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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The Great Greenhouse Pt2

We are really moving along on this. Today i added the last of the soil. So far the soil heaters have kept it to abo100_0205ut 50F even when the air temp has dropped to match the outside temp (in the 20’s and 30’s at night). Next came watering with some tea made from water and chicken  manure (an Eastern Shore staple). And finally i decided on the lighting. Since we only have sunlight for about ten hours a day i like to add some extra hours of electric light so the plants get about 18 hours a day. I got lucky today as the local building supply had ‘brooder fixtures’ on sale this week. Th100_0206ese are usually used in chicken brooding operations and can take up to a 250 watt bulb or a heat bulb. I’m using 60 watt bulbs. Two fixtures came to $12.

I have gone back  and forth on whether to use florescent lights as in the past, or the compact florescent bulbs, or the standard incandescent bulbs. After so100_0208me research i found that the standard incandescent bulbs cover about the same light spectrum as the others and generate some added  heat to the air in the green house. The down side is that they cost more to operate. For now i’ve opted for the extra heat even though there will be some extra expense. As it warms up in the spring maybe i will go to the CFL’s. Tonight will be the test to see if the amount of heat generated is worth the added expense.

With luck i will be planting some lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower this weekend (i’ll let you know when the salad is ready Possum). If that works maybe one tomato and one cucumber plant.

4 comments:

Out on the prairie said...

I am ready to see what you harvest. I worked at a greenhouse one spring just to understand the operation better.

grammie g said...

Hi Grenville...aaaahhh!! manure tea...great stuff...brewed up plenty in my time ..I was more partial to cow manure though!! lol
Those are great lights to, used them for many purposes!!
Well looks like your having a great time with this...hope to see more progress to come!!

possum said...

Lookin'GOOD! Making me work on my drawings for my stand uppity greenhouse. Need to get it on paper for the day when it warms up a bit. Take my time, you say? Yeah, it looks and feels that way. Then I will let the cats have the old greenhouse to stay warm and dry in. They are waiting, tapping their little paws...
I polished my salad forks this morning........ (tapping my paws...)

Anonymous said...

I wish i knew more on greenhouses Steve. I'm learning though. I wish i had some cow manure Grammie. Closest we have is the horse farm at the end of town. Im' getting 2 more of the brooder lights tomorrow. At $7 they are a steal. Possum you know you will be one of the first to get some salad.