally unpredictable.

Last winter I think we could have done it, because our winter was much milder than usual and our only really cold weather happened in January and a bit in March. But we never know in advance how it's going to play out.

 

[danielburns271]

Great tips moolie , I have same issue with Joel. thanks

 

[baymule]

We have had temps at night of 34F and up in the 60's F during the day. We have had some frosts, but my tomatoes are safely wrapped up in plastic in our redneck greenhouse. For now, the heat collected during the day makes it toasty warm inside. I think it would be ok even at freezing temps of 32F. Two years ago, we had temps in the low 20's Fahrenheit and I put a small electric heater in the greenhouse. We enjoyed fresh tomatoes all winter. Already we are peeking inside, drooling over the thought of red ripe tomatoes and fried green tomatoes.

 

[justin_case]

Great topic,

I am new at the growing food things, only been experimenting/testing for a few years, and from reading the posts I suspect I am 4 or more hours drive north of moolie.
I have a underground (more correctly below grade, but underground sounds more sinister) greenhouse fabricated from steel, but insulated inside, and out with the pink styrofoam stuff. The top in polycarbonate, the whole inside other than the floor (black painted concrete) is done with mirrors. Down the center is a trench that runs the length. this allows me to walk in the trench but just reach over and container garden with out bending over (easy on my back). My problem is way to much heat, I need to add automatic controls to stop it from overheating. I have not tried gardening in it past Dec 1 as I have found its not heating thats the problem,rather low light level, the plants need light and its often so overcast through Dec that they wont do well. The black cement floor works great as A heat sink but I also use black 5 gallon pails(hydralic fluid) for more mass (oct-nov) as a side benifit its great to go outside and step into it on a cold,bright sunny winter day with the wind blowing outside.

Just looked for a pic, but dont have one on this computer, but here is one of my raised garden, with a polcarbonate top

 

[heatherlynnky]

We have a wood furnace. My dad ran an extra line to heat my moms tropical greenhouse. Thats where her tropicals like the lemon, orange and bay are kept and the cucumbers and such. So far its more economical that anything else she tried. Propane was rediculous, electric heat unsustainable. So for now the extra wood heat from our home furnace is sufficient and cheap.