Problem with temperatures

So, I was having trouble with the greenhouse recently.  After finishing construction, I set up a thermometer in there to get readings on temperature.  The following week, we had some temperatures between 15-24°C and the greenhouse (before the vents and door were installed) was getting up to about 30-35° with the door space and vent spaces completely wide open.  


Since installing doors and windows, I was checking for overnight temperatures.  They were dropping to match outdoor temperatures.  I put in the weatherstripping to hopefully get a better seal and it was still dropping to outdoor overnight temperatures.  (I did get the greenhouse up to 38° in daytime when outdoor temperature was about 8 on a sunny day.  So the greenhouse certainly has what it takes to get warm.  


Finally I realized that I have to get the greenhouse full of stuff that will absorb the heat.  Air convection is an inefficient heating method, and the poly greenhouse cover is not going to sufficiently insulate the indoors and buffer the inner atmosphere from the outdoors at night.  Unfortunately, I have been at work from 8:00am until about 9:00pm this week, so I don't have time or daylight to get anything done out there.  I usually cram in about 10 minutes of tinkering in the morning before leaving.


But thanks to the long weekend, I was able to get some time this afternoon after taking off from work early to put a couple hours into adjusted the hinges on the windows, and I spent some time planting some of my perennials into pots.  The pots then went into the greenhouse.  I also took some bags of grass clippings I collected this week, dumped them into giant tree containers I have and created 3 or 4 mini compost bins in the greenhouse.  I covered them with old compost to give them a rich black surface.  I also put in a container full of water.


The decomposition of the grass, thatch and leaves will cause a lot of microbial activity that will heat the bins up to between 45-70°C (topping out around 160°F).  The bulk of soil will also absorb heat and hold it in the atmosphere of the greenhouse overnight, I hope.  Same with the perennials potted.  The should soak up lots of sunlight in the dark black pots and rich dark soil, and hopefully maintain some warmth 24-hours.


The water should smooth out rough edges.  As the greenhouse heats up over 30° the water will be drawn into the air and the humidity will help refract some light, protect and moisten plant leaves, and slow down further heating up.  As the greenhouse cools, the bulk of water should take considerable time to condense out of the air, and it will coat the cover to further insulate it.  This is in theory, at least.

Plant update

So, due to strange weather and convenience, I haven't actually been using the greenhouse yet.  I have been starting the seeds indoors, and waiting til they are out of their domes and are a few inches tall.

This is the light table I built.

Two metal shelving units side-by-side, with four fluorescent light fixtures.

This was working pretty well for about a week.  But I was planting new seeds pretty well everyday.  I had to re-plant the geraniums that died.  Re-plant the begonias that died (though, there may be more to that story), and continue planting all the stuff that should be sown 12-16 weeks in advance of outdoor planting. 

As I continued to plant more flowers that require a 6-8 week head start, and I got a few vegetables underway, I had trays all over the floor and it was becoming impossible to get to the shelves, as I had 3 old hockey sticks with 3 more light fixtures dangling from the shelves to various chairs and things in the room.

So, since I had purchased a bunch of 2x2 lumber to build the greenhouse shelves with, I just brought those boards inside and reconfigured my shelving unit into a more functional light table.

I've placed the shelves 6' apart, facing one another, and stretched the 2x2 boards across the gap to make rudimentary shelves.  The lights were re-hung to span the gap.

The new shelving system took a lot more intricate planning than it appears.  It looks like a cheap dummy threw planks of wood across two old shelves, but actually, they are highly functional.  The light fixtures don't spray the light wide enough to satisfy the growing plants.  What you get is about 1/3 of the tray that is looking good, and the rest of the young plants are growing too leggy and leaning into the light. 

By having the boards in their pattern, I can move the trays around twice a day so that each side of the tray gets 12 hours of good direct overhead light, and the rest of the time, they lean a bit to the side.  I don't really mind the leaning because I figure it kind of replicates what would happen in natural outdoor conditions when the sun moves across the sky.

These are the impatiens that were my first sprouts.  You can see the little brown dot--the husk of the seed.  In my previous trials with geraniums, I had not been prepared for two problems: first, I had not set up lights yet, so they became weak and leggy; second, the husks were sticking to the leaves and beginning to rot and collect fungus.

 One thing I have been very diligent about for the last week or so has been to make sure that as I am inspecting the trays, any husks that remain on the leaves must be removed.  For first-timers, I would recommend trying seeds that are sown on the surface.  With some of my dahlia seeds that are planted 1/2" deep, they were pushing up soiling that stuck to the husk and made the rotting and fungus much worse.

Marigolds in front, Celosia in the back

Red & White Geraniums

Marigolds on the right, Impatiens on the left

Zinnias - Oklahoma Blend

One thing I would definitely do differently next year:  do not mix seeds.

I have many trays where there are a couple dozen ABC seeds growing side-by-side with a couple dozen XYZ seeds....Now that I am beginning to remove the domes, it becomes more challenging to deal with trays where one set of seedlings is ready to grow free, and the other set would benefit from another few days under the dome.

Initially, using the peat pods was supposed to handle this problem.  They could easily be shifted around to suit different growth rates.  But because I am up against the wall with limited space available on the shelves, I am not really able to separate trays.

I'm putting a few finishing touches on the greenhouse this weekend.  Re-install the windows after they were sanded down, install the weatherstripping, install shelving, paint a few spots, pull the loose flap on the front under the frame.  After that, I'll be able to move the plants outside as they no longer require the 24-hour direct overhead light.

Fitting my shelves together has given me a great idea for building a real light table for the future, so I am looking forward to this fall/winter when I tackle that project.

Greenhouse construction completion

Frame is complete

The cover is about half-done here.

Cover complete.

Canna lilies and greenhouse construction

Just to update on all the canna lilies I have been keeping this winter, most of them have stopped growing after I moved them all into the spare room at the window.  Because they were so big and I had to space them all out across the floor, it became nearly impossible to properly water them without it taking a lot of time, so I allowed them to dry out a lot and it was interesting to see how they responded.

First, they let some of their lower leaves brown and dry out.  As the soil dried up, they also started to lean over because they were so tall and the soil was too dry to hold them upright.  I will be curious to take a look at the root systems soon to see if the rootlets were sacrificed in order to preserve moisture in the bulb.

My plan is to cut most of them down (I have already done this today), wet the roots and then put the bulbs outside for the rest of the winter.  I am a little concerned that by not letting them go dormant for a few months, they might be under stress.  So, given that we haven't had any extreme cold temperatures so far this winter, and that forecasts look good going forward in March, I am confident that the lilies will not be in any danger outside for the next 4-6 weeks.

I have salvaged a few of the rarer lilies I have and will continue to grow them, as well as a couple of the better looking red lilies I have just so that I have a few that are mature by the time planting season rolls around.


As for the greenhouse construction, I learned a very important lesson last week:  paint the lumber before you construct the frame.  Luckily, I still have some construction to do and the remaining lumber will be painted and ready before it is added to the frame.  Getting into the corners and bottom edges is a pain to deal with, especially when the ground is soggy and cold.

There is a little hiccup with the construction due to recent weather and because my recycled 6x6 end-piece was evidently too weathered to be recycled afterall.  So, in keeping with the past couple months, the costs of the greenhouse project continue to spiral--though fortunately costs are not spiraling completely out of control; all the expenses are manageable in spite of their inconvenience.

Planting annuals

Two canna lilies sprouting in the peat pods.
More importantly, two Strelitzia - Birds of Paradise - sprouting in the coir cells
The third Strelitzia is sprouting as of today as well, and they are probably the most lucrative plants
long-term, so hopefully they continue to do well!

These are geraniums that I planted on the 23rd and have sprouted.
A handful of them are too weak and are unlikely to grow, but the bulk of them
are doing well.

A second tray of different geraniums, a different breed, are not doing so well.
Only a handful sprouted, and have not done well once moved into the light.
The bulk of the tray remains to be seen.  They are supposed to take 3-15 days
to sprout, so I am still hopeful they will do well enough to recover the costs.

This is my ricinus sprout.  The other two died off, though I left the stalks.
Unfortunately, the plants have trouble shedding the seed pod from the leaves, which causes
moisture and rotting on the leaves, and kills off the plant.
If you look closely, you can spot big white dots that represent 3-4 more sprouts emerging.

Bottom -- transplanted canna seedlings.  As opposed to the previous batch, I have
planted these sprouts in much deeper soil.  The last batch grew very tall, very quickly and were
stringy and sometimes unable to stand straight.
I'm hoping that in thicker soil, watering deeply, I can encourage the roots to grow stronger before the
plants shoot upward very much more.

Top, in individual containers -- These are one of my prizes: Alstroemeria Ligtu hybrids, aka Peruvian Lilies
The growing process is very complicated, and for most people, unsuccessful.
I have planted the seeds in two different batches in the hopes I will at least have success with one.

You probably can't make it out, but it appears the daylily sprouts are growing stronger root systems
and beginning to develop a bulb .

Too many perennials to manage

Unfortunately, I had a terrible leg injury from a hockey game just over three weeks ago.  For the last week it has been much better, but for the first two weeks I could hardly walk and wasn't able to get as much accomplished as I would have liked, especially in completing the greenhouse to be ready for use. Given the weather forecast, I have every intention of having the greenhouse ready to hold plants within the week.  I was originally planning to have the greenhouse ready by about the 20th of February because this is when I figured we would be able to put the lowest winter temperatures behind us.  I suspect the greenhouse can handle temperatures down to about -10 to -15°C, and was therefore not planning to use the greenhouse until we got past mid-February. so I'm not really behind schedule as far as putting the greenhouse to use, but I am pushed into a bit of a corner now on getting it ready.

The perennials are growing, in many cases more than I had expected and faster than I had expected.

I have been transplanting some of the lilies and hostas into styrofoam cups to thin out the seedlings for about the last week, and now am doing so with the hibiscus seedlings as well.

I had three ricinus plants pop up really fast about two weeks ago and before I could do anything with them, they had rotted on the stem.  Unfortunately, they are prone to having the seed casing stick to the leaves when it sprouts up, and then the casing starts to rot and destroys the leaves and plants.  Fortunately, I have lots of seeds left to try and get it right.  I planted a few more seeds, one of them sprouted and I have been taking good care of it, checking on it frequently so that I can remove the seed casing once the leaves are grown and it sprouts out of the soil.

I am up against the wall on planting a few dozen seeds that will require about three months to grow before ready for planting.  Mostly it's all petunias and geraniums.  I will need to get them planted this week ASAP.

As for the cannas, I haven't been doing much with them at all.  I'm probably going to cut most of them back later this week and move them into the greenhouse at week's end. 

These are the hibiscus plants that sprouted.  Unfortunately the seeds for the oriental lilies  in the back
don't seem to be yielding any useful sprouts for me.

I moved the hibiscus seedlings into the cups sooner than I really would have liked, but they were starting to collect mold from the moisture in the tray and had to be moved.
I wasn't expecting that many of the seeds to sprout, and I doubt I can make use of them all, so I have only set aside about 20 plants into the styrofoam containers for now.

Last week, I snapped a picture of a tray loaded with daylily seedlings.
I thinned out the trays by moving some into styrofoam, and was left with this.

I moved the more mature daylilies into styrofoam, kept the small ones in the tray to catch up.

These are the little canna seedlings that are growing incredibly fast.

This is the tray of hosta sprouts.  I haven't thinned them out yet into styrofoam.
I did thin out hostas from a different tray, but they grow slower and are less finicky
than daylilies so I figured I could wait another week and hopefully get them separated
in the greenhouse.

This is a canna lily seed, just beginning to sprout.
In order to get these guys to grow, I had to scrape them with pruning shears to
allow some moisture in past the hard shell.  Then I soaked them in water until these little
sprouts started to pop out, and I promptly put them in soil and into the propagator.

These are several of the ones that have sprouted so far.  Still about 15-20 seeds left.

On the left are canna lily sprouts.  in the middle are hosta sprouts.
Circled in red is the first of 3 Strelitzia "Birds of Paradise" sprouts (assuming the other two will sprout eventually!)
Circled in yellow are the first two (of hopefully dozens) oriental lilies to sprout

These lilies don't seem to be doing much....

This is a tray full of hosta sprouts.

This is a tray of daylily sprouts

Also currently sprouting in other trays:  lots more oriental lilies, lots of hibiscus, more daylilies and hostas, and a tray full of cannas that are starting to sprout.

New sprouts, more planting, new toy

I had to pick up some more seed starting soil and they had a bunch of indoor starting sets with heat mats, so I decided to pick one up.  Having the Venus Fly Traps, the banana plants and the Birds of Paradise, plus the canna lily seeds, which all would grow best at 25°C or so.  Since I am using regular fluorescent lights and plastic covers, not enough heat is generated and stored to really get the trays above room temperature, and I'm also a little impatient waiting and hoping for some sprouts from the tropical plants.  So the heat mat should help.

Just a little thin mat to put under the tray and plug in.

I have been using it a couple days now, and I put a thermometer in there this morning for about an hour just to check how hot it gets.  The thermometer picked up an ambient temperature of about 30° so I unplugged it for now, and after less than an hour, the temperature is back down to about 20° again.  So I will probably just run the heat overnight and then maybe let it sit at room temperature during the day.


Also, I finally am seeing sprouts from the hostas that I planted in the new year.  I had originally just planted one seed per cell, which was a mistake.  On average, you should plant about six seeds in expectation that one will grow.  So, two weeks ago when the daylilies sprouted, I had planted a bunch of hosta seeds into the tray after none had sprouted.  Seeing sprouting after two weeks now means they are growing well, and right on schedule.

This picture is a little poor because of the light refracting off all the water, but it shows
pretty well how many hostas are sprouting.  It also shows how erratic they can be:
Some cells are sprouting several plants, others literally have none.

Here you can see the hosta sprouts as well.
I planted the remaining stock of canna lily seeds too.

 Those little sacks are Jiffy pellets.  they are compressed dry soil in little sacs, and when they are exposed to water, they soak it up and expand and become self-contained little cells for planting.  I planted my remaining canna lily seeds into those pellets, at 2 per cell.  The seeds required some preparation because the coat is so strong.  I used pruning shears to nick the shell and scrape an opening for water to penetrate.  I played around with a few seeds by completely stripping the shell, or by cutting it in half in a way to not damage the embryo.  I'm curious to see if they grow or grow faster or anything.


 The daylily sprouts are doing well, and I'm hopefully that the seeds I had planted last week will have sprouted by this time next week.  This goes along with a lot of seeds I had planted last week.  I have the two trays of daylilies and a container full of hosta seeds.  At a two-week standard rate to sprout, I'm going to check on them probably everyday this week to see some growth.  I'm also going to pick up some styrofoam cups, as they were recommended for growing the sprouts once they get big enough to split off.

A week after they had sprouted and needed to be moved, here are the daylilies.

Perennials planted

Of all the perennial seeds I collected last fall, I got most of them planted this weekend:  daylilies, hostas, asiatic and oriental lilies, and half of my ricinus seeds.

Here's where we left off on the daylily sprouts, midweek

They were getting too big so I moved them into their own container for a couple weeks while they grow out.
Seven of ten grew, so I replanted a couple new seeds to see if I could get all the cells growing.

These are the ricinus sprouts.
With the small one, the seed shell got stuck to the leaves as it grew out of the soil and rotted the leaves.
Not sure if it's going to grow or not, but it looks like it's still kicking along for now.

(Click to enlarge)
I set the daylily seeds on the soil, and packed them in pretty tight.
Based on my expectation of 50% to grow, and the test where 70% grew, I decided to
plant the seeds in small spaces, close together. 
The sprouts are small enough they can flourish for probably a month before I would need to split them apart.

Here I put the others:  tiger lilies, asiatic and oriental lilies.
The seeds for the oriental don't look very good at all, so I packed them really tight together.
The asiatics I just sprinkled heavily onto the soil. 
My expectations for either aren't all that high.

 

 

 

Cover the trays in plastic bags to seal in moisture so that the trays don't need to be fiddled with until the sprouts arrive.
Not sure for the asiatics, but the daylilies and hostas should be 2 weeks until sprouting.

I didn't post a picture of the hosta container.  I just took a really large container I had previously used for the canna lilies, put down 2" of soil, and then sprinkled the hosta seeds over the soil heavily.  I had easily enough to cover the area, so they were piled on very thick.  Then sprinkled soil on top lightly, watered, and covered with clear plastic to lock in the moisture so the seeds don't dry out.

I had about two-dozen ricinus seeds from collecting in the fall.  I managed to fit about half into a container, similar to how I planted the hostas, but smaller.  Because they are growing tall so quickly, I built a little frame with a tray holder and some wire to prop up the plastic bag I sealed the container with.  It should allow the ricinus sprouts to reach about one foot tall, which should give me a month or more to deal with them.

Received my final seed order.  A few annual flowers--I thought I would need more petunias than I had ordered, and I added a couple other things that I thought would be easy to get rid of.  I also picked up a dozen "Bag o' Blooms" hanging planting bags and some trailers for the hanging bags and pots.

Two new sprouts

I had two little sprouts waiting for me this evening when I popped off the lid of the propagator.

Both are dayliles, and since I have one whole tray dedicated to those seeds, I'm hopeful that I will have a bunch more of them sprouting up this week.  Also, since daylily seeds were the ones that I got the most of this fall, I'm very pleased to see that they are growing.  I probably have a couple hundred sitting around waiting to be sown.

Two little sprouts on the bottom row

Here's a display of the seeds I have planted:

Construction photos

The sides frames are constructed and placed to the front frame.

I am going to add a little diagonal bracing with leftover wood before the cover goes on.

The roof of the structure is not shown.
I am bending rebar from back to front to create a round roof.
The quanzet shape catches light better than others.

I drew the red line in to represent the way the rebar will bend over the structure for the roof.

Standing inside there with all the walls up really gave me a good sense of how much room there is to grow all the plants.  I think the 16x10 structure is going to be very good for a first-time greenhouse grower like myself. 

Castor oil plant update

The second ricinus sprout is now clearly visible. 

The first sprout is interesting to watch.
The first leaf is growing from the seed before it pops up from the soil.

They are getting too biog for the propagator!
A couple days later, the first one is pushing upright and I had to make a new dome for it to grow under.

 Now I'm in a jam because this plant is going to need a bigger pot soon, but the roots will be very fragile for transplanting.  Luckily, these plants seem to grow well from the seed, so even if I lose these two, I don't see why I can't prepare another batch of seeds and a container that can properly handle their height, and do well with them again.

I'm also really curious to see how the plant is going to fill in.  I am anxious to see how quickly the stalk starts to branch off, though I would assume that won't happen for quite some time.

Update on the lilies.  I got all of them into the room under the window except for 3.

These are going to be a pain to water....

This is my biggest one.  It surprises me to see how well all the shoots are doing.
They are all crammed so close together, but continue to grow well.