Is it worth heating a greenhouse? ~ lets look at the cost/benefit
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
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I always feel our investment in the first big polytunnel was the best money we ever spent. I put in lovely wicker chairs, a wicker table and a bench with a matress to recline on. I had my gardening books and journals in there and it was pure therapy to sit amongst my lovely veg.
That must have been a big tunnel
Very good contribution to the gardening community.
Inspirational and informative information as usual. What a grower you have blossomed into.
Hi Steve, I know you’re working hard to make this more than just cost neutral, this is also a hobby you enjoy and not many are as profitable as yours. You are an inspiration to me and the rest of the channel.
Well, when I started I had no option, I didn't have any money available to spend. I try to remind myself of that and still try to grow that way, even though thanks to YT I now don't need to, a lot of people are in the same position as me, growing to save money, not just for the love of gardening, which is a given : All the best - Steve
Gret video Steve. I know ive said this to you before but im posting this to back up what youre saying to other subscribers who may read it.
When i started gardening 3 years ago, i didnt even know it was possible to grow year round even with perfect conditions, never mind in a back garden with shade issues like i have. I was a complete newbie. If id not found your channel i may never have known. But thankfully i did! My initial costs of the polytunnel and timber and compost in the first year were considerable, then grow lights and palnt halos and canning equipment etc the second year. But now, in my third year, the food im growing is virtuality free. I dont have a greenhouse but only because i dont have a suitable spot, otherwise id buy a second hand one. However I rarely, if ever buy any veg. We are self sufficient year round. Your tried and tested methods work superbly. If people stick with you, they wont go far wrong! Thank you!
All the best- Alison.
Thanks for the testimonial Alison and it's especially interesting because you made the investments quickly and are reaping the rewards, for me it was a slow process, always funded by harvests, but my diet is so much richer now than it was 8 years ago : All the best - Steve
Some a great points raised, thank you. Most of all it’s at your home where you can potter in and out, at your leisure. You can curl up with a good book amongst the most wonderful plants, as they exchange co2, you enjoying their oxygen, their flowers and stunning leaves….win all round I’d say.
Yes, having it at home makes me so much more efficient and it's easier to enjoy the space : All the best - Steve
Damn Steve those peppers are super impressive this early in the season. Fantastic!
I’m pleased with them, might be able to get them a little earlier but it’s probably not worth too much earlier.
You can be so much more productive at home as any spare couple of minutes can be a feeding, a watering, a weeding, a sowing or a pruning.
That's so true, I sometimes think I spend more time walking/driving to the allotment to take plants, bring back harvests etc than I do actually gardening there and there's just no way to give plants the TLC that they get at home : All the best - Steve
Its expensive, but the amount of food u get pays for it and more. It really worth doing it. Plus all that fresh food
yeah, although it turns out that it's not really expensive once you value your harvests : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards that's very true. Even if it wasn't, it's worth it for the fresh veg
Interesting analysis. I suppose I probably cannot justify my gardening expenditures in general but I get so much more out of it than just some fresh food and I really don’t have other hobbies that cost much. You have taken it so much farther. And there is value in knowing where your veggies come from and avoiding pesticides, etc. Seems worth a bit of expenditure for heat. I dream of one of those greenhouses half buried in the ground that utilize geothermal heat. I also dream of a greenhouse with a wood stove. All these things would mean moving again which at my age has gotten tedious. Thanks for the vid!
absolutely Pam, the joy and mental and physical health benefits of gardening are a given, but I couldn't afford to grow the way that I do unless it paid for itself and ideally made me a profit. As things turned out 8 years of youtube and revenue from my ebook etc means that doesn't apply to me now, but I still stick to that same discipline because I know a lot of other people still need to grow to save money. I've seen those half buried greenhouses, seems like a LOT of effort to save £50 a year and my guess is you'd still to heat in spring. Where we live it's not suitable for wood stoves, we have some nearby and they are a scourge of the neighbourhood, blowing awful wood fumes into nearby bedrooms and giving everyone headaches, but out in the countryside I'm sure they are wonderful : All the best - Steve
I was going to ask about the make & model of greenhouse but I see you've covered that in the link.
Thanks for passing on your knowledge & experience.
Regarding heating costs; I reckon my 15" x 24" propagator costs about £9 to run for 3 months, so £60 for an 8' x 14' greenhouse is value for money indeed, even if the desired temperature is lower.
The beauty of heating the whole greenhouse is how little effort is needed on my part, if I value my time (which I do) then it's ridiculously efficient compared to any other option : All the best - Steve
If you can afford it, why not? If it brings you joy its worth every penny. 👍💚
That's the point Kate, I've not spent any money on gardening, that I've not already saved off the food bill, when I started I couldn't afford anything, now thanks to YT I can afford it, but I try to stick to the same discipline as many people can't spend money on gardening, it has to save them money. I totally agree though it's worth every penny, but it works even if you don't have that penny to spend. : All the best - Steve
Thanks for posting this. What source is the heat coming from?
See the link in the description, all the details are there : All the best - Steve
My mini greenhouse cost about 65 pounds for the two extra months, most of the plants that I started in there are in the garden or in a larger greenhouse. There are only 8 regular tomato plants, three cherry tomato plants, some mint and & lettuce left. It is worth the extra cost because to buy those plants would have cost that much just to pay for the tomatoes, and the delicata squash, zucchinis, cucumbers, etc., herbs and flowers are basically free, but for the cost of the soil.
Absolutely, my polytunnel easily paid off in the first year I had it, but actually was paid for by the previous winter harvest from the allotment as we installed it in March
Are you hand pollinating the cucumbers?
I’m not, Most cucumbers are self fertile
Hi Steve! Do you have any pest issues in the greenhouse? Thank you.
There’s always a few pests, but with the doors wide open it’s not much different pest wise to growing outside : all the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards Thank you!
£50 a month or through the winter ? 😅
£50 for March and April, when I was heating to 10c, much less in winter because I only kept it around 1c : All the best - Steve
I recommend solar panels & batteries. My greenhouse is heated for free from my home solar/battery system. It seems natural to complement direct sun heating with energy gathered from the sun.
I have solar panels, but they feed into the house, which obviously supplies the greenhouse too. Unfortunately there's virtually no energy available for heating the greenhouse in winter from solar panels in the UK, much better to use that energy for LED grow lights : All the best - Steve
I think its mental how much you are picking so early. You may be an evil genius Steve 😅
lol, well I am motivated to have a rich, fresh food diet, but it's fairly easy to achieve if you follow my systems. I have a lot of work to do updating all of my guides to take account of a heated greenhouse : All the best - Steve