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Grow lights and soil warmers
Grant26
Posts: 24
Hi all,
Looking at installing a polytunnel to house some bananas, palms tree ferns, and whatever other tropical plants (albeit UK hardy) I can get a hold off so wondering about using grow lights and if needed soil warmers to keep them in growth over the winter.
So looking for help as to how to get started.
- How much space does each light/cable cover.
- How much do they cost?
- Running costs?
- Quality of growth?
- Are they both actually needed?
- Any down sides?
Any and all help is much appreciated.
Thanks,
Grant
0
Posts
Hi Grant, can't be of much help in your research, but the womble in me was told that old economy 7 heating bricks from radiators hold and slow release heat, people have used them to raise soil temp and say it works, I used mine for a path. Point being, they are usually willingly given away free as they are so heavy! Perhaps a request on Gumtree could source some?
Not familiar with heating bricks, are the same as these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Storage-Heater-Bricks-12-/111673162375?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1a003d3a87
If so I guess I could make a mini path out of them and then maybe scatter about.
Hi Grant.
I'd not worry about keeping them growing over the winter. You just need it to be frost free.
It'd cost a fortune to heat it enough to sustain growth. Polytunnels are, by nature, not insulated.
My banana survived the winter in a polytunnel with no heating. I'm in Devon,so we don't get it as cold as some parts but we did have -7C one night.
One tip I'd give you. If you have raised beds in the tunnel as I do: paint them with a dark wood preservative as this will attract the sun in winter and heat up the soil within, which, like the storage heaters will radiate the heat back out overnight.
Hi Grant, yeah, that's the one. Very useful and are generally chucked in skips when heaters get updated
Cool, hopefully find some closer to me, would it be worth creating a sloping bed either side? Would that keep much heat in/Benefit from the heat in the soil?
If you are prepared for some excavation a destratification pump ducting hot air from the apex or highest point of the greenhouse to a large underground thermal mass encapsulated in insulation will keep the frost risk down and extend the mild season. If you power the air pump from a solar panel it saves on control equipment.
I can't help you with extending growth over winter, that would be incredibly wasteful, irresponsible and expensive.