Curious how everyone waters,when your greenhouse isn't near a water source during the winter time.
I take a 20 gallon tub,with a small submersible pump a water wand I bought from Charley's Greenhouse supply.
When it gets low,I fill one of those clear 5 gallon jugs that water comes in and fill the tub back up,or if the weather is above freezing I run a water hose in there and fill it up.
I don't have running water in my greenhouse either.. and I have taken all my plants in the house for January.. But, If it isn't too cold I run a garden hose to the greenhouse and water that way.. If it's too cold though I have to bring buckets of water from the house.
I also have a gutter that comes down the side of the house and catch water that way if I can. May fix a bigger tub to catch that water if I can.. That is very close to the Greenhouse.
My hose reaches the greenhouse so that's how I do it if it's sunny out. If it's raining and I want to be careful not to get the leaves wet, or if I come home at night and find something wilting and in need of water, then I use a watering can so I can control a little better where the water goes.
When it's above freezing I run a hose to the greenhouse. When it gets too cold I carry water in gallon jugs that I store in there and refill as needed.
I dream of someday having running water in the GH!
MollyD
I was wondering how others water with no water source in the greenhouse,I though with a second story in the greenhouse,a tub with a pump to pump it through a hose would be easier while standing on a ladder!!!
I live in zone 8a just about a mile from the Atlantic and 2o minutes south of Myrtle Beach and it doesn't get TOO cold here TOO often but it does get cold. Tonight is supposed to be in the teens. High tomorrow is low 40 something and tomorrow night teens-low twenties again.
I do have running (well) water in my gh but this time of year it is just too cold to use for watering anything. So my solution for that was to go to home depot and get one of those 18 gallon heavy duty buckets with the thick rope handles ,fill it with water and drop an aquarium heater into it. I got the heater from petsmart with a dial type thermostat on it so i can adjust it to whatever temperature I want my water to be at.
This has worked for me for a few years now. I have plenty of 75F water to water al of my plants with during the winter months. Plants really don't like the shock of being watered with near freezing water this time of year and I had a tremendous amount of yellowing, dropping leaves before I started heating my water.
I don't recall what size heater I bought but if you look on the box it'll give you the gallon amount that each heater will heat.
edited to say that I grow around 300 hoya plants in my gh,many of which are in hanging baskets and I take each one down and hand water them.
Hope this helps!!!!
dmichael
This message was edited Jan 2, 2008 7:44 PM
How often do you have to water those 300 hoya plants individually?
This time of year not so often as the temps are cooler and the plants seem to stay moist longer. During the spring and summer months when the humidity is anywhere from 70-99% every day then I sometimes have to water every other day or so as they tend to dry out very quickly then.
It doesn't take as long as it sounds though!!!
Wow,you've got patience my friend,300 hanging baskets by hand!!!
My tub sits right in front of my gas heater,so no cold watering here either!!!
But the aquarium heater is a good idea!!!
I am curious-a lot of people said that when it was freezing outside that they couldn't use their hoses and had to carry water out to the grhouse, and I was wondering why that was?
dmichael-I have well water in the grhouses also, and I always use it to water all the plants in there and have never noticed any real drawback-there is no way that I could carry water in there! I do use warm water (I do have hot water out there as well) for when I am doing cuttings and starting seeds, but that is all I use the hot water for.
I am curious-a lot of people said that when it was freezing outside that they couldn't use their hoses and had to carry water out to the grhouse, and I was wondering why that was?
Is it because the plants are warm in the green house, and the water from the hose is super cold? Could send the plants into shock..
In my sunroom I use well water,and believe me it's cold,and doesn't bother plants at all!
Temps are always around 80's* when I water with the well water.
Can't see any difference from there and when there outside!
okay...that was a bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz please try again. lol
LOL!!!
I guess I should say when it's summertime and I water with well water!!!!LOL
Thank goodness mine is right out the back door! I am sure my hose is frozen solid right now! When we build the 'final' green house, there is water in the wood shop, but god only knows what it will take to get it going! I use milk jugs and watering cans, and make SEVERAL trips to the kitchen faucet to water mine. But, the one where I have all the plants at current is kinda like a rain forest for some reason? Don't have to water too often with having that problem.
Lot of high humidity,I'm assuming!
Be careful not it too allow mold or fungus on your plants,keep a fan running 24/7!
I have a hygrometer in there and it goes anywhere from 40-90, I can't figure out how to regulate it! :( I have a fan up high, a fan blowing between the layers, and a larger oscillating fan on the floor. What else can I try????
Sounds like you got everything covered,are you having lots of condensation on your glass or plastic?
It is mainly at the top where all the condensation is, but do get some on the sides as well. When you open the door you can usually expect a 'rain drop' or two on your head! When it warms up I am gonna move most everything to the new one and see what happens in there, then we are gonna totally redo the first one in the Spring and make the whole back deck the green house. A winter spot and a summer spot! LOL
Yes my bubble dome has condensation at the top,but doesn't drop unless you bang the door,or move a plant that rest at the top hitting the plastic,it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't that cold out!
Well darn it for having to open the door! LOL When we rebuild it there won't be a curved roof. The other is slanted, so hoping it will be better?
I am thinking about doing something like the bubble dome on some that I plan to plant this Spring instead of having to dig and put in green house.
Well I have all the roof types,Slanted ,Round,and Pitched,and I think I do like the round much better,seems to hold the heat ,humidity,and easier to cool in the summer.
Also allows more room at the sides of the greenhouse for taller plants!
Really, I would have thought it would be harder with a higher roof? But for us to cover the whole back deck we have to make it all the same, so hope it will work out the way I want it to! :) Then will come the MUCH bigger one that will take a LOT more to heat! LOL
Just remember the less joints the tighter the seal of a greenhouse.
My deck greenhouse,has pvc pipes as the round frame with 6mil greenhouse plastic,then a foot above that I went with the hog panels for a iron and much stronger frame and 12 mil
weave greenhouse plastic,for a dead airspace,and this really works great and holds the heat in,it's 16x34 ft,you probably seen a pic in my photo album.
Oh yes, I seen your pics! Mouth watering! LOL Where on earth did you find 12 mil? Lowe's doesn't carry didly squat for heavy plastic around here!
Had to order it from Farm tek! If I remember ,it ran $138 bucks,Guarantee for 8 yrs I think!
WOW, I am too poor for that! LOL
LOL! were all poor!!!!
Nite!
Nite Tman!
When its freezing out at night, and I know that I am going to use the hose the next morning, after I disconnect the hose from the spigot, I drain the hose. Its layed out in a line already from me using it, and i start with one end and, with it over my shoulder-I walk the length of it, draining the water out, until I get to the end. That way, in the am, there is no frozen water in it and I can use it right away.
As to the temps, whether the water is well water or city water, its coming from a pipe under the ground and is going to be colder in the winter, but obviously, above freezing and I just use it. I don't notice any difference in the plants. They are all green. It may be my imagination, but the water seems to warm up after a few minutes. Maybe the water from the well is actually warmer than the water that was sitting in the pipes, I am not sure.
TL,
That would never work here. =) I doubt I'd be able to either straighten the entire hose, nor coil it back up. When I got home from work yesterday, it was already 17 degrees. Right now, it's 7.
My GH is very near an outdoor spigot. I keep a short length of hose inside the greenhouse. If I need to water everything, I hook that hose to the spigot, and to the connector for the drip system. As soon as the cycle is finished, I disconnect that hose and put it right back in the greenhouse. Most of the time though, I simply fill a 1gal watering can and hand water the few plants that need it.
Eggs- I am guess what I am saying is that when the weather turns warmer-drain it and keep it drained. I don't coil up hoses that I am using in the winter. I try to leave them pointing downhill a bit after i drain them. You don't sound like you need this advice-this is more for people that are dragging in tons of water into their grhouses because their hoses are frozen :) It took me a few times of having to wait for the sun to warm up the water in the hose before I started to do it. I also got tired of dragging 100' hoses in the grhouse!
I'm wondering if anybody has a hot water heater or waterless tank in there greenhouse and if it was working alright,another question has anyone ever hooked a hotwater tank to a well?
SOOOOOOOOOOO much to learn! LOL
Me too,and have been doing it for a few years now,learning as I go,mostly by trial and error.
Guess we never learn it all since it is always changing!
Tigerlily,
I'm guessing you've never lived up north! Once it gets cold there is no way to use the hose. They're frozen solid in a coil. If you could actually get an outside faucet to run water (they're frozen solid too) you wouldn't get a chance to fill the hose up before it had frozen solid.
This morning it was minus .5 outside and we haven't even hit the coldest part of winter here. We can't run water lines to the greenhouse because they have to be below the frost line or they will freeze solid too. The frost line here is 4ft below the surface. Too much digging for me!
We have to carry water when it's being used outside. That includes drinking water for the horse.
The one for the GH I carry in and then leave it there to get to the same air temperature as the GH. I have lots of one gallon milk jugs and I keep about 20 at any given time in the GH so if there is a blizzard I don't have to haul water then.
In this area anything left out gets frozen solid to the spot it's on. No moving it after that till the temperature rises and things begin to thaw a bit.
MollyD
I know space is tight in most greenhouses,but wouldn't it take up less room,for a $5, 20 gallon tub than 20 one gallon jugs?
Not knowing your citation I was doing the same as you,couple years back before I went to the 20gallon tub,also did the water hose pulling in the greenhouse as well,and went it would get to be unfrozen hook it to the faucet and pull it outside water as quickly as I could ,haul it back inside again,but now with the tub and submersible pump,made it so much easier on my body!!! This is my smallest greenhouse,and the 20 gallon tub,lets me get 2 waterings or more depending on how much the sun shines,but next year,I'm thinking about moving up to a 55 gallon plastic drum.
I'm glad my green house has plumbing after reading about all you guys do~ I think I was taking it for granted before..
