Green House heaters

JimmyHosta

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AndyPandy

Do you have a loft/attic? (I forget the US term) - perhaps that's an idea??

clrosner

I have never lost a tree from the cold. I keep mine in a garage. I create a "U" with cinder blocks as seen in the attached photos. I water my trees well after they have been exposed to at least two freezing periods. I place long wooden skewers into each tree to check for watering needs. Usually they will need watering about twice during the winter months! I place my trees on the garage floor and then cover them with mulch.

They stay there until I see bud breaks in late winter.

I have not found the need for a heater in Zone 6/7

I do use heaters in my green house for my tropicals. I purchased the heaters and my humidifier from www.charliesgreenhouse.com.

Good luck!

Attached Images

	GARAGE - DORMANCY 011128 B.JPG (49.8 KB, 55 views)
	GARAGE - DORMANCY 011128 A.JPG (56.4 KB, 50 views)

__________________
Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7
arteacher3725@yahoo.com

CHECK OUT MY UPDATED WEBSITE AT[B]:
www.carlrosner.com

Dav4

I do basically as carl does, but his method is much neater. Potted trees are placed in fairly tight proximity to each other in my unattached garage(not too tight as to damage branches), and mulch is piled around and over the pots. I use landscape fabric over the pots to keep soil and mulch seperate. I water sparingly through the winter, usually with snow. Havn't lost one to the cold either, and temps in the garage have fallen close to zero F. Sorry, I can't give you any info about the greenhouse heater accept to say that it sounds expensive and you will have to monitor your watering needs much more intently if your tree rootballs remain unfrozen through the winter.


Dave

bonsaibuckaroo

Being that I am in zone 8, will I have to worry as much about freezing temps? I hear lot about mulch, forgive me but is there a specific thing that mulch is or something more general? When I think of mulch I think of fine particles of grass left by a mulching lawnmower blade... lol

clrosner

Most of the mulch that I have used is basically wood chips... I usually pay around $2.50 to 3.00 a bag. I usually use about 2 to 3 bags for all my trees (about 20 trees).

There are all kinds of mulch available at nurseries. from a licorice to a red mulch. I usually use the most inexpensive. After the winter I shovel up the mulch and place it around my bushes and trees that I am growing in-ground. Nothing gets wasted.

__________________
Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7
arteacher3725@yahoo.com

CHECK OUT MY UPDATED WEBSITE AT[B]:
www.carlrosner.com

jjeter

BonsaiMon

Hi Jimmy.. The previous posts will probably take care of your situation but if you are still considering a greenhouse make sure you think about automatic venting and air circulation .. there are many types of heaters available from electric to propane but for your situation solar may be a viable option.
I have a homemade greenhouse attached to my front porch.. a 25'X25', 6 ml plastic double layer air blown (for depth in the walls), and heat it with wood.. here in VaBeach the winters are fairly mild and I keep tropicals happy during the winter. I burn about 5-6 cords wihich keeps my house warm also.
Fans for circulation and a large one for exhaust in the warmer months. In the winter I turn the exhaust fan off and open the house.
Position of your greenhouse is important also.. mine gets full sun in the summer and dappled sun during the winter.. backwards from the ideal situation.. solar is sort out for me and I'm considering heating a large water tank with the woodstove.. instead of just heating the air.
If you use some sort of solar storage during the sunny days it will probably be plenty to keep the hard freeze off during the cold nites.

ah.. yes, I can feel to cool breeze flowing..

__________________
peace,
tom stoute

http://bonsaiinsights.spaces.live.com/

Ralph

Being zone 8, that means you won't see temps below -9 C ( 15 Farenheit) very often. You can over winter outside with mulch. Or if you have an unheated garage that doesn't drop below -6 (20 farenheit), you should not need to mulch at all.

I am zone 8a, and I keep my deciduous trees in my unheated garage until temps remain above freezing. Getting the water right is the key. they will utilize much less water, but you don't want the root balls to dry out.

My conifers stay outside, and I have never given them any protection, just moved them off my benches, and placed them on the ground. water as needed.

__________________
Emerging from winter slumber
Bonsai trees burst buds anew
Spring is upon us!


-Paul S.