You may have a greenhouse in your backyard already

Joannabanana

thank you, I happen to have an extra propane tank with a heater...you have been so helpful!

my propane heater has worked great in my GH this winter so far. I highly recommend it to everyone. My Mr Heater Buddy is attached to a 20lb propane tank. But I saw at Tractor Supply they have 30 and 40 lb tanks. I may do that next year so we don't have to refill so often. So far we have only had to refill twice.

I'm sorry - I might have missed it earlier in the posts, but does your Mr. Heater Buddy have a thermostat or are you just running it on nights you know are going to be too cold?

No thermostat, when it's on, it's on. Selection of BTU is 4500 or 8000. Low or high. It's not very expensive and is cheap to run with no requirement for electricity so it suits me fine. Electrical appliances in wet environments make me nervous.

I keep mine on the low setting and run it only on the coldest nights. Coldest nights for me would be 35° and below, because my GH runs about 4° cooler than the outside temp. If they forecast 34° I know the GH temp will be around 30°. I have missed putting the heater on twice and the GH temp got to 28° without any damage to my plants. I just don't want to do that too often. Once the sun, even on a cloudy day is up, the GH temp starts to rise.

I don't like electricity either because of the moisture that collects inside the GH overnight. I also use twinkle Christmas lights on my plants for added heat on the plant itself. I think that is why the 28° nights didn't harm my plants. They are for outdoor use and with the extension cord I don't have to worry about the moisture.

This is my first winter with a GH and I am still experimenting but I love the propane heater.

You probably don't run it enough to have any of the effects on your plants that Cricket describes in her post - hmmm....

I hear you, on mixing wet and electric!

Okay, how are you getting the degree sign on your posting?????

degree sign...hold down alt key and then type 0176.

My plants are green and healthy and blooming. So I guess they don't suffer from the exposure to the propane any more than we humans do with propane heat. My heater is for use in RVs, fish houses, workshops, homes etc. Professional growers here use huge propane heaters in their hoop houses. You just need to be sure to have a place for fresh air to get to the unit.

on a Mac it is hold option and hit 0, as in zero. Thanks Texas, I didn't know that and there has been several times that I wanted to use º before

This message was edited Jan 24, 2009 12:38 PM

Ya'll are amazing. Truly.

Shoot, it's not working for me.

Great ideas!! Planning on getting a 'pop up' greenhouse I saw on line...need to start plants instead of buying them...

Your right Geraldine, starts are so much cheaper than buying. Saving seeds of my favs enables me to have them year after year without having to go to the nurseries to buy them. Having learned to take cuttings and propagating that way has been most rewarding.

Sheryl, mea culpa. I forgot to tell you to use the numbers keys on the right of the keyboard, not the top row. Try again. ^_^

Here was my GH in Nov. right after my S-I-L put it up for me. As you can see it is small (6x8) and most simple. But it has worked great for me. I plan to turn an old shed into a GH for next winter. Geraldine enjoy your GH.

Double shoot - I'm on a laptop and don't have them at the side. Wah!

I think you'll love it Geraldine - of course, haven't used mine yet, so I'm not speaking from experience. Just knowing that *I* would love mine!!!

What a great idea for a greenhouse!! Wish I knew this when my boys were young..
In 60's now so I think I would start some tongues wagging if I put up a swing set to use as a greenhouse!!

Hey! I put in a swingset for the grandkids who do not even live local. Let the tongues wag. Swingsets are cool. Find an old rusty used one that someone just wants rid of. Do not tell them it is to use as a greenhouse til it is loaded on the truck or they may change their minds lol. I am definitely confiscating the swinset this spring for a few weeks. This is a great idea.

you might use the umbrella setup if a swingset looks weird ;)

If it is really cold use Alt-0176 = ° as in 32°

Otherwise, Alt-167 = º as in 100º

Jerry

Oh, funny. Took me a bit to see the diff!

º

HEY!! I DID IT!

Great news ( I hope ) ...I won a 12X7X7 greenhouse on e-bay...it has roll up windows on the side...dome top...with all the suggestions and help from this site I hope it works out great...plan to put it up ( not me will get help ) in April..and take it down end of May..will reuse it next year...keep all the ideas comming!!

Congratulations!

COngrats

That's awesome. Let the fun begin!

Thank you all... will let you know how it all works out... am anxious to start..
Still snow and ice outside!!

On an off-note here Joannabannana, my dad was born in a little "suberb" (they didn't have suberbs in those days) of Alberta called "Indian River". Went to visit there some years ago, and the postmaster was able to give me an exact desription of how to get there. Blew me away. 6 degrees of Kevin Beacon...

Quite remote, but very pretty with the Rocky Mountains. It's in between Hinton & Jasper, right? It would be about 5 hours drive NW of Calgary

Cumulus,
How does the alcohol burner work?

Hi,

The alcohol burner isn't working anymore.
I have found a free heatsource for my plants, based on waste vegetable oil:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1046477/

Heat output is twice of that from alcohol and you can easy get it from restaurants or your own kitchen :)

I remember something similar from the "Little House" books. They used axle grease, a saucer, a button and some scrap cloth.

Since we replaced our patio cover it is now 10 X 13 which really gives us a little more space. We put hooks in the wood and then ran coated wire around the patio and hung heavy duty shower curtains. It keeps the plants about 10 degrees warmer. It doesn't usually get cold enough here to worry about heat.

Thanks Joannabanana for the original idea with the swingset!

hi im new to dg i live in zone 7, i have a greenhouse,my husband built it for me about 15 years ago, its size is 10x20 he used fiberglass for the top and sides it has one widow and a storm door.i use a box fan for vent. i have a thermostat control propane heater, the only electric is for shop lights i use those as grow lights.the whole thing cost about 1200 that was 15 years ago. the only problem i have with my play house is its not big enough. do i sound a little spoiled. i am!!! yes im afraid i am. you see ive had him for nearly 50 years.he plays golf, and i play in the dirt we are a perfect match.

Welcome to Dave's! It's OK to be spoiled! He sounds wonderful! Take good care of all of those plants and your sweet hubby!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to DG, Nettie. Your GH sounds great and so does your hubs! LOL

"Never under estimate the power of a woman!" Joannabanana and others have shown us the proof and I'm amazed! Way to go!

Now I can see a lot of women are going to be looking on "Free cycle " for used swing sets or promising the Grandkids a new one if she can have the old one. there's a method to her madness!

Hi all, very excited to read all the posts! Hooray for ingenuity and creativity...I will definately use the umbrella idea this spring and maybe if i am ambitious and brave enough the swing set version ....thanks for the inspiration, so many interesting people and great ideas on Dave's...

It worked really well for us last year. It wasn't as cold as it was this year. We hung coated wire aroung the ten X thirteen patio. The winds were ferocious. It didn't get above freezing for almost a week. Now the plumerias have black tips down several inches. I need to go ahead and clip them. Several ferns are shot, ti plants, corn plants, house plants, everything imaginaeable.....bromeliads damaged. It's very discouraging. I didn't have a heater out there. I never dreamed that it would get that cold for so long.

I think the smaller area of the swing set kept them warmer. I'm really thinking of switching to Hardy Hibiscus.....anything that can take a freeze.

I even bought some artificial ferns from Hobby Lobby when they were half price last week.

I love the idea... contacted a friend who upgraded their old metal swingset to a larger, fancy wooden one, and now it's all mine. I'm going to raise it a bit by setting the support posts on cement blocks, fasten it down, wrap it in plastic and it will be good to go in no time. Just in time to start my veggie seeds. Look for pics soon. Thanks Joanna

That's great, Joanna!

Ok, here's another idea.

I used a picnic table for to hold the plants with the swing greenhouse. Right now there are a few places selling these mini greenhouses from $25 - $30. They make awesome racking for your bigger greenhouse and are super easy to assemble. Now that I have a real hobby greenhouse with heat & power, I don't do the swing thing anymore. But most of the hobby greenhouses come with limited shelving or none at all. I picked up 2 of the Mini GH and it gave me quite a few extra shelves. Look for those mini GH at garage sales. They can be stored off season without taking up too much room too, since they are easy to assemble

Had to edit 'cause my mind works quicker than my fingers

This message was edited Feb 28, 2010 10:40 AM

I had no idea that they would go for that little .... great idea.