It was just too darned cold for the heater to keep the greenhouse warm enough. I think the lowest we had was about 7°. There’s obviously no insulation in the greenhouse and . . it was just too cold.
Last year we hung bubble wrap in the greenhouse to act as an insulator but this year, we never got around to it and now we’re paying the price . . propane and damaged plants.
Greenhouse
The tops of the tomatoes are damaged, the cucumbers (behind the tomatoes) are probably dead.
Sad Tomatoes
I’ll cut the tops out and see what happens. Remember in May, 2017 when we had that horrendous hail storm and it broke off all my tomatoes in the garden? They all came back and did quite well so we’ll see what happens with these.
Lettuce
The lettuce and cabbage are doing great. They love the cold weather. I plant lettuce seeds every 8 – 10 days so we always have fresh lettuce.
I figure with the cost of propane this year, it’s about $10 per salad! But, it’s all organic and I guess that’s priceless. 🙂
Irene says
I was wondering how to do the whole lettuce thing – so, you plant the seeds every 8-10 days, and then also transplant the plants outside in those intervals?
Judy Laquidara says
I don’t transplant them outside. If I don’t put them inside the garden fence, the rabbits eat it and this time of year, I have the water turned off to the garden. I have four of those long plastic planters (about $5 each at Walmart). In late fall, I planted seeds in one. Then I wait til those sprouts are about an inch tall, then plant seeds in the second one, then when those are about an inch tall, I plant seeds in the third one and so on. By the time the seeds in the fourth planter are about an inch tall, we’ve finished the lettuce in the first planter and I re-seed that one. That will provide us with lettuce until it gets too hot inside the greenhouse and by that time, I will have lettuce growing in the garden. I do the same thing in the garden . . plant little patches usually 2 weeks apart. It grows differently but once it starts getting warm, it bolts quickly so having new lettuce prolongs the time in which I can grow it.
Sherrill Pecere says
WOW! The lettuce looks perfect. What kind of lettuce do you grow? I bet you’ll have tomatoes before too long. Whats the lowest outdoor temp that the greenhouse can maintain the temp inside?
Lisa Simon says
I’m sorry to hear about your tomatos and cukes (my favorites). What type of lettuce is that in your picture?