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Good evening all.
This is my first post and enjoying everything I've read so far - lots of handy hints and tips which will hopefully help me have a successful 1st year.
I was very kindly donated a greenhouse last year so have been trying to decide what to grow and when to grow it. The current cold weather being an issue with regards to shall I sow things as I don't have room in my house for trays for propogation.
After much deliberation and measuring of temperatures I acquired a double wick paraffin heater off ebay. A few days of experimenting with how much difference it made to the temperature with the outside here in Hertfordshire averaging about 4 or 5, I decided to bring in my mini plastic greenhouse and put it in that. RESULT! I have the wicks down as low as I can get them and it is maintaining a pretty constant temperature of about 16C so the toms, cucs and chillis have been sown.
I was a little worried about cost of paraffin but so far it's been lit 24/7 for 4 days and has used less than half a litre so looking at £7 per 2-3 weeks which I'm really chuffed with.
Condensation doesn't seem to be too bad, at the moment and with the 2 hours of sun we got mid afternoon the temperature peaked at 23C with the rest of the greenhouse maxing out at about 10.
My first real question is, once things have started germinating and leaves appear, what sort of temperature would you recommend maintaining?
As the days gets longer and average temps creep up to (hopefully) double figures, will I still need to heat overnight or would some fleece be enough to keep tender seedlings from dying?
Thanks
Chris
This is my first post and enjoying everything I've read so far - lots of handy hints and tips which will hopefully help me have a successful 1st year.
I was very kindly donated a greenhouse last year so have been trying to decide what to grow and when to grow it. The current cold weather being an issue with regards to shall I sow things as I don't have room in my house for trays for propogation.
After much deliberation and measuring of temperatures I acquired a double wick paraffin heater off ebay. A few days of experimenting with how much difference it made to the temperature with the outside here in Hertfordshire averaging about 4 or 5, I decided to bring in my mini plastic greenhouse and put it in that. RESULT! I have the wicks down as low as I can get them and it is maintaining a pretty constant temperature of about 16C so the toms, cucs and chillis have been sown.
I was a little worried about cost of paraffin but so far it's been lit 24/7 for 4 days and has used less than half a litre so looking at £7 per 2-3 weeks which I'm really chuffed with.
Condensation doesn't seem to be too bad, at the moment and with the 2 hours of sun we got mid afternoon the temperature peaked at 23C with the rest of the greenhouse maxing out at about 10.
My first real question is, once things have started germinating and leaves appear, what sort of temperature would you recommend maintaining?
As the days gets longer and average temps creep up to (hopefully) double figures, will I still need to heat overnight or would some fleece be enough to keep tender seedlings from dying?
Thanks
Chris
It is probably worth trying to avoid having extra warmth when the sun is weak - otherwise the plants will try to grow, but not have enough light to fuel the growth.
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