A lesson about kerosene heaters in the GH :)

Sometimes kerosene heaters get confused. And they think they're in a SMOKEHOUSE, not a GREENHOUSE. Yep, it's true! We woke up this morning to a smoke-filled GH - the wick had smoldered, and left soot everywhere. Thank goodness the GH wasn't completely full of plants - yet.

We hauled out everything, and scrubbed the ceiling, walls - everything - with soapy water to remove the residue. I washed off my plants with a diluted soapy water mixture, too - especially the things with strappy leaves.

I'm a little worried about the seeds I started, I'm sure there's a layer of soot on the soil, but I don't know what I can do about it. I misted them with the diluted soap mixture as hard as I dared, and I'll hope for the best. I didn't want to say anything in front of DH, but as luck would have it, these were my oddball seeds that it took me a year to gather through trades and purchases, and (silly me) I "went for broke" and used all my seeds. Sigh.

We dismantled the heater, put in a new wick, and found a methyl-alcohol additive that is supposed to cut down on the smoking. Any other advice for us, from those that have "been there and done that"???

Sorry to hear about that mess. I think your husband is awful nice to help you with all that. Is he a gardener too?
Kelly

Kelly, he's not a full-fledged gardener...yet :) But he's a really great guy, and has supported my decision to finish my education, work for nearly a decade (very demanding career), and ultimately my decision to stay at home with our kids, and now to try my hand at growing plants. I'm hoping to parlay this habit (er, hobby) into a profitable venture someday.

He is wonderful at helping me with whatever needs to be done - digging out ponds, tilling new beds, planting shrubs, trees...I think I'll keep him, LOL!

good grief!!! smoking! I'm assuming it wasn't a new heater? and the wick was bad? or the kero?
the times I'd use one I'd hang around and see that it was burning properly, then turn it down and double check! So sorry to hear about this mess, I bet it was a chore to clean up!
The only trubble I had w/one was one time I couldn't get a match to stay lit long enuff to lite the heater. The kero ran out and apparently burnt up what oxygen there was in the g-house cuz it was TOO airtight. I'd lite a match, it's go out..another, same thing. I had to leave the door open and let fresh air in. It was spooky! Now, here I am with a 1500 sq ft g-house and see little air leaks here and there but feel all is just as it should be!
Oh well, hope ya'll fixed your problem, whatever it was.

go vols, Thanks for posting this. My SIL just gave me a used but in good condition kerosene heater. It will be used only if we lose our power.I have a gas heater in the GH and won't start it till the end of Feb. but last year in March we lost our power and it got down to 33 degrees and the gas heater won't run without electricity. I'll make sure that everything is cleaned in it and a new wick put in before we use it.

I'm so glad you posted this. The idea of using a kerosene heater had crossed my mind too. As for your seeds, maybe you could take a spoon or a knife and gently scrape off the top layer of soil and replace it with new. It would be a very tedious endeavor I know. As for anything you planted that was edible I'd just chalk this up as a learning experience and get rid of them. This is just my opinion, and I hope there's someone here that knows for sure what to do with them.

Shoe, it was an "older" model that had not been used, at least not recently. The wick was probably old, although it was fine the first night. Last night was the second night, and it was fine when we went to bed - around 11:15 when I last checked on it. At 6:45 this morning we discovered the GH full of black smoke.

All's well that ends well - the entire heater has been taken apart, thoroughly cleaned, and a new wick inserted.

We'll only be using it on the very coldest nights. Tonight is supposed to stay in the mid-50s, so we won't be running any heat :)

well, all in all, it sounds like a terrible experience! (makes me wonder if it wasn't getting proper air for combustion.) I have a propane gas heater for a "second" backup (my first backup is a generator to run the main gas heater!)...anyway, this second backup gas heater doesn't need electricity and can run off a 20# propane tank (the kind used to run a BBQ grill)...altho it costs $120 it is well worth it considering it could save thousands of $$ worth of plants. Just something to consider (and it burns cleaner than kero).

Shoe, I agree. DH started scouting out propane heaters as well, and found a model that he really liked. We may purchase it, and he can use it in his shed most of the time, and we can move it to the GH on those really cold nights.

But we'll also try the kerosene heater again, but we'll be keeping a very close eye on it, you can be sure.

It shouldn't have had any problems getting enough air, since the GH is definitely not airtight. We've sealed the big gaps, but air can get in all around the bottom since it's just setting on concrete. Thanks for the tips - if you have any others, I'm all ears :)

We usually have mild winters in Alabama but last year was a cold one and first year we built GH and heated it with one of those oil filled heaters and worked fine until the temps dipped into the teens and Dh had an idea of placing the gas grill in GH and leave on the burner overnite "I said that is a good idea!"...YIKES! DO NOT! I REPEAT DO NOT EVER DO THIS! I had 4 very large sword ferns and hanging ferns that were 5 ft long that I babied all summer and went to check on them next morning and they were FRIED... I literally cried to see my ferns brown and dried up! Fortunately some of them came back this summer and I will never use a gas grill to heat my GH again!

Hope this helps some of you about how to supply temporary heat in your GH!

A young man in Austin found a really unique way to heat his plants outside. No greenhouse, he just fashioned a wide shelf using a board over some old chair frames. This he wrapped in heavy clear plastic, but I get ahead of the story. First, he ran a heavy duty extension cord from his garage to one of those trouble lights, using a 75W bulb, mounted to a board. He set the light board on a tile under the shelf board, then wrapped the entire affair in plastic, with the backs of the chairs holding the plastic up and the seats supporting the shelf. This was sufficient for about 10' of plants in 14° weather. It stands to reason, we extremists can't get by with 10' of space, but if we can construct something larger and place more light bulbs under the shelves, we can have almost instant plant shelters. The secret is that heat rises. Using his method, I have managed to keep quite a few plants alive and well for several years on my greenporch. Because it has high ceilings and isn't as air tight as his plastic canopy, I have to use a space heater in really extreme weather, but this week, with 28° nights and with holes in the aging plastic, one overhead bulb was enough. Placing one on the floor for the heat to rise would have made it toasty. This is only for keeping tender plants alive, not for propagating.

I'm using a portable propane heater too, Horseshoe. I bought mine at Lowes for about $90.00 and it runs off a 20lb propane tank. I talked with the owner at my favorite feed and seed store and asked him how he heats his _huge_ greenhouse. He recommended the system I bought. We have very few nights on the Georgia coast that are really cold. Even without a heater, I've never lost a tender plant in my greenhouse. This year though I'm starting _lots_ of seeds early and I don't want to take any chances. It's my understanding that the propane heaters give off CO2 which plants love of course but I imagine I'll crack a vent or two just in case it's too much of a good thing.

Pete

This message was edited Monday, Dec 10th 8:31 AM

Your lucky Pete! Few cold nites, and a tight greenhouse! Good going! My back-up propane heater runs off a 20# tank but I've also got a quick-connect coming off my main propane line to my big heater...I can just connect to it whenever I need too. (It would never heat the whole g-house but I only heat half of it in the winter time anyway.)
By the way, I suppose if you are starting a bunch of seedlings you're gonna use heat mats, right? It's a lot easier to heat your trays than to heat all the airspace in your g-house to get good germination. Best of luck, keep on keepin' on!

Nope, I'm not using heat mats. Oh dear, are you terribly shocked? LOL Let me explain why I'm not. The temp in my greenhouse on the average day is 80 degrees or above in the winter. Yup, it's a tight @$$ little greenhouse. ;-) My greenhouse has a low sloping south wall which really captures the heat. It's double glazed with a 1 inch dead air space. My problem is too much heat except on those few and far between nights that it is actually really cold. I could count those on one hand. I do have a 500 gallon propane tank that I could tap into when I expand my greenhouse which I plan to do as soon as I can afford it. That reminds me. I need to check my Big Game lottery tickets. :-)

Pete

Go-Vols: Sounds like you are blessed with a DH that's a good sport...so do I. He's worked jobs that kept him away from home most of the summer, so I've usually gardened alone. When home, he'd build things or carry wheelbarrow loads of this and that. Now that we are gardening in earnest, selling plants in the spring, etc., he's become quite involved. He's built raised beds with hoops for covers, as well as my little greenhouse. Last year, he spent the spring at home and even began identifying the different plants. This spring he's going to take the Master Gardeners class and get serious. Last summer he became the King of Compost, getting the temp up about as high as you can in this cool weather climate. He's looking forward to getting ground fish guts from the local cannery...this man means business!

We can't afford to heat our greenhouse with propane or electricity, so we have a fuel oil heater that we install each spring and remove each summer. It's more constant than wood heat, the only other economical option in this neck of the woods...WZ

Those propane tank heaters,are they the ones that have that thing that comes off the top that throws the heat?How long do they run on a tank?I saw one at home-depot yesterday,they're on clearence.They also had a heater that you attach to the wall,unvented.The fumes don't hurt the plants?Do you just keep a few spare tanks around to do quick changes?

Crestedchik: This is Weezin's D.H.

Last year I tried a wall mounted "Ecotherm" propane heater in our greenhouse with sad results.

I had to drape off half the greenhouse because it didnt get the temp up in the whole structure and it really sucked up the propane.

So after about 10 days out came the Ecotherm and the Toyo L-56, oil stove was reinstalled, To keep the whole Greenhouse at a nice constant 70*F.

When the new greenhouse (10'x32') is completed this spring
I'll be installing a waste-oil furnace of my own design.
Since we live in a ocean port, waste oil from the boats is easy to come by and the price is right "free".

Free fuel, sigh. My propane heater is from Home Depot, and we have an 8 gallon tank that we fill up ~ six times a month, at $3 a gallon - ouch.

I've learned a few lessons this year, namely:

1. Don't put stuff in the GH that can overwinter somewhere else. I've spent too much money keeping the GH warm so I could keep some water hyacinths and my Agapanthus and Rain Lilies all snug and warm from October onward. I could have arranged to get water hyacinths for a trade or SASE, and tucked the pots of bulbs in our crawlspace. Next year, I will start my tomato seeds inside (they all fit in a couple flats to start with), then fire up the heater in the GH when it's time to pot 'em up and move 'em out.

2. Double wrap the GH - next fall, that is tops on my list of to-do's. I am now a firm believer in double-wall for insulation purposes. Not sure I will even need a blower, if I can figure out how to get the second layer on the inside of the PVC that's a 1-2" dead air space, which should provide good insulation.

3. Jury's still out on a floor covering. Too late in the game for this year, so I'm blowing it off for now. But next fall, I'm seriously thinking of buying some scrap carpet padding, spread it out and spray or roll it with black paint on both sides. Cut to fit, it's a $10 investment that can be trashed in the spring if it's too yucky to try to salvage.

Other than those lessons learned, I absolutely ADORE my GH. I spend every moment of the day out there (unless I'm here, LOL), and I just hope I can sell enough 'mater plants to recoup our building costs plus a little against the propane bill ;-)

go_Vols: I guess we share a common interest...hawking enough of our plants to pay for our habit! For what I've made selling bedding plants and perennials in the last year, I've probably just about recouped the cost of the seeds!...WZ