Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Single Brug mini-greenhouse, 0 by bettydee

bettydee wrote:
Hi Janice,

It survived the first 2 hard freezes without a leaf lost, but then the first hard wind blew the plastic and the bubble wrap off, so I had to come with something else. I doubled the frost cloth over the top and wrapped cold hardy duct tape around it in time to weather a cold rain. Even though the temperature didn't get below 26ºF, she lost most of her leaves and flower buds. There were only a few still green down toward the bottom.

Since my DH didn't have the time to help me put the marine shrink wrap I bought on the frame (and its a 2-person job), I removed the frost cloth and placed 4 black 45 gallon garbage cans and a 75 gallon rain barrel (all I had) next to the trunk and branches and filled them with warm well water. Then I cover all that with 1 layer of frost cloth and 2 layers of plastic and taped and stapled until I had a large white cocoon. She weathered another arctic blast that way, but with hours of below freezing temperatures, I knew there was no way that water alone would keep here safe ... So while the cat's away ... the mouse slipped an extension cord out through the kitchen window, crawled under the cocoon and strung 2 sets of Christmas lights around the branches and hung a temperature/humidity sensor to keep track of everything. I meant to buy 2 C-7 sets, but ended up with one C-7 and one C-9. She stayed a toasty 55º under the cocoon the entire 4 days. Friday got down to 13.7ºF. Saturday down to 18.8ºF and last night it was down to 22.4ºF. I unplugged the lights during the day yesterday. It could be that the white cocoon insulates both ways because the temperatures inside were in the low 70s. If we get a hot day I will have to find a way to vent the cocoon. Here's a photo of the cocoon: