Topic: over-wintering and mini-greenhouses

[Tyke]

I have a couple of mini-greenhouses (the sort u self-assemble andbuy for about £25-£50) and have been happily using them for chillis abnd tomatoes during the summer. They were also useful for starting some plants in spring.

I have a lot of flowers (half-hardy)perennials in pots and seeds of hardyannuals that i am just starting. I could put a few in the garage. but i wondered if these are suitable for overwintering plants?

I have a fleece cover for one of them - does this really stop frost?It seems so thin and fragile. Can u simply put the fleece over the polythene cover or would this cause problems?

[Amazin]

I tape bubblewrap round three sides and over the top, then put the cover over that.

[Tyke]

...and this kept the greenhouse frost-free?

[Georgie]

I use my two mini greenhouses for over-windering half-hardy perennials, cuttings and seedlings and they are always fine.  Mind you I am in London and the garden is pretty sheltered.  If in doubt, Amazin's suggestion sounds like a good one to me.

G x

[lorna]

Can I come in on this thread please.?I have greenhouse which was heated when the husband was alive but due to cost I didn't heat last year. I lost quite a few cuttings, I did bubble wrap sides, maybe I should also bubble wrap the roof? Would it be adviseable to put fleece over plants/cuttings when frost is forecast? Another question which is better the small or larger bubble type?

[tonybloke]

large is best!! ;)

[ceres]

I'd play safe and insulate if you have plants you're worried about.  I have a mini too up against the building and in a very sheltered spot.  Last winter out of interest I put a max/min thermometer in there and even though we don't get a lot of very hard weather here in the deep south, it still went down to zero a few times on the coldest nights.

[littlebabybird]

lorna, i dont know how big your greenhouse is but you could try a candle in there
to keep off the frost as well as the bubble wrap
lbb

[dtw]

Make sure it can't fall over though, maybe a nightlight in the bottom of a terracotta pot.

[lorna]

  Many thanks for replies. The greenhouse is 8ftX 12ft. Iwill try bubble wrapping the whole greenhouse and have some fleece handy. The greenhouse is between my garage and sun  room. Would a candle be any benefit in this size greenhouse?. I would make sure it was safe. Just hope I can have better luck than I had last year

[thifasmom]

  Many thanks for replies. The greenhouse is 8ftX 12ft. Iwill try bubble wrapping the whole greenhouse and have some fleece handy. The greenhouse is between my garage and sun  room. Would a candle be any benefit in this size greenhouse?. I would make sure it was safe. Just hope I can have better luck than I had last year

I myself never heard or used this method, but this is what i would do to keep things safe and would assume you could use a few very thick candles to suit a space like yours, and probably keep them central of the green house but in a row, not sure i am making sense, here is a diagram of how i would set it up.

[star]

Can I come in on this thread please.?I have greenhouse which was heated when the husband was alive but due to cost I didn't heat last year. I lost quite a few cuttings, I did bubble wrap sides, maybe I should also bubble wrap the roof? Would it be adviseable to put fleece over plants/cuttings when frost is forecast? Another question which is better the small or larger bubble type?

I would defo bubble wrap the roof Lorna, cold air is heavy and very penetrating. I fleece the plants inside as well. I shall try a candle this year. My g'house is small 6 x 2, small ones dont retain heat as well as larger ones.

[Borlotti]

Is there such a thing as a battery operated heat lamp.  If not perhaps we ought to invent one???  I suppose it depends on where you are in the country, where the mini greenhouse is situated, how cold the winter will be and what plants.  I am sure someone who is more knowledgeable than me will help you.  Fuschias and geraniums seem to survive with a bit of protection, but more delicate plants come into the bathroom or spare bedroom.  I really only use my mini-greenhouse for bringing on seeds.  

[littlebabybird]

i dont realy know about in the green house but (oh please this is going to date me)
when i was little our loo was outside, mum used to light a candle out there to stop it frosting up
you realy could feel the difference from one little candle
so i would imagine it would make some difference
lbb

[Lauren S]

I only used candles this past winter/spring in my greenhouse and it brought the temps up quite a bit. I have a little thermometer and a gizmo in the greenhouse but I can see the tempt from inside the house without opening the gh door or going outside  ;D

[lorna]

If a candle is good enough for the loo then I am going to have  a candle  in my greenhouse ;D. I did think of windowsills but my son (bless him) has made and fitted all windows with new vertical blinds this year.  So it is complete bubble wrap plus fleece and a candle!! Thanks for all the help. Will just keep an eye on the min, max temperature.

[Hyacinth]

Lorna, tea lights were mentioned as a solution way back and, surprisingly, do seem to raise the temp. but....you say that it used to be heated when your O/H was alive, so presumably the set-up is still in place? I'd have thought that this was the greatest expenditure...for how long did you keep heat in the 'house then and have you costed out a similar arrangement, what with low-energy this'n'thats easily available nowadays?

Cheers!

[posie]

I used tealight candles last year in my mini greenhouses and it worked very well.  I stood them in a plate full of sand on the very bottom shelf and used a glass tealight holder that held 4 candles at a time.

[lorna]

Hyacinth. Yes the heater is still in good working order. Originally Charlie set up heating with gas cylinders but found them cumbersome sitting in the middle of the greenhouse . He then purchased an electric  heater which proved really easy to regulate to the heat we wanted, I would just switch on from the house at whatever time I wanted or in themiddle of winter would leave it on all the time and set the thermostat at whatever temperature we wanted.  However, having said all that like a lot of other people on a single pension I am trying to cut costs so that I don't get a nasty shock when my bill comes in :(

[grannyjanny]

When do you light the t lights please. I store mine in the fridge so they burn longer but they still only burn for about 5hours.
Janet.