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My first mini-greenhouse

DrWurm

Californian in DC
So I got bored today and realized I need a place to germinate and grow my incoming heat loving plant seeds (thanks JRFxtreme). I figured I'd grab some materials (read: crap) I had lying around to make a greenhouse. I'll have to run some temperature tests and see if it needs to be heated at night, in which case I have a nice little fan heater that should fit in.

What do you guys think about the plastic? I know it's not the clearest stuff in the world.... but it's gonna have the sun shining through it.... If you guys think it would be advisable, I could try to find something a bit clearer.


 
There is a product at lowes and home depot just for this, its greenhouse plastic but it only last for a year or so, im not sure the name of it(maybe somone can help me). Otherwise i would just ditch what you have no and try everything without the plastic. Looks more trouble then its worth because the plastic isnt very clear but you could always give it a try.
 
It looks pretty clear, but you could probably get some kind of greenhouse plastic or something.
 
There is a product at lowes and home depot just for this, its greenhouse plastic but it only last for a year or so, im not sure the name of it(maybe somone can help me). Otherwise i would just ditch what you have no and try everything without the plastic. Looks more trouble then its worth because the plastic isnt very clear but you could always give it a try.

Well, the idea for the plastic is to lock in heat and humidity. I'd need something like that for certain dews and lowland neps.

Mainly the idea is to provide nighttime warmth.
 
well....the plastic is going to get the temps up to 120 and over in the day if the setup is in full sun and is not going to provide any warmth at all at night....it's just to small to control the temps!
...but if you want to cook your plants that setup is the perfect way to go!
 
haha, okay.... suggestions?

If i got some clear plastic, and then stick the whole thing under some shade cloth, might that help?
 
try using a shading cloth if you plan to keep it in full sun ...make sone tests and see how many layers you need....try to stay away from the pm sun, if you can, with a good positioning of the setup
How close to the coast are you?
 
I'm right by LAX. 2 or 3 miles away from the coast.
 
yeap!!....you are going to have a heat problem!
try the cloth on the setup you have now and see how long you can keep it in sun without cooking your plants. i strongly suggest to avoid the pm sun. try it and let us know! i did...and the temps got to 140 easy without a cloth.
 
  • #10
Maybe you could make a bigger one and put some kind of cooling thing in it, and a heater for winter.
 
  • #11
Ok, right now, I stuck my heater in there just on fan mode. It's in what i think is like... 50% shade cloth. Right now the top shelf is running at around 90, which is a bit high, but not terrible. the lower shelf is just above 80 (bit less sun). The fan is blowing over a tray of water to try and achieve the swamp cooler effect. I figure at night I'll just pop it into heater mode and adjust the built-in thermostat for 80-somethin degrees.
 
  • #12
this weekend is going to be hot so you are going to have perfect conditions to test your setup....and test it for at least a week!.....i didn't have anything inside (like a fan) so that might help
 
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