overwintering

[miketropic]

figured I would put up a pic of what Im doing this winter with the collies.. this is only for the very small runners and seedlings from palms/bananas and what not.. It seems that conservatorys are almost mandatory in the UK but you almost never see them here in the US so this is how i'm getting them through. the house stays about 21C and then I have 2 grow lights in there to bring the temp up a little bit. the tank has heat on the bottom and a sun lamp in it. humidity stays about 70% in the tank. walls have foil on them since the paint is very dark to help focus some of the light. everything else gets store dry or stored in the crawl space under the house.

[kata]

Fantastic setup Mike,

[Dave Brown]

You'd be surprised with the number of people trying to grow exotics in the UK without a conservatory or greenhouse But they are pretty useless in winter unless additional light is given, so effectively my covered area, now called the 'Lunar Module' is like a bigger version of your area. Temps are obviously not as high, or I'd have to take out a bank loan to pay the electricity bills.

Here are pics of mine taken last winter

[miketropic]

that is really nice Dave love it.. wish I had a bigger area inside to do that with. In that last pic what kind of light is that you have there with the 4 bulbs? metal halid? If I had the room, and budget I would just get a marijuana indoor set up and use it for my exotics instead.. Im sure your aware those are big in california so the lights and all are not a big deal to get over here anymore but those are serious indoor growers, I'm just trying to keep everything alive and at a slow pace There is a vent right next to the door to that closet that I put a directional cover on so it pipes hot air under the door into the room keeping the temps high. If I had to do it all with lights and heaters it would never stay that warm. glad to see other people have a indoor set up as well. I hope to expand next year by puttin a clear roof on the garage and really hitting it green house style

[The Codfather]

Dave, what are the lights in the first pic ?

[Dave Brown]

Martin, they are old fashioned growlight reflectors but with 30w daylight cfl bulbs.

Mike, my lunar module is not indoors. It was a 3 sided courtyard area that was not really usable so I put a twinwall polycarbonate roof on it about 15 years ago, then built sliding doors. It is completely enclosed, but not indoors. T

The big 4 tube light is by Growtech, and is 4 x PL55 (double tubes) 220w giving the same light output as 8 x T5 bulbs.

Here is the area in summer with the doors removed. I had to cover the survival blankets as it became a solar oven and I was in danger of cooking my plants.

[The Codfather]

Mmmmmm can you still get them I have a plan batman....it might be fine for my little 6x4.

[Kristen]

I wonder about a thermal curtain (in a greenhouse, possibly even in your Lunar Module Dave?). Horizontal wires on which is a "curtain" that can be drawn - this would drape down the sides and thus provide similar protection to bubble wrap, but it doesn't need to be transparent so could be a thermally efficient material.

In very cold periods it could be left closed as plants won't hurt with no light for a few days.

[Dave Brown]

I wonder about a thermal curtain (in a greenhouse, possibly even in your Lunar Module Dave?). Horizontal wires on which is a "curtain" that can be drawn - this would drape down the sides and thus provide similar protection to bubble wrap, but it doesn't need to be transparent so could be a thermally efficient material.

In very cold periods it could be left closed as plants won't hurt with no light for a few days.

I have thought about something on the same lines with thermal roller blinds

[miketropic]

well this is gettin interesting.. it turns from what can we gorw outside to how many CFL bulbs does it take in my closet to match the sun .. I really would love to have a Atrium of some sort in my home or just a room dedicated to very tender plants but I can't see my wife allowing that. I might hit the hardware store this weekend and see about another bulb as I might not be getting enough light down to them cus it is kind of high..Do you have a site for a light to square foot calculation dave? I'm not trying to have a monster in the closet but I don't want them taking a nose dive mid january either. The set up at my old house was much better but I have to do with what I have.