sun room/greenhouse.

I live in zone 5b up in WI. I have been after a greenhouse for about 3 years. This summer my DH is having a sun room added on the back of our house that will get southern and western exposure in the summer. The east side will be pretty much shaded by a Norway Maple. During the winter there will also be a bit of eastern exposure with the lack of leaves on the tree.

Our house is Arizona sandstone. The room will be 12' x 18' Patio sliders on each end with a large window, the front long side will be entirely windows approx 12" from the floor to about 4" from the top. The back wall is the the arizona sandstone. There will be 5 skylights on the roof.

DH says this is a 3-season room and will not be heated. (but I've caught him looking at some portable heaters in the stores and the paper).

My question is this........What does anyone think my chances are of wintering over some of my containers plants in there during the winter. Will it stay above freezing enough or am I just full of wishful thinking?????

Wishful thinking right?, The floor is poured cement and has been done since June. The rest will be built hopefully within the next couple of weeks. We are leaving the floor as is for now and maybe next spring do something different with it if needs anything done.

I really want to try and keep my geraniums, my tropical hibiscus, cannas, brugmansias, EE's, cactuses, parrots beak and jasmine vines, coleus cuttings and various other things in there as well as seed starting next spring.

Am I in way over my head???

I've only been truly gardening since June of 2004. Of my own anyway.

Any advice and knowledge that can be given will be so greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Cherie

Congratulations on your addition!

My mother has the same type of Sunroom on her house and we live in zone 6. She over winter’s a lot of container plants. I think the geraniums do better in the winter cold, than in the summer heat. The room is attached to the house, but it is not heated and has a ceramic floor. If it gets freezing cold she will run a little space heater, (like the ones you would put under your desk at work), just to put the temperature up above freezing. In the spring she starts seeds in the room, but does run the heater a little more on colder spring days. The only trick that we found was - do not over water the plants. With the room not being heated, the soil stays moist longer, the heat and sun does not evaporate the water out of the soil. To much water is worse than not enough water, especially in the winter.

We normally keep, geraniums, cannas, and calla lilies. I also keep small trees that we start from seed.

Remember-
-keep temperature above freezing
-water less frequently.


Good Luck!

Lisa

oh thank you for that info. I feel a bit better for it. Have a wonderful day.

Cherie

I think it would work.. If you can keep it above 50 degrees.. or maybe even 45 the plants will survive.

I was kind of thinking that if I could keep at 45* that maybe they'd survive. Thanks for the agreement.

I think so also,,I was adding 5 degrees for insurance.. lol

I'll probably try and keep it at 50 at least just to be on the safe side. I'd cry if they didn't make it and my hubby would be back calling the plant killer again.

Oh the dog!! lol. Did you tell him that isn't nice??

Hence, the sun room. Teach him to pick on me lol

HAH! you go girl!

Well part of the frame is up. Do you believe they sent kids and they took 2 and 1/2 hours for lunch!!!!! I felt like I was babysitting and had to keep checking to make sure they weren't cutting their fingers off. The one didn't look more than 10 years old! The second one didn't look 25 if he was a day.

We have a small atrium type sunroom that is not heated, and the plants do fine over the cold northeast winters. The one thing is though that it is enclosed by the main house on three sides. The temps out there are lower in the winter than indoors, but certainly not freezing.

Here's hoping mine do good out there. I am going to put the plants against the wall away from the windows. They'll get the sun but hopefully not real cold. I think I have dh convinced in putting plastic over the majority of th windows for a little added protection.

I am envious. I have been thinking along the same lines in regards to adding a sun roon. For now, I am going to have to be satisfied with just taking out a window and installing a sliding glass door in a spare bedroom. I will just sit the majority of my larger plants in front of that on the floor. It will open out on to a deck and will make it easy to sit the plants outside next summer.

There is still a possibility down the road that I will add the room. I am happy for you. I am sure that you will end up loving having it.

Ruby

I already do love it. I sit out there in the morning and have my coffee and read the paper. I've some plants in there now and with the way the temps are going at night already I'll be putting a few more in shortly. Looking at all the plants I want to be able to winter over.................12'x18' just may not be big enough. Few of them can be cut back by over half so that will make some room but I don't know. It is wonderful tho'

I am drooling!!!

Ruby

It is nice. Friday morning I kept hearing these noises and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Looked up and here was a squirrel peering down at me from a sky light. Was the cutest thing and of course the camera is in its designated place INSIDE the house. Never there when I need it.

Awww.....I bet that made you smile.

Ruby

Here's my 2 cents worth from our frozen northland. We have an enclosed back porch (9x14) where I overwintered a bunch of my plants last winter. It has one wall south-facing and one wall east-facing. Temperature hovered around 40 deg. in there and all my plants did just fine, including my dwarf lemon, which sits near one of the outside walls. I didn't run a heater, but we did leave the door that opens out into the porch from the kitchen open at night (partly so our cold-loving malamutes could get away from the heat in the living room).
That concrete floor may get a bit colder than our raised wooden floor. I wonder if you might want to put a bit of insulation between the pots and floor.
Your new room sounds really nice. Got any pics for us?

I had decided I would put some insulation between them so your suggestion makes me proud I thought of it. We have a door that opens up out there from the inside so I may just use that idea as well Pictures?? Thought you'd never ask.

Thats from the outside and a couple from inside

and another one.

This has a front southern exposure and a western exposure; in winter when the leaves off the trees it will also get a bit of eastern exposure as well


Thats my oldest daughter sitting there biting her cheek.

This message was edited Sep 13, 2007 2:47 PM

I'm really enjoying this room. I've a few more plants there now but will have many more before frost. Thank you all for the encouragement and suggestions. Maybe I'll get this gardening thing down yet.

Ooooh, that is just lovely! You must really enjoy your new room.
Lot of glass, tho. Using the plastic is probably a good idea.
I spent a lot of time monitoring the overnight temperatures on my back porch before (and during and after!) I had to put my plants in, just to get some idea of the temperature differential between outdoors and indoors. And after I'd moved them in, I'd get up in the middle of the night and check the temperature on the porch. Had a space heater in there "just in case". Hover? Who, me?

I've a little space heater that I will smuggle out there as well. Yes it is a lot of glass and washing the windows the other day .....(I should have had my head examined by a specialist) what can I say?

I still think I want to go plastic on the window route if only to see what happens. If we have a "mild winter" as we've had that is one thing only I heard on the news that this winter is expected to colder earlier and harder in previous years. I must be prepared for my pets ya know?

I am in the process of deciding what to do with my every growing collection of houseplants. We have a three year old hard plastic type of green house that I bought at Sam's Club. We have used it for storage so far. I am considering trying to house my plants out there this winter. I need to decide pretty dog gone soon. It is getting cool here on the East Coast also.

To any of you who might have already searched heating the sun room/greenhouse, what is the best way to go in terms of convenience and finances?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Have a great week all.

Ruby

Is your greenhouse that you already have a Rion? Those are pretty good, several people around here have them and I think have generally been happy with them, so that's probably the best, cheapest way to go if it's big enough to fit your plants.

Hi Ruby,
Year before last, I tried to heat my whole greenhouse and ended up with an astronomical electric bill, an infestation of aphids, and still had a few frost-bitten plants. Last year I used seedling heat mats for the small plants and when I ran out of those, I put clip-on lamps (the kind with reflectors) with 60 watt bulbs underneath the shelves and draped everything with bubble wrap. Worked great for seedlings and small potted plants; don't know how well that would work for larger pots, but it sure made a difference in my electric bill and I didn't have any aphids either. Of course, I had to run out every morning and uncover everything if the sun came out.

Hi Ecrane and Woofie. The manufacturer of the greenhouse is called, "Thinking Outside." I believe there is a thread somewhere in Dave's Garden about the same house that I have. Someone wrote in telling about her's not surviving a storm. I haven't checked the thread for a year or so and should do it. I am thinking that the company made some changes in the house for the better, but am not totally sure. Our Sam's Club at least did NOT sell it this year.

We will have to be deciding soon how we are going to heat it because it is already being some low temps at night.

Ruby

I just used a small electric heater that I got from one of the greenhouse supply places. But I have a small greenhouse and not a very cold climate so you'll probably need something more.

Thanks Ecrane. That is one of our ideas too. Just haven't come up with the winner yet. haha

Ruby

Ruby, how big is your greenhouse? Mine is 8x16 and is exposed on all 4 sides. I had two small electric heaters running in it year before last, and they couldn't keep it above freezing when the temps got down to 20 outside. I ended up using a propane heater (one of those that just attach to the top of the tank) during the really cold weather, which has it's own set of problems.

I have one of those Sam's club greenhouses. I love it! It works great for starting seed in the spring. I tried to overwinter plants in it winter before last and it didn't go to well. I doesn't seal well at all, so I'll just use it spring through fall and bring everything the house for winter.

Here is a pic.

That looks neat!

Oh wow, that is cute! I'm surprised it doesn't seal well. Looks better built than the one I have.

Well, it's the doors that don't seal well. Everything else is pretty much tight.

Hi Cherie,

Very nice sunroom!
I'm in zone 7b and have a glassed in porch where I overwintered many plants last winter. The brugmansias and geraniums did well, even blooming much of the winter, but the coleus was another story. The first of a couple nights we had a cold snap of 19 degrees F, I left an interior window open into the porch to let in a little heat but that didn't save the coleus. They were all mushy and brown the next day, so be sure to keep those in the warmest area of the room.

Hope all goes well, :)
Danita

I looked at one of those when Sam's had them and I agree that it didn't look like it sealed well. But it was still pretty cool. Would be great as a seedhouse/potting shed!