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It is just... too hot...
Katherine W
Posts: 410
There are 50*C on the floor of my greenhouse today. Near the ceiling I don't know, the digital thermometer gave up and it just says "HI". Wether it means, "Hi, do you mind taking me to the shade, please?" or if means, "Hi, the temperature is very hi!", I don't know.
In any case, since I am a bit invalid today, and hard work is out of the question, I sliced some courgette really thin, dressed them in olive oil salt and pepper, put them on trays and put them in the greenhouse to dry. Zucchini chips without starting the cooker. At least that's the theory. I need welder glowes to turn the trays.
If this works I'll try tomatoes tomorrow or next week.
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Zucchini chips in the greenhouse, check... they were ready in less than 3 hours!!
My small greenhouse was built without ventilation. Which makes in pointless as a greenhouse, plants just cook. I have reached temperatures in the high 80s (c) in there. I regularly dry my washing in there. Thick towels can be hug up before work and dry went I get home. Even on rainy days. I love my drying room. Saves me ever having to use the dryer.
I would never have thought of making chip's. But really the heat that builds up is just like an oven.
Mine has 4 windows a big door and the roof vent, but, oy, it still gets really hot! I only keep plants in there in winter and spring. But I am very happy with today's chips trial. I will try more dehydrating experiments in the next days. I just hope not to end up dry and crispy myself
Your dehydrating experiment idea sounds like such a great idea. I once spent a fortune on a dehydrator machine for the kitchen to make fruit chews and the like. I could have saved my money and bought a cheap plastic greenhouse from Argos. I'm sure it would work just as well!!!
In fine weather it certainly would. You'd need to put a small vent at the floor and roof for ventilation. Or you could go fancy and add a black panel at the back for further heat. There are lots of of free plans online for dehydrators that you can make from scratch with recycled material, but seeing the temperatures, and seing that the GH was already there, I am very happy that I tried this first! It would just stand there empty else. And because it's so hot in there bugs don't go in anymore (if they do, they drop dead), so I think it is fairly hygienic too.
In the hot spells I splash water a couple of times a day onto the floor of the glasshouse, I grow tomatoes and Angelines quite successfully, in temperatures above 80oC, my glasshouse is a cedarwood house 13 foot by 10 foot by 10 foot high,
Ugh, in that sort of temperatures I have no wish at all to do fine horticultural stuff in the greenhouse... I can hardly bear to look after the tomatoes outside... I live outside almost year round and most definitely from may to october, and I am happy to consider the GH nothing more than an oven or dryer in between!!! 80*C.... *faints*
Wonderful the things you learn on here
So sorry, I dropped a big clanger yesterday, what should have been 80oF I wrote as C, the glasshouse is coated with the paint on coolglass, and even with the door and two side windows still goes to these temperatures, Angelines.