politicalcenter
Songster
- Feb 10, 2015
- 674
- 83
- 109
I forget where you are. What's your planting zone? How big is this green house? Is there room for a black water barrel in there to act as a passive solar heat sink? Or line the walking path with black paving tiles. My green house is just a cattle panel frame, 8 x 8 x 6' high. So, it has been moved a number of times, not a permanent set up. Though I'm hoping that it's current location becomes a permanent spot, until the bottom rots out, and i have to do a partial re-build. So, I don't worry too much about insect infestation. IMO, bugs will happen in that sheltered environment, whether you're introducing manure or not.
I am in zone 8 so we have very few really cold nights. The real problem is temperature fluctuations. It can get 120 to 140 during the day and below freezing at night. The house is 18 foot long and 10 feet wide and over six feet high. My small house (already built) is 10 feet wide and twelve feet long. I covered the north side with chip board and painted it with asphalt paint. The south side is covered with plastic. The coldest it has been is forty degrees.
The new house (in process) is 18 x 10 x 6 feet. I just don't want to waste money on something that doesn't work. I need to keep the temperature and humidity right. I am going to start selling plants in the spring and they have to be near perfect and I have to keep them growing all winter. The small house has plants that just sit there. They don't grow and they don't die. They just sit there. They need more heat at night.
But I do have Angel Trumpets, roses, creeping phlox, crepe myrtle. and fig trees that look like they will make it. I just need more room. I am trying to start cardinal flower hibiscus, and butterfly weed and they need more heat....I guess.
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