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Colorado

anyone know what wattage bulbs will heat up a small hoop house an approapriate amount? how hot is too hot in there in the spring?

1/15/2009 7:28:03 PM

Jericho Vermont

I use 250 watt infra red. I have never been too hot with them but only use them on nights below 50 degrees.
John

1/15/2009 7:46:48 PM

Colorado

John- can the ifra red light make the plants leggy- or is that just a myth?

1/15/2009 9:11:56 PM

Picton,ON ([email protected])

We use some infared and some regular bulbs, all with shades. I haven't seen any differance, but dont put the lights right over the plants, they will burn them!

1/15/2009 10:37:21 PM

Jericho Vermont

I haven't found that they make the plants legy Pete. But as John said as the plant gets larger sometimes I have burnt a spot on a leaf or two. My growing area is colder than most and i know a number of growers that use a smaller bulb. I hang mine from the top of the hoops about 3-4 feet above the plants. I also set the lights on a timer which works well for nights.
John

1/16/2009 6:14:09 AM

Picton,ON ([email protected])

I have also just used regualr 100W bubls and they are adiquate most nights. It really depends on how cold. If its going to get really chilly a blanket over top as well is good:-)

1/16/2009 7:10:05 AM

Wilmington.Ma.

In the past ive used a 100w with a shade. The past 2 years ive tryed colored bulbs no change,exept to keep my neighbors wondering what Im up to now. Hoop houses are 8X6X4.

1/16/2009 9:38:58 AM

Pocatello ([email protected])

I used to use lights. Now I surround the plant with old milk jugs filled with water. If the weather is predicted to be 37 or less, the blankets come out.

1/16/2009 10:39:04 AM

SE Minnesota

do you still use a light if you have a heating cable in the soil?

1/16/2009 11:14:31 AM

maine USA

John did your electric bill increase much?

1/16/2009 11:45:28 AM

Billerica,Massachusetts

cheap 1500-2000 watt heaters from wal-mart do the trick.

1/16/2009 1:04:21 PM

Bristol,RI,USA.

Last year i tryed candles picked them up at the dollar store 8" tall 3" round they burned for four nights each kept the temp in green house above 60F and gave my pumpkins a romantic glow and co2 they seemed to like

1/16/2009 3:29:16 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

I have used in the past and will use again, the small heaters like Borer suggested. I got mine from Lowes's and Home Depot...and now is probably the time to get them, if they still have any. Very soon they will pull them from the shelves. For approx. $10 you can get them w/ thermostat and fan, some even oscillate!!! Peace, Wayne
PS..."too hot"...on a sunny spring day down here in KY. it gets way hot inside a small hoop house, very easy!!! If the sun is gonna shine, I open up the house.

1/16/2009 4:07:39 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

>> do you still use a light if you have a heating cable in the soil?

To be safe, I would say yes. By the time morning arrives most of the air temp inside the HH is the same as that outside, if all you have is one layer of plastic. I've had the weather guy predict lows in the mid-30s, but instead they turned out to be lows in the mid-20s, and I lost plants that year.

If it gets cold enough, the air temp might overwhelm any heat escaping from a heating cable.

Blankets are the ultimate protection. But in the morning, perhaps you need to leave for work before it's warm enough enough to remove the blankets. In this case, you can set electric heaters or lights on a timer and be good to go. When using blankets, most of the time I just put the blanket over the OUTSIDE of the HH, and use clips to hold it in place. Even if it doesn't extend to the ground, the blanket is enough to hold a lot of heat in.

By the way, soil heating cables will not heat the soil at all unless they are combined with plastic over the soil to hold the heat in. At least, I measured this one year and found it to be the case.

I'm starting to like the jugs of water, because they buffer the temperature both in the heat of the day and in the cold of the night.

Finally, here is one more tip if you are using light bulbs. You need a shroud above the bulb to protect it, otherwise condensation can form on the plastic, then fall on the hot bulb and shatter it. Don't ask me how I know. I lost that plant as well.

1/16/2009 5:18:35 PM

Pocatello ([email protected])

You know those wall-o-water things for use on tomatoes? The ultimate solution would be one of those, but four feet wide and three feet tall, and made of firm plastic so that it cannot collapse. You fill it up with water and you're good to go. (If the weather is still too cold when the plant out grows this, then you can move to plan B.)

I should invent such a thing...

1/16/2009 5:23:20 PM

Jericho Vermont

Kathy.
Lets please NOT bring up the electric bill! LOL Yes.
I also use water filled milk jugs and a soil heater or two in the hoops. Our electric company loves us.

Oh I also have had my grow bench lights on 24 hours a day for the past month and a half for the onions. Jeesh I need a windmill.
John

1/16/2009 6:29:05 PM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

I agree with Cliff, a Wall of water and a 15 watt bulb.

1/16/2009 7:00:13 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

2 and 3 liter bottles filled about 3/4 full and capped tightly work fine, I put about 200 in with the hotkap I had last year and it really helped give a heatsink and kept the cold at the plastic from 'rolling across the middle'. I also blanket covered mine at night over the plastic, and had a 250 (later 500) watt halogen light to plug in if needed.

1/16/2009 11:21:11 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

I've only heated my hoophouse (4x8) for the past couple of years to kickstart the plants early and ward off any late frost. I guess it depends on the overnight temps like Cliff mentioned above, however I was advised to keep the overall ambient temperature inside the hoophouse at around 50 degrees or so.

Since I live in a rural neighbourhood, I can't use lights without angering my neighbours, so I have been using a small heater with a built in thermostat to keep the temps where I wnat them early on. This year, I plan on using soil heating cables for the first time so might have to adjust that thermostat down slightly.

1/17/2009 12:33:27 AM

maine USA

Sorry John, what was I thinking! LOL Kathy

1/18/2009 12:59:02 PM