Winter GH moisture and other concerns

Hi everyone,

It's 1:18 am,.......... it's 29 degrees outside and 58 degrees in the GH.
My humidity level is @ 74%.
I have a small water fountain in the GH.
My wife and I are wondering if it will contribute too much humidity to an already humid environment ?

What is avg. hum @ around 55-60 degrees in a winter GH ? What should I shoot for?
We have some beautiful plants and tropicals that I want to baby till nice weather returns. (not fast enough)...

We have our GH in Mass. about 20 miles from Plymouth ( you know the "Mayflower") and we are in zone 6A/B ? (USDA).
I have insulated heavily for the coming onslaught and feel ok with that. Without it - I don't think we could afford to even attempt a winter spree like this.

Thanks to all you guys we have gotten us this far and it has been an interesting ride all the way.

I have an exhaust fan mounted in the ceiling directly under a roof vent.
It is sealed (insulated) off but I manually open the Dr. Denton like flap to vent out heat & humidity as needed for now.
I will probably close it off completely when it gets down in the low 30's regularly and throw the Solar Blanket roof cover on and just vent thru a door when needed.

I was able to get water to the GH but could not get deep enough to prevent freezing.
so, our winter water supply will be a very pretty 50 gal barrel which I will probably attach some kind of low volume pump to possibly. I will have to make 5 gal trips from the house (not too far), to refill. Brrrrrrrr

Any winter tips or suggestions for a happy winter survival ?

KW

I try to avoid moisture in the grhouse at night, myself. If, at the end of the day, I see moisture building up from the heat that is left over from the sunny day in there, I will turn on the fan and blow that air out and replace with colder air that is dryer and spend more money heating that colder air, rather than go thru the evening with the moisture in the air.

I think, Keywest, that if you are not replacing that air thruout the day (If I understand you, you are not running a fan in the daytime in the winter?), then I would be very careful of the moisture buildup in your grhouse. It gets very humid in there during a sunny day without a fan on.

What a drag about the water. How deep is your ditch-that it was not deep enough to avoid freezing? How deep does it need to be there to avoid freezing?

TL thanks,

Do you have an idea of the % humidity I should have??
I have a meter in the GH that tells me my % of rel. humidity.
Then I can work on a way to vent better.

Is higher humidity ok during the day but bad at night ???

I have always had water to the backyard in numerous places but it was always for the yard and garden....(summer water)
When I put it in a long time ago I just put it under the surface. Now there is a lot of "stuff" built on top and I can't go deeper.
We need to bury lines 5' to avoid freezing.

Thanks, TL
KW

I would start by getting rid of the fountain, that should help even without changing how you're venting.

I just went out and removed the fountain & extra water, That will give me more room against the So. windows too.
GH temp 78, humidity 63%, vent open & working.

KW

I did another search ( greenhouse humidity) here on dave's and this time I got a lot more information.
Stressbaby's knowledge is quite extensive on the subject and I was in awe... wow much more than my brain wanted to comprehend @ the time.
Thanks SB.

I guess somewhere in the range of 60% RH and 85% RH max. should cover the needs of most of my plants.

I did remove the water fountain ... but I seemed to be in the correct range anyway 70 %+-so we'll see what happens. 62 degrees and 80% RH now.

Still wide open to discussion though...

KW

KW, your RH numbers look fine to me.

SB

Morning Key! I can relate to your problem. All of a sudden our temp has dropped to the 30's and 40's and no sun, just clouds all day and the temp in the greenhouse goes below 60 if I am not careful. But, the tropicals I have, Jasmine, orchids, etc. are the kind that will take the cooler weather for awhile without too much stress. I have found the misting of the little fir trees I am growing helps keep the humidity up there. Usually healthy plant growth is best maintained at levels above 50% humidity. I must say, mine goes down at times with the heat drying out the plants. I mist a few times a day depending on how they look and the soil tests. You could always use water trays or a humidifier. My problem is now to try and decide do I need to invest in some lighting. I was hoping that could wait since I had so much expense getting the new venture started, but I think I am going to be in trouble if I do not install it. I used to breed birds and I have alot of the natural lights in the barn, but I think I should use the regular GH lights. I would feel safer. Good luck. Could we do a Sun Dance? I need sunshine now.