reeseanderson•19d agoMost Upvoted

Went to check on my greenhouse plants after a 90 degree week and found 3 of them cooked

Last Saturday I thought I'd left the shade cloth open enough on my little 8x10 backyard greenhouse. Turns out I misjudged it and three of my tomato plants got sunscald so bad the leaves curled up and turned crispy within a day. I've been growing in that spot for about 4 years now and this is the first time I've had that happen. I'm in zone 7b and we had a freak heat spike that caught me off guard. Anybody else lost plants to a sudden temperature jump? What do you do to keep your greenhouses cool when the forecast surprises you?

2 comments

2 Comments

faith_smith19d ago

Oh man, that hurts. I lost a whole flat of pepper seedlings last summer when a 95 degree day came out of nowhere and my little fan died. Now I keep a cheap digital thermometer with a remote sensor inside the greenhouse so I can peek at it from my phone before I even walk out there. Also helps to crack the door open at both ends for cross breeze when you know a hot spell is coming.

the_shane18d ago

I read a tip on a gardening podcast last summer about using those cheap box fans with a thermostat plug. The guy said he wired a simple temperature controller from a hardware store to a fan so it kicks on automatically when it hits 85 inside. I set one up in my 8x10 greenhouse after I nearly lost a batch of cucumbers to a heat spike last July. The fan runs off a basic extension cord to the outlet and I just keep it blowing across the plants on low. It's not perfect for a crazy 95 degree day like you had but it buys you some time before the leaves start cooking. The thermostat plug was like 15 bucks at the hardware store and it's saved me from forgetting to crack the door open more than once.