New year, New Start
I've got most of the seeds ordered, some have already arrived, and unlike most years I'm on top of things. The greenhouse has been sectioned off with a quarter of it being covered in bubble wrap and a heater placed under the shelving.
For once I'm hoping to bring things on earlier, making a real effort, with Leeks, some Tomatoes, Spring Onions, Broad Beans, Mizuna and Cauliflower sown.
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| Greenhouse Jan 2017 |
Today was quite warm with the Polytunnel getting up to 10.3 deg C and within 10 minutes the heater had taken the greenhouse to about 12 deg C. I'm only having the 135 Watt heater on for the night hours so it'll be interesting what the temp is compared to the polytunnel tomorrow morning. The heating should only cost under 2p per hour (on for 14 hours) and once germinated I'll only have it on when the temperature drops below 7 deg C and hopefully that'll be enough. I'm going to read the light levels under the bubble wrap tomorrow and see if a light will be needed once they have all germinated. It's all a bit of an experiment but if I can bring things on a month or 6 weeks earlier I'm hoping I'll be able to sell plants and seedlings earlier than last year on the market. I didn't really have any plants to sell until June last year.
Hi Andy, interested to see how you get on. It seems like it makes a lot of sense to expend a small amount of energy to bring seedlings on early if it can extend the season dramatically. My seedlings planted in late autumn are hanging on in there. Peas are the only ones that seem to keep growing in the warmth in the day, albeit slowly.
ReplyDeleteThe test will come when I have to keep them all warm during Feb, March etc. I'm expecting to have to pot up a few things before they can go out. I think it will cause me a lot more work, but if they grow and I have things ready to sell earlier it will be worth it :)
DeleteThe large volume of the polytunnel should help a lot with resisting swings in temperature. I bet the temperature in these is a lot more stable than in a greenhouse. Or do you have a separate greenhouse as well?
ReplyDeleteHave you considered a greenhouse or cold frame against the house wall to lower heating costs? Heat leaking from the house could help stave off the frosts.
I have a greenhouse and poly tunnel. There's no room against the house for anything. I haven't plotted the temp in the poly tunnel to know if it is more stable, yes, I'm sure it is but not by as much as you'd think. There's not enough heat trapped in the soil to keep a poly tunnel warm on freezing nights, the temp goes down to almost the same as outside, it goes down slower but only by an hour or so. The biggest difference is simply when the sun shines and warms up all the air and traps the hot air so you don't feel the temp drop when a cloud goes over, where as outside you feel the warmth of the sun disappear instantly the cloud comes across.
DeleteSimon http://landed.weebly.com/garden-blog plotted the temp night and day in his poly tunnel - I'll dig out the blog post tomorrow