Cover has arrived

Finally got my greenhouse cover delivered.  I got it from Northern Greenhouse Sales in Manitoba.  I'm really hapy with the speed and accuracy of executing my order, and I really like the support materials they sent and that are up on their website.  I would be working a lot harder to figure things out if it weren't for the easy access to information they provided for free.

That plastic band is not part of the packaging.  It is a roll of Cinchstrap--plastic lath to secure the cover to the frame.  It is very cost-effective and would save me a lot of time versus collecting, painting and fitting together scraps of wood to hold the cover down.

There are 3 rolls of poly in the box.  The one on top is the biggest, for the roof and rear wall.  Two others underneath are for the sides.

The poly cover is similar to a tarp, with some material differences to make it suitable for its purpose.  It is equipped with UV inhibitors to prevent wear from the sun, and is woven strong to prevent damage from birds, hail, ice, falling branches, etc.  It should last 5 years in a location like I am placing the greenhouse, and could last considerably longer if I either removed the cover for the summer or placed the greenhouse somewhere that it would get shade in the summer. 

I kind of like the idea of a controlled biosphere, to prevent a lot of wildlife activity around my plants, so I would probably not remove the cover for the summer.  On the other hand, I would consider lining the frame with a screen of chickenwire, snowfence, or something else in order to open it up for the summer.

From what I've read, I have an idea of how much of a temperature boost the cover will give me, with the quonset shape I am constructing.  Based on anecdotal readings, I should be able to achieve a temperature of about 25°C when outdoor temperature is freezing.  I do have concerns about whether or not the greenhouse is viable in February if temperatures are -20°, but only a few seeds need to be planted before March 1st anyways.  I may also introduce alternative heating to the greenhouse in January and February when it is really cold.  I haven't decided what the source will be.  I could take a risk with a small fire in my little patio fire cauldron, and I think it would probably work fine, or I could look to a heater.

I like this picture because it shows the new leaves opening up and I think the cannas have really interesting shapes to them as they grow.  These lilies give you something to look at long before they reach their mature size or the flowers begin to bloom.

These are my three best plants.  At the very left, you can see the leaf that was opening up on the picture above has now emerged most of the way, and is only curling at the bottom now.  And the other shoot from the same bulb is now half-opened.  The two pictures were taken about 3 days apart.  On the far right, I have a plant that is producing two great shoots and a new leaf should emerge sometime around the weekend.  The smaller shoot has a new leaf just creeping up so we'll see it opening up in about a week or so I suspect.  These plants are about one-third their mature size, minus the flowers that will sprout atop the leaves.

As for the lilies, the bulk of the plants that had small shoots have now opened their first leaves.  A couple of the plants that were first to grow, the ones that continued to grow through the shoots where they were cut down, have slowed down and are wilting.  I'm not really sure what this means, but I'm curious to see if new shoots will sprout up, if the plants will recover, or what is going to happen with them.

I'm still waiting on my second seed order.  I haven't gotten the seeds from Thompson-Morgan yet and hope to soon.  I'm also thinking of a third order, because I was looking through a third catalogue on the weekend where I was able to find some purple salvia and some mixed celosia that I really enjoyed planting last year.  Unfortunately I could only find salvia in red from Veseys and Thompson-Morgan, and only red and yellow celosia.  If I go ahead with ordering some trailing and climbing plants, I will order from Stokes and pick up the salvia and celosia as well.