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Canada

Am working on Building plans for 2 mini Hoop houses come spring and need some help. My first year I used heat rocks around the plants with bottled water to collect the days heat for the night, This past year I used heat rocks again
(ones you use for reptiles) and bottled water. My biggest issues were dureing the day when I was at work with the Hot sun overheating the hoop houses, I considered Russ L'S ( Kanhuna4) idea with the thermo controlled vent window I actually really like that idea and plan on adding that into my hoop house build-up, But my issue is with keeping them warm at night for early season maxium growth as this seems to be my downfall year after year as my plants are much smaller then others put outside at the same time a month down the road others have 4 ft + mains and secondarys and mine are just starting to vine and take off so id like to keep my Temp controlled dureing the day and at night.

How well does the ground heating cables work?

I tried the work lights last year but my neaighbours didnt like them too much they worked good temp wise but the way my neighbourhood is built the light bothers them so thats out of question.

am leaning towards the heating cables and was wondering how well they worked for others

thanks
Dave

11/4/2005 9:39:40 PM

Cameron,ontario Team Lunatic

Dave, I find it hard to believe that a shop light would bother the neighbour. Just tell him to quit looking at it at night and it won't bother him. LOL. I use shop lights and put blankets over my hoop house at night. It also helps keep the heat in and works great. This shouldn't bother your neighbour, unless he's worried about you using too much electricity and if thats the case, tell him that he's not paying your hydro bill.

Phil

11/5/2005 7:34:20 AM

Ontario, Canada.

Dave, in your subdivision setting in Kitchener I believe it may be more beneficial to grow with a light source and some type of heat sink. heating cables work good for some growers but there can be draw backs too.

Bottom heat is extremely important for seed starting but less so for root growth. Many seed starting references describe the seedlings removal from heat sources upon germination. Cool temperatures provide good root building and slow down top growth in the first few weeks.

Last year my best plant came from a cold frame box that had no heat source. I managed this plant to an early pollination on June 25th.

11/5/2005 7:53:21 AM

you're sorda talking about two different things.... heating the air and heating the soil. If the lights bother your neighbors, you could pick up a few cheap space heaters; I've used those in the past. I have my lights/space heaters on a Christmas light timer to just come on at night, and I open the ends of the hoophouse during the day to avoid overheating, unless it's going to stay cool/cloudy the whole day.
Were the shop lights you were using fluorescent? Those don't give off a lot of heat compared to a regular light bulb.

Heating the soil with cables is a different topic... I've never done much for that.

11/5/2005 11:29:04 AM

Building on what Russ said... the lowering of temp after germination is to prevent damping off and other disease problems, as well as to harden off the seedlings and prepare them for transplanting.

11/5/2005 11:31:12 AM

Canada

awsome thanks, Ya i never considered the small shop lights, I was useing the large square headed shop lights
which actually heated the hoop house pretty well I guess I could always purchase one of those smaller ones with the steel around the base of it and face it downward with a large black plastic bucket over it.

thanks
Dave

11/5/2005 2:28:49 PM

Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Dave, be careful with the plastic bucket over the light. Initially I was using a sleeping bag to keep the plant warm at night. Well, I burnt a small hole in the lining of the sleeping bag that way. So, I thought I was being clever by putting a bucket over the light to keep it from burning the sleeping bag again. It ended up melting the bucket all over the flood light and ruining the bulb. But, you should be fine as long as the bucket isn't actually touching the bulb.

11/5/2005 5:02:56 PM

Follansbee, Wv

Back to what Russ said about temp and root growth. Many plants build roots with cool soil. Look at onions and potatoes for instance. They do best if planted in cool weather so they can develope good root structures. Trees and shrubs are the same way. Warm soil may be detrimental to your plants by causing underdeveloped roots. Sure they may build strong tops, but without a good root structure, what do you have? I think warm air and cool soil is the way to go. With that being said, I also think it is possible to baby the plant with too much warmth early on. I honestly believe that keeping the plant from freezing to death is all it needs. Any warmer and you have a weak plant suseptible to cold with weak roots. So what...it starts out small, the increased root system will make up for it in time.

11/5/2005 5:50:30 PM

Rhode Island

dave

you cant beat the soil heating cables

while the air temp may drop some at night, the soil temp will remain a constant 72 degree
they have a thermostat built in and do not run unless the soil is below 72 degrees

easy to install and easy to pull out at end of season

check out the henry fields catalog by searching on the www.dogpile research site

i use the smaller 12 ft ones and they work very good
just dig out a pit approximately 10 inches deep and 6 inches wide around the area where yoyr seedling will be planted ( about 6 to eight inches on each side of plant ) , seperate the wires so they do not touch and form a circle around the plant
cover and plug in

quite inexpensive to purchase also

dick

11/5/2005 7:20:37 PM

Sioux Falls, SD [email protected]

should be able to wangle some sort of shade on that light

11/6/2005 10:26:59 AM

Lloydminster/AB

Some plants build roots in cool soil but AG's are not one of them. Get some good cables. Listen to Dick. He knows what he is talking about!

11/6/2005 11:40:28 AM