Every weekend morning that I am home, I work in the yard or the greenhouse. We were out of town through Saturday. Sunday I went out to do the routine. Normally the compost turning starts on Saturday. The top of the compost in the 4th bin was frozen. No big deal. It broke apart on the 2”X4” wire than screens it into the 5th (storage) bin. Even with gloves on my fingers got so cold I could not stand to pick up the compost from the top to take it back to the 1st (accumulation) bin.
Perhaps I could work in the greenhouse. The rain barrel inside the greenhouse had a skim of ice on it. The tomatoes planted in the raised bed, looked frostbitten. I turned the heater up a little; but I guess that is like closing the barn door after the horse gets out. The plants for next years garden have bottom heat from pads. I think I will lose some of them as well. Too cold to work in the greenhouse.
I went home early to water the plants; because the enriched water had ice on the top. It was still icy. Plants do not like ice water. It took 2 gallons of hot tap water to bring the temperature in a 5 gallon bucket up to something that would not shock the plants. This morning it was even colder (19 degrees). The winter garden plants did not seem to mind except for the Kale from last spring.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label bottom heaters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bottom heaters. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Clean Green (house)
Clean Green (house)
Yesterday when I started to work in the garden at thunderstorm interrupted. It was time to clean the greenhouse. It was time to think about what went well and what didn’t in the greenhouse this winter. On the whole this was a disappointing season. Some plants died after being transplanted. A little bird ate some of the plants. I think “damping off” may have been part of the problem.
Yesterday was just organization. All of the labeled containers were sorted according to the plant they would hold. The floor was cleared and the flats and cloches were stacked up. The compost bag was removed from the “tea barrel”. The potting soil went into the compost bin. Next comes the real cleaning.
The rain barrels will be emptied and scrubbed with Clorox. All of the pots, flats and cloches will be soaked in a Clorox solution and stored. The heating pads will be wiped down with Clorox solution and stored. The shelves will be removed cleaned and painted and while they are out the windows will be washed. Some changes need to be made for next year. The sources of failure need to be identified and removed.
Last year was the 1st time store-bought potting soil was used. This year I will mix 1/3 worm castings, 1/3 play sand and 1/3 perlite (or something similar). I will use the blue stuff for fertilizer instead of compost tea. The gas space heater on top of the bottle was problematic. It was extremely expensive and I think the gas leakage may have affected the plants. The electric service in the greenhouse will not support a space heater in addition to the bottom heaters and the lights. Finding a new heat source will be one of this years challenges.
If anybody actually reads this blog and if anyone has suggestions for the greenhouse, please post them.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
Yesterday when I started to work in the garden at thunderstorm interrupted. It was time to clean the greenhouse. It was time to think about what went well and what didn’t in the greenhouse this winter. On the whole this was a disappointing season. Some plants died after being transplanted. A little bird ate some of the plants. I think “damping off” may have been part of the problem.
Yesterday was just organization. All of the labeled containers were sorted according to the plant they would hold. The floor was cleared and the flats and cloches were stacked up. The compost bag was removed from the “tea barrel”. The potting soil went into the compost bin. Next comes the real cleaning.
The rain barrels will be emptied and scrubbed with Clorox. All of the pots, flats and cloches will be soaked in a Clorox solution and stored. The heating pads will be wiped down with Clorox solution and stored. The shelves will be removed cleaned and painted and while they are out the windows will be washed. Some changes need to be made for next year. The sources of failure need to be identified and removed.
Last year was the 1st time store-bought potting soil was used. This year I will mix 1/3 worm castings, 1/3 play sand and 1/3 perlite (or something similar). I will use the blue stuff for fertilizer instead of compost tea. The gas space heater on top of the bottle was problematic. It was extremely expensive and I think the gas leakage may have affected the plants. The electric service in the greenhouse will not support a space heater in addition to the bottom heaters and the lights. Finding a new heat source will be one of this years challenges.
If anybody actually reads this blog and if anyone has suggestions for the greenhouse, please post them.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.
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