[alan/gill]

Evening all, i have just bought a heater for the greenhouse (thermostate controled )
my question is ,what do you think would be a good average temperature for the greenhouse...thanks

[Markw]

I am no expert and don't even have a greenhouse, but my friend only uses a heater in his greenhouse to keep the temperature up on very cold nights when there is a chance of frost.

[Kristen]

If you have Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Melons, Aubergines then they need a minimum of 10C (they won't die below that, but they will "stall" and get stressed).

For germination you generally need higher (not for Brassicas though), so either a propagator (in greenhouse) or get them to germinate in the house, and then move them to the greenhouse.

Budget priced electric heaters often have rubbish thermostats, so the difference between when they come on, and go off (Hysteresis) might be as much as 10C, which either wastes a lot of electricity (heating to 20C ) or kills your plants (failing to come on until 0C )

Worth checking how it performs if you can ... a logging thermometer is a boon for that, but I don't suppose many people have one ... I have one that plugs into USB and I can then download the temperatures it has recorded, but they are about £30.

I have a very accurate thermostat for my heater, cost about £50, and it keeps the greenhouse to within 0.5C. I reckon I saved the £50 in not wasting electricity in a season or two.

[alan/gill]

thankyou