Tiny greenhouse at KMART; anyone own one?? 26 x 19 x 36

was at kmart today and spotted a teeny (26 x 19 x 36) greenhouse...but to me it looks big enuf for me!!!!....well maybe, but it would hold 4 flats....and that would be what i need it for......till i decide to go big(he he)....the only downfall of this is that where would a heater fit....i am not sure what you would use that small of a greenhouse for unless you weren't in a really cold area.....i am in zone 7 and we don't get extremely cold....my flats would need to be in there from feb thru april....any one??
it was only 24.99

Sticks, I don't own one, but since nobody else chimed in, I'll offer this:

These small units have wide and abrupt swings in temperature. Think of your car. They heat up fast and it is easy to cook plants in them. They require careful attention to ventilation.

That said, you might even be able to heat with a grow mat or light bulb.

If you try it, let us know.

SB

I bought one of those but then never ended up using it so I can't offer any personal experience. However, I don't think something that small is really designed to be used with a heater, maybe could use a heat mat if you're careful. I would use it only to put plants in overnight if it's going to get cold, then especially if it was going to be sunny during the day I would remove them from it in the morning so they didn't get overheated. And I think it'll only provide a few degrees of protection, so if you have plants that need more than that this is not the right thing.

stress..thanks for giving me that insight on temperature variation....and the car example....hey, maybe i could use my car as a greenhouse....(grin); i was afraid about not being able to adequately heat it....unless you have a heat mat....now i am leaning towards windows and bricks....i am only concerned about 4 flats (at this point) to get my annuals started in february; i have a great sunroom but it will lack sun on one side of the flat....or would that matter if i rotated them?? i also have those carts they use in bakeries where i can roll it around and stagger my trays....wonder if that would work in my sun room??

thanks for your input!!!

Why not get a 400W metal halide lamp?

i will look into that....is it expensive?? afterall, the reason i am doing this(yeah right) is so that i can have mass quantities of plants for my own yard without paying the nursey a billion dollars....

If you are ever through Missouri, I'll trade you one for plants. :-D

What I did for seed starting over the winter was to buy a metal wire shelf from Target, then I got fluorescent lights and attached them to the underside of each shelf, then put flats on heat mats underneath the lights. Seemed to work pretty well--the fluorescent lights made up for some lack of natural light (the plants were indoors near a window, but only got sun during part of the day)

hey stress....i just came back from missouri....my little girl corgi is from there....i had to drive from texas to there to get her.....long drive; loved missouri tho....quite nice

so i wonder how much this all will cost..the whole point is to get flats so that i can have mass quantites of annuals for less money and it doesn't seem to be equalling out cost wise....

Well, if you start flats of annuals every year, then it's probably a good investment since you only have to pay for the setup once and then you can use it again and again. But if it's more of a one time thing then you're right, it would be cheaper just to buy flats from the nursery.

I think my whole setup probably cost $50-60 (not including seeds, soil, etc), and you probably could do a smaller one with 1-2 shelves for $25-30 (mine was ~5 ft tall with 4 shelves, and I bought lights for each of the shelves)

50 to 60 is not bad at all....but i thought the heat mats alone are like 30 bucks each...how much are the flouresent lights??...

your right ...i will do this every year...i am such a plant hog....let me know about the lights if you don't mind.....and if i can get heating mats cheaper...or do i even need heating mats for planted root cuttings....i am still to chicken to do the seeds....tried it this year and threw my hands up....15 thousand plants in one hole and how to separate eeeekkkkk...so i let them die; so much for seedlings...i can grow root cuttings tho....so i plan on doing petunias, coleus, impatiens?? not sure about them....and begoinas...maybe some ivy

oh--sorry. I already had the heat mats a long time before I got the shelves so I forgot to include those, but you're right, they are about 30 each. However, I think no matter how you're starting flats of annuals you're going to want heat mats to get the best results, so I think you'd have to spend that money regardless.

I think I paid about 10 each for the lights--got them at Lowes, they're just the cheapest small fluorescent lights you can find there. Here's a link to one that's on their website that looks similar to what I bought:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=149953-16620-G9718PT8WHI&lpage=none

cool thank you so much....if my sunroom is heated will i need heat mats??

I use the heat mats because a lot of seeds will sprout faster if they have bottom heat--I do all my seed starting in my spare bedroom but still have better luck if I use the heat mats. But to be fair, most of the stuff I start from seed are trees/shrubs and tropicals, so annuals that sprout a lot easier may not need it. You could try asking about heat mats or not over on the propagation forum--you'd probably get answers from people who are a lot more expert on this than I am.

sticks, if you are serious about seed starting, like ecrane said, get the heat mat.

Fluorscent likes must be height adjustable...they should be only 3-4 inches from the seedlings. I don't think you have to do this with MH but they are a lot more expensive on the front end.

actually i am not doing seed starting....it is rooted plant cuttings....will i need mats for that if i have a heated room??

I think cuttings do better with bottom heat too--again, someone in the propagation forum could probably provide better advice.

sticks-what kind of cuttings are you trying to do? Green or woody? A lot of the green cuttings root so fast ( within 2 wks) that not having bottom heat would probably just add 7-10 days to the process. The three big factors with cuttings are soil temp, light and moisture. The warmer the soil, the faster the cutting roots ( some plants will not root w/out the warmer soil). Once the stem starts putting out the roots, the light becomes a factor in aiding the plant, and moisture is very important in the beginning and less so as the plant roots-you should back off the water some when the plant starts to develop roots so you get stronger roots.
Ideally you want the soil temp to be about 70 degrees or so, if you have a soil thermometer, you can measure the temp. If you can get the soil around that temp without mats then you don't have to have them. Its very important to use warm (really warm) water when you water each day ( and I only water once a day-unless the soil is drying out faster) to keep the soil temp up. When you use cold water-it takes the soil about 5-6 hrs to get back up to the 70 degrees.

I can tell you that the small grhouse would not work for cuttings outside in Feb/March w/out heat.

If you are only doing a small quantity of starts, use the top of a refrigerator. It generates enough heat to aid in germiniation, or sprouting. So don't worry what guest will think!!

my cuttings are coleus, petunias, ivy

i have 2 of them and i paid $10.00(yes...i said ten) each at big lots.

for coleus ?? at big lots...; didnt know they had plants....

sorry, it took me so long to answer this. no, i meant that i have two of the little greenhouses....hehehe

nicksgrammy...thanks i bought one at sportsman;thank you:)