I have my first greenhouse in zone 6b

[Guest]

Hi Everyone I'm new to the FORUM so thank you for allowing me to join. I have my first greenhouse in zone 6b. I'm seeing that in general you want to maintain around 60 degrees f. Temperature. For those thar have run electric- approximately how long did it run in the coldest month.

I'm going to try and go completely solar so I can calculate watt hours.

[Owensboro]

There is no general temperature that greenhouses are set at during winter. Each individual greenhouse contains different plants which have different cold tolerances.

Your 3 main categories of greenhouse temperature are cold, warm and hot greenhouse.

Cold greenhouses are for overwintering plants that need a dormancy period like some bonsai trees, shrubs and other landscape material. This temperature is kept between 35-50°f.

A warm greenhouse is 50-75°f for many indoor plants and non cold hardy plants.

A hot greenhouse is 75°f+ for the most tropical plants and heat loving plants. These are also the most cold sensitive.

With this being said you need to consider what your growing and the temperature range for your plants.

I use a cold greenhouse and power it with a 1500watt electric heater between 35-42°f. When it drops below about 10°f I use a propane top heater for the coldest of nights.

[Allie]

We first installed a wall mount garage heater on the far end of our hoop house. This month we installed a wood burning stove with a blower on the other end. we try to keep our hoop house around 60-80 degrees. we have a mix of vegetables, flowers, and succulents growing so its a little challenging to figure out what works best where. We have friends that use nothing but wood during the winter for their hoop house and do well each year. so we will see! i wish you luck and hope the solar at least helps some!

[Dale]

Winter growing will be challenging in your zone. Maintaining 60 will be very challenging. Solar isn’t very efficient for heating a greenhouse, your expense for a workable system to include battery backup capable of maintaining heat for a 5 day winter storm will be alarming . That being said, we all winter grow for different reasons and one of them is not to save money, if it is your passion go for it just understand the challenges you face.

[Scott]

24/7 depends on your structure you will never do this you can’t get enough energy from the sun it’s too far away in winter you will need a very special GH with plenty of R-value what does yours look like

[Batman]

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