Who has the creative brain to help me out?

[Taverna78]

Here is a few updated photos of my trees that I woke up and said the greenhouse a couple weeks ago. A few nights the temperatures have dipped below 30 today the high is only going to be 30 and I have had two space heaters running constantly inside the greenhouse keeping an average temperature ranging from 50 to 80° depending on the weather of the day. If it's a sunny 30° day it's about 60 to 70 inside the greenhouse.

here is where I need to creativeness. Because the temperature inside my greenhouse is much warmer than the outside temperature I have a lot of condensation that forms on the inside plastic of the greenhouse. If you could imagine spraying a 5 gallon bucket worth of water on all the sides and the top any portion of the plastic on the inside of the greenhouse is dripping with water to the point to where and one of the pictures I post you will see what looks like drops of water on my camera lens but in fact it was me taking a picture when I hit the door the water drip from ceiling.

being that I'm not able to stop at the farm every day or every other day sometimes not even for a week I was wondering maybe there is a possibility of corralling this water to automatically water the plants while I'm gone. Some way of wicking The condensation off the plastic directly onto a pot without blocking any of the sunlight.

I could however just put some big fans in there to blow up at the plastic and dry the water but I thought maybe it would be a good idea to somehow collect the water instantly water the pots.

I really do not want the water dripping directly onto the leaves causing fig rust but if you do not think that this is a big issue or a possible problem or even a good idea please let me know. It's only going to be a few more weeks ( hopefully ) I will be keeping the doors in the greenhouse open with the heaters off and probably within a month maybe two bring them outside.

what do you think ?

[Courtney]

Wow

[Chrisk]

Man... that greenhouse looks so good.
good job with your trees brother. They look very healthy
If the water rolls down the sides of the hoop-house I guess a set of flat sided gutters on the floor ,very close to the plastic could collect most of the water.
you can notch out for the pipes, collect(drain) in a big pan and then use a small pump to transfer in a 55gal drum?

[Taverna78]

Grazie! Is a lot of work but my passion is worth it! I like the gutter idea tho oddly enough unless there's any type of movement... high winds/door slam/ intentional movement of the gh the will drip if is perfectly still it just sits there. I have a watering system I am ganna instal come spring for new 1gal pots but for now the only way water comes off sides is if I bump by back to the wall and them I'm soaked

[ako1974]

My first guess would be venting somehow or using a fan. But I don't have a permanent greenhouse, so I don't know if there are any techniques for collecting condensation.

Cool setup though!

[Taverna78]

Grazie! The problem I have with venting the greenhouse at this current point is it will make the heaters work harder and stay on longer because it's removing the heat The temperature is where I live fluctuate so drastically I would be afraid with event that one night it will drop to freezing and could possibly harm the trees

[Chrisk]

The condensation on the very top of the hoop will most likely "drop"into the pots below eventually so let I rain lol!

[Taverna78]

That's kind of what I was thinking but I don't like the fact of the drops sitting on the leafs with no wind or enough sun to dry the drops. Cause will cause leaf rust spots no?

[arachyd]

I did have a roof leak in a very inconvenient spot. I was able to run a piece of yarn where it leaked and had the other end off to the side running into a bucket. The water ran down the yarn instead of dripping straight down. Maybe you could do something like that by tying loosely to your trees and running lines to the walls or ceiling.

[Taverna78]

Now there's an idea!

[ThaiFigs]

It only takes about 6 hrs of water on leaves for rust spores to germinate, if I remember correctly. And wind will shake your water off the greenhouse plastic (not to mention condensation on the leaves early morning).

I'd vote for venting.

[Taverna78]

The venting tho will reduce heat in gh. Is 30F today as a high. But maybe you right.

[Taverna78]

Here is video I make for WillsC because I wanted shown him gh water and clearness of gh plastic. I also seen some webs think maybe mites but determined is common spider. Also I won't post photos of my injury. But I was using very sharp dagger (beginning of video) to cut ropes off trees when I uncover them and stuck it right in my forearm to the bone. 4 stitch but is healed now. Also excuse some language😱

https://youtu.be/GHnvgk1Q7FY

[Dave]

Wow Mike they all look wonderful I think the crazy bush is my favorite

[Chrisk]

Cool video fratello!!
did you check out any de-humidifiers? Maybe a couple nice ones can solve your problem and if I'm not mistaken they do collect the water in a compartment with a drain plug

[cis4elk]

That is a good idea, and they blow out a bit of warm when they run.

[Noel Goetz]

At what temp will the plants stop growing? I would think that until outside temps rise, keeping it in the low 40's would keep the heating bill down and slow the condensation (though I don't think condensation would necessarily be a problem, in an of itself). Good luck.

[Taverna78]

I have a feeling I will just have to deal with it for now. After today the temps here will stay above freezing during the day so I may just open the gh doors during the day and close at night. We're too close to spring to invest more money to solve tis problem correctly. I just need to keep it controlled a little longer. So far I like yarn idea tho I'm not quite sure if the yarn will actually water the plant being the distance from the roof to the pots are a few feet. I'd think the yarn would dry up before gets to pot although it would collect the water off plastic

[Dave]

mike take a look at this https://ag.umass.edu/greenhouse-flor...-in-greenhouse

[Taverna78]

Great info Dave! Grazie!

[Taverna78]

Here's another question. Trees of been in greenhouse all winter long since I have uncovered them and has been high humidity with high moisture high heat. With the pictured forecast if I just open up the doors so that Condensation does not continue will any of these temperatures shock the trees or stunned its growth obviously the heaters will be off except for the one day that it supposed to be in the 30s at night. Also should I open only one door or both?

[Dave]

Mike why don't you hook up one of these with an exhaust fan ? http://growershouse.com/titan-contro...FZKIswod2xkD0w This way you could keep the humidity right where you want it

[Taverna78]

Well I'm try to get thru next month without spending anymore money on things for gh. Once trees are out I am completely redoing gh layout. Want to raise it taller on a cement subfloor. Ad a furnace and correct ventilation as well as add the automatic watering system.

[CoolClimateFigger]

It's funny. I just made a comment that before I get a chance to post a comment somebody else has already posted the answer. I was thinking exactly what "Arachyd" suggested. You can automatically water plants by running a string or cloth from a bottle of water to your pot, capillary action.

Since the sun heats up the greenhouse, you could put the heaters on timers to run in the evening when the sun goes down and the temperature drops and go off in the morning when the sun comes up. Do you think it's warm enough in the daytime without the heaters? If nothing else it would save on the electricity bill.

I think having a lower inside temperature in the day would help with the condensation too. I can't find (Google) exactly what I was looking for, but I seem to remember something about the difference between outside temperature and inside temperature causing condensation.

Your plants look great by the way.

[Taverna78]

Cheryl. I have used tis watering method before when I am away for weeks at a time. I am trying to get the condensation water from the roof and sides of inside gh into the pots without touching the leafs. A am adding a timer for night time heat and off in the day time😉

[arachyd]

You could do this by putting a small stick in each plant pot and attaching the end of the string to it.

[Zuny]

I unfortunately don't have an answer to your problem but wanted to say that your trees are doing great.They look so big and healthy.

[Taverna78]

Grazie!

[Fygmalion]

Although my GH is not yet competed and thus my plan is untested, I am of the opinion that air movement is key even if you are providing supplemental heating. Without a small fan moving and turning the air over at night with heating turned on, the hottest portion of the GH will be at the hoop top poly interface and thus the greatest difference in temperatures occurring at that interface between outside cold air and warmer, damper inside air causing condensation to form. With a small air circulator, the air movement will tend to create more homogeneity in the temperature inside the GH and the movement itself will tend to keep the condensation level reduced and the humidity better distributed in the air mass. At opportunity, such as warm sunny days, venting is definitely desirable but at night and with vents and doors closed, moving air should help to keep condensation levels lower. None of this, however, addresses your desire to collect the condensing water and use it to drip irrigate your pots....

[Atlatl]

I would suggest fans and or venting along with added thermal mass inside the GH to preserve the heat energy inside. Several drums (metal) painted black and filled with water. The color is obvious choice. The metal drum will allow heat transfer to and from the water more readily than plastic. If you get industrious you might pump that heated water through a radiator and blow a fan across the radiator when temps get too low. Use a thermostat or just a timer to turn it on and off.

[Jsacadura]

Beautiful looking trees and great greenhouse. Congratulations.

Although my climate as nothing to do with yours ( i truly admire the dedication needed to grow figs in colder climates), i sure would like to have one of those to extend the fig season on some varieties. The rains we have here in September spoil most of those.

[TigerTom]

Perhaps add a second layer of plastic on the inside of the hoops to create a dead air space, similar to double-pane windows?

By creating that intermediate air space, maybe it will create a more gradual temperature transition that will reduce the amount of condensation that forms.

-Tom

[Paolo]

We had the same issue with our hunt camp while moose hunting. It is essentially a hoop house with a wood stove for heat the Outside temp goes well below 32 while inside its in the 70s.

We just double up on the tarp the condensation should form on the top outer layer leaving the inner layer dry.

[Taverna78]

Great ideas! something just hit me !

What if I was to get the condensation cleared off and sprayed RainX on the inside of the plastic ?!?!? Then water just runs down the sides !

[CoolClimateFigger]

Saw this product: https://www.groworganic.com/sunclear...coatng-pt.html

[TorontoJoe]

I would say anything that works....As long as it doesn't get on your figs