My man was in a workshop fury since the weather got cold. He’s been cleaning and organizing the garage workshop while at the same time making a mess building DIY projects.
So I put him to work to upgrade my windowsill planter boxes. I have so many herbs and starter plants to bring indoors…it was about time to take advantage of that south-facing window.
The final product populated with all types of herbs, including cat grass for the kitties to graze on.
With so many herbs and starters in the windowsill planter, it’s a lot of work to keep things watered and maintained. Either we start using more of these herbs or I’m going to have to start tossing some of these in the mulch bag.
Golden Delicious Pineapple Sage blooming in the windowsill planter
Back in October I purchased a Quictent pop-up grow house in preparation of housing my frost-tender plants outdoors, including my first-this-year variegated lemon tree. It took 2 tries to get it right, but in the end I was happy with the results. All I have to say is watch the unpacking video, read the instructions, and watch the video AGAIN so that you don’t encounter problems in setup. I confess that I strayed from the step-by-step order and ended up snapping one of the fiberglass poles, held together by stretchy rope.
I walled off about 32 square feet on the patio with a cinderblock border about 3 blocks high, or roughly 2 feet tall.
I then unpacked and erected the tent, though I found it helpful on the 2nd try, to have an extra pair of hands setting it up. Strong winds can make setup challenging.
Originally, DH suggested a pass through, so we cut 4 pieces of lumber, stained them, and purchased additional planter blocks to create something of sliding system for a removable wall.
I picked up a wifi enabled mini hygrometer made by Inkbird to monitor night time internal temperatures. I soon learned that on frigid nights, the grow house really didn’t offer much insulation. I would have to find a way to heat the space.
String lights to the rescue. Or not! I dug through closets hunting down old Christmas string lights. Meanwhile, DH put together a light stand constructed from PVC pipes and erected it inside the grow house.
Unfortunately, the mini string lights didn’t produce enough heat to impact overnight temperatures inside the grow house. But it looked pretty enough!
Blue and white mini string lights, just not enough heat
Temperatures stayed anywhere in the range of 4 to 10 degrees above local outdoor overnight temps. And the tent was brighter too. Overall I used a total of 3 25ft string lights, connected to a splitter on the power cord end. The number of bulbs limited the number of strings that could be connected together, without blowing a fuse–unlike the LED strings that I had hung previously.
On the wall end, the power cord connects to a wifi-enabled dual headed outlet rated for outdoor use. It was handy to schedule times when the lights turned off and on. I could also run automation to turn on the lights when local temperatures dipped below a certain threshold.
All in all, it was a learning experience setting up the tent and heating it. Time will tell if this outdoor grow house setup can endure the harsh winter elements. The only grievance I have is with the delicate C9 bulbs whose filaments break very easily at the slightest blow. I discovered this after I tested every light beforehand, only to find bulbs damaged post installation.
Finished trimming shrubs and trees, planting out the last of the brussels and broccoli starts, and composted the beds last week. Just in time for November’s first frost date.
At first I thought I’d have to discard the extra starts, but I decided to install them into the cinder block wall, as well as the 65 gallon felt pot in which the lorapetalum has found a new home.
The nights have dipped back down into the 40s and 50s, so I’m hoping my outdoor greenhouse tent will keep my sensitive plants protected. I’m researching ways to keep things warm in there without resorting to expensive heating.
