Winter Greenhouse

This is the time of year I've been worried about since purchasing all my baby plants back in the summer... winter.

Here in Ohio it gets pretty cold, usually into the teens at night during the dead of winter. With all of my plants being in pots, I had to come up with a way to protect them from the elements. I contemplated digging holes and putting the potted plants into the holes, hoping the ground would protect the roots. With that idea, they would still be exposed to the wind and frost. They probably would have been ok, since they are all hardy to zone 6, but I wanted to have a more protective set up to keep those babies alive.

That's when I decided to build a lean to style greenhouse using windows. I didn't want to spend a ton of money on this...so after searching Craigslist for weeks, I found three 7ft windows for 100 dollars. Eric used scrap materials that we had laying around the barns to frame it all in, complete with a little door for access to the inside.

So far all the plants are doing pretty well. I don't have to water them near as often as during the warmer months, maybe once or twice a week. I have gone out a few times to completely frozen pots in the mornings, but everything still looks alive and well. Well, except the Crape Myrtles. They look deader than door nails. But most trees do during the winter, so I'm hoping for the best.

As far as heating, I do keep black plastic jugs throughout the greenhouse, to absorb heat during the day and give off heat in the night. But nothing other than that. Inside, it stays a few degrees warmer than the outside temp, but protection from the harsh winds and frost is really all I was trying to achieve anyways. Once again, I can get away with that because I choose plants hardy to my zone, zone 6. I definitely couldn't grow avocados in there!

My plants still have a long wintery road ahead of them, but I'm keeping the faith. Thanks for stopping by!