I have now moved all my tropical plants inside, either into two greenhouses or an enclosed porch. I moved approximately 300 plants inside. I had no room for my Aloe Vera, Jade, Rubber Trees, or Schefflera , so those will have to survive the winter outside. There are probably 4-5 dozen of those. If the winter is mild, some will survive. If we get into the teens, and we often do, most will perish. I have to protect the more valuable/more wanted plants and sacrifice others.

The first greenhouse has approximately 300 plants and the "Orchid" greenhouse has approximately 500 plants. You can't really tell what's what because I took the photos from the door openings. The "Everything Else" greenhouse has a nice, large work bench and there are three fans and (now) two electric heaters. The "Orchid" greenhouse has four fans and (now) three heaters. The third heater only comes on if the other two can't keep the temperature at or above 55 F.


One side of my "Everything Else" greenhouse
The other side. I had to put an overflow of orchids in this greenhouse, so the "Everything Else" name no longer fits.
One side of my "Orchid" greenhouse. There are only two 12' long wire shelves on this side.
The other side. There are three 12' long wire shelves on this side, mostly loaded with "baby" and "teen" orchids.

Hats off to all the people that do this for their tender plants every year. Me, I just moved to a zone 10...

Looking great, Ken!!
I did the same just a month earlier and this week I moved the Epiphyllums into the garage and also a couple more cold growing orchids. The garage door stays open during the day until we have frost at day time.

Awesome greenhouse, Ken!

I am not far from Zone 10 being in Zone 9a. It will be a few months before things get moved into protected areas. We don't get many big frosts but all it takes it one rare frost and there go all my tropicals and hard work. I worry so much about my babies in the winter! I can't imagine my worry living anywhere that gets colder?! I guess you do whacha gotta do.

Nice and neat, Ken. I wait until the last day, and cram things in helter skelter. Whatever works.

I too finally got everything safely ensconced into the two greenhouses on Friday and the heating systems checked out and set up .. I was a week late since there was so much other stuff going on so Friday was a scramble because there were calling for a light frost Friday night and the tropical hibiscus had yet to be put in.

Now the clean up of the back yard and getting back into the winter mode of checking on the greenhouses twice a day and such.

My DH and GF are forbidding me to place my heater in my new temp greenhouse erected on the side of the garage. I have two kinds of heaters, a radiating one and a blowing milk can type. Of course I would keep it safe away from anything touching it. I have a cement paver to set it on. Am I forgetting something??

I always use fans on timers to keep air circulating at night.

Fans are very important. Mine only run during the day-light hours but I think my good air movement prevents mold and mildew, and dries my plants after fertilizing/watering. I have never had any pests (scale, aphids, etc) on any of my plants as far as I know, and I think the air movement (perhaps) prevents those infestations. Since many of my plants stay outside during the mild months, they sometimes will get ants, but that's about it. Oh, those pots on the ground will sometimes/often have earthworms, but that's a good thing. The only time I get rid of them is when I am shipping my plants bare-root.

Timers! (add forehead slap icon here) Of course!!!

Why can't you add a heater, Cheryl?

When you get your timer(s), get the ones with two plug-ins. You never know when you will need that extra plug.

Be careful putting heaters on timers, most of the kind available at the bbs are not rated for the load that a 1500W draws!

There's tons of adequately rated timers available online, or even at hydro shops locally.

Always be safe with electricity!

If anyone needs more help with this just ask, admittedly I'm no electrician, but I have areasonable grasp of it.

My heaters are never on timers, they are thermostatically controlled. Only my fans are on timers as I indicated.

I use a portable thermostat for my heaters .. like Ken, only my fans are on timers. The portable thermostat is an awesome thing, not that expensive and heavy duty enough for a milk house heater. Here is a link to them:

http://www.kkontrols.com/

You have exactly the same thermostat that I use. It is extremely accurate as well as water-proof and durable.

They are great. The one for the main greenhouse has been going strong for about 6 years now!

Anne, that's a perfect solution for my hoop houses! I spend a few cold winter nights checking and re-checking the remote thermostats. We don't have that many freezes, but it only takes one to ruin my day. I've never used a fan, but I can raise the side of the hoops when it's a sunny day. I've never...so far...lost a plant to bugs or mold. I only lose a few things to over watering, and that's my fault.

Swayback said:Why can't you add a heater, Cheryl?

Even as careful as I am, DH hates that I leave my heater going in the garage where it can't be watched. GF agrees. They feel it is too dangerous to have a heater unattended. They especially don't want it running outside. I have 2 heaters that were strictly purchased for plants. In fact GF was with me when I bought one. Shows how much I listen to them!

What sort of heaters do you have - electric I assume? What are "plant" heaters? What makes a heater dangerous, garage, inside the house, or outside, in a greenhouse? Do you use ground-fault plugs and electric panels with breakers?

Sorry for all the questions, but that's how we learn.