[kippers garden]

My dad has given me a paraffin heater for my 8ftx6ft greenhouse.  It has two wicks and i have successfully lit both wicks to try it out this pm.  However when i put it on at 2.45 this pm the temp in the greenhouse was 6.2c  half anhour later it was still 6.2c and now it is 4c.  It doesn't seem to be heating my greenhouse.

Now i have 3 allotments i will be growing loads and loads of seeds and alot of them will not be hardy.  I read somewhere that the temperature of a heated greenhouse should be approx 10c for seedlings that aren't hardy...is this correct?...if so how on earth do i acheive this with a whole greenhouse to heat?  I have no mains electric to my greenhouse so it has to be paraffin.

Can anyone help re temperatures for seedlings and what i am doing wrong?


One last  question....when i do finally sort out my heating, do i need to ventilate my greenhouse everyday to stop a buildup of moisture?

[Kristen]

I read somewhere that the temperature of a heated greenhouse should be approx 10c for seedlings that aren't hardy...is this correct?...

Yes, that's what I work to. 10C for things that are not fully hardy (Tomatoes, Melons, Peppers, etc), and "frost free" for other things which might even be hardy but I don't want to "stall"

I use a "blowaway" 4-tier polythene zip-up thingie (there must be word to describe it, but it escapes me at the moment!).  I put that inside my unheated conservatory to provide an element of extra insulation (and humidity a little later in the plant-raising season), and I put a light bulb in the bottom to provide some extra heat.

Not sure about your Paraffin heater in such a small structure, but perhaps worth a go?

Personally I think Paraffin produces too much condensation and where electricity is not possible my preference would be gas - still some condensation but I think much less than Paraffin.

[8doubles]

Have you lined the greenhouse in bubble wrap ? Well worth doing as it provides insulation and diffuses strong sunlight later in the year.

[kippers garden]

How do you attach bubble wrap to your greenhouse?  I have an alluminium greenhouse

[compostqueen]

 by means of special clips that you get from places like Two Wests & Elliott or even Wilko

You could concentrate on only heating a small area, eg the four tier grow house with plastic cover, as was suggested.  I have one of these and it works well with the small paraffin heater in the bottom. I only used to light it at night.  Keep the windows slightly ajar in the greenhouse as you want to avoid condensation. 

Also avoid sowing too early!  Follow the packet intructions about sowing times 

[mumofstig]

by means of special clips that you get from places like Two Wests & Elliott or even Wilko

I bought these for the new greenhouse only to find that the frame of mine doesn't have the slots/holes that they go in, nor do they fit in the Norfolk polycarb greenhouse. DOH!

[compostqueen]

Oh that's so annoying!!!!  I must admit I never bother lining mine as it just seems to big a job   

[Ma and Pa Snip]

Hi Kippers

As has been intimated already your paraffin heater stands little chance of building heat in an unlined greenhouse. The glazing will just let the heat pour through it.

The clips referred to are available at garden centres, B & Q and Dyas amongst other places.

Check your green house has channelling similar to that in pic 1 below

If so, Use similar clips to that shown in pic 2.
in order to
Fix bubblewrap or similar heat retaining, but light penetrating, material as in pic 3.

Use plenty of clips as they are usually plastic and are not always a tight fit once worn a bit from fitting & removal, last thing you want is buble wrap dropping on the plants ....or the heater !!!!

[kippers garden]

Thank you for your replies.  It looks like the clips wont fit my type of greenhouse so i'm going to try the mini greenhouse/ cloche thing with the paraffin heater in.

I'll let you know how I get on

[kippers garden]

ok, i have a mini plastic greenhouse inside my greenhouse and i have covered it with bubblewrap for the night. I have a pariffin heater on in there and it's been on for two hours now and it's 6c  in there....

Is this too low a temperature for non-hardy veg crops?...if so what can be grown at this temperarture (bearing in mind the temperarture may still go down a degree or two over night?

[Kristen]

Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Melons, Peppers need a minimum of 10C. They will survive below that, but they will "stall" and stop growing, and it takes them some time to resume growing. (Tomatoes particularly, not sure if the other behave the same way)

[kippers garden]

Thank you kristen.

I suppose i will learn this year and know what i'm doing next year.  I'm still struggling with my pariffin heater....it started to have flames coming out of the side of it (under where the wicks were-where the vents are).  I rang the customer service and they told me that the heater is drawing up too much pariffin-they are sending me something that i can fit to stop it, i hope it works.

Until this is sorted i'm using my dads parafin heater which isn't brilliant heat wise, but i've got to say it's so much easier to light.  The one i was using is the 'Parasene Superwarm 4 parifin heater'....it's so difficult to use...the wicks seem to smoke so i turn it down so they don't, then they start to smoke a few minutes later so i turn down again, a few minutes later they smoke again so i turn down again this keeps happening until afew minutes later....they go out altogether so i have to start again...it's so annoying and on the two days i've lit it, it took me about half an hour of fannying about before it was right...then on day three it started to have the flame coming out of the wrong place...so i'm having no luck with it.

Are pariffin heaters always this difficult...not to mention the vapours make me cough while i'm trying to light it and i feel i smell of pariffin all the time

[gerardkelly]

If you have a greenhouse that does not let you use clips to install insulation, try using a glue gun to fit insulation.
 You need to be careful as the glue is very hot, so take care when you push bubble plastic in place.
Wear a plastic thimble on the finger you push the bubble plastic in place with.
When ready to remove the insulation the glue can be easily scaped off with a sharp blade.

[sunshineband]

You also need to consider light levels inside your structures, as without sufficient light anything you are growing will end up 'drawn' looking and plants like this rarely then do well.

Just another aspect to think about...

[veggies]

Ref: the fuel costs, how much does it work out to heat a greenhouse for say 1 month, is polycarbonate better than glass, I understand it cost...