Passive Solar Greenhouse 2nd Year Review

[@CoastalGardensNW]

Love it 👍

[@idahogardengirl942]

Like #20. Wow! The pepper plants look great! I am going to get a greenhouse going, so looking at your video has given me some ideas. Thank you.

[@cynthiafisher9907]

Hello Idahogirl! I am also in Idaho.

[@-RONNIE]

Thanks for the good video 👍🏻

[@ziran123]

Put the marry golds in smal pots, that way you can move them. They don't need much light to live, they need light to grow bigger. Put some at the back of the greenhouse and rotate them. Put som in pots outside. Would be interesting to see tomatoes being groan up front, trellised against the wood between the windows at the front. High sort. That way they only get light from the "side" and don't shade the rest of the greenhouse that much.

[@craigdawson7632]

Have you been monitoring your VPD, temp, humidity? Do you have a log you can show us? Any soil moisture data? What are you using for air circulation? Could the plants be getting low on CO2 if it doesn't get hot enough to vent?

[@BalticHomesteaders]

I do have most of the data via independent sensors but the core monitoring stuff had some problems (detailed on another vid) but this winter I’m building a V2 which will solve those problems. I would however be surprised if it’s a low co2 problem. I have SwitchBot temp/himid/vpd sensors and data for this year from inside, outside and inside the other greenhouse. I’ve not worked out a way to plot it nicely and in a useful way from the csv dump the app gives - any suggestions?

[@craigdawson7632]

@@BalticHomesteaders I use AC Infinity controllers, they have CSVs to export. But if your not using a controller like that. Pulse pro is awesome it measures temp, humid VPD plotting, co², light sensor, can create ppfd maps on just the single unit. There is a whole pulse eco system for hydromitors etc. Some people even share a live link so people can have a look at your enviroment. Niwa power board controllers are a cheaper handy option. Its a smart multiboard that has two USB ports for probes. I've seen very clever chaps setting up custom SBCs with their own code, by far the cheapest & easiest to power. By far the most advanced. I've never dived into it more than a couple of evenings reading up on it. Depends on what you want to achieve and how much time and money you want to invest. Are you going to: run supplimental light, CO², heating or dehu, automated watering, mechanical ventilation, geothermal (water or air) do you have mains power or solar. Or just want to data log?

[@BalticHomesteaders]

@craigdawson7632 sorry for confusion, I have the data logs via csv I need a way to display the data in a way that can be examined like in the app - zoom In and out etc. I’ve looked online and couldn’t find anything that could handle big data (data points every 10 minutes). Lots could display it to look pretty for presentations but not examine it (drill down) in finer detail and add things like moving averages. If you look at some of my smart greenhouse vids you can see my current set up but that’s going to be upgraded with a new setup linked to a raspPI4 and home automation, been using old Rpi and node red but had connection issues as discussed in my failures vid. If you ping me an email (about us tab) I’m happy to share screenshots of the graph data. I always wanted to make the data shared but have struggled to find a way to do that, maybe home automation with some add on will make that doable.

[@craigdawson7632]

@@BalticHomesteadersI don't have any ideas on apps sorry. It's another cost for something you have setup, but easy. If you get a pulse or pulse pro you can share live the data, hosted from their site so it even insulates your network. Call it a work cost.

[@cynthiafisher9907]

Maybe you would have liked the marigolds better if you interspersed them with the other plants? That might work better and would free up a block of space for other things.

[@BalticHomesteaders]

They were I had already pulled them out :) I did enjoy the vivid colours there but they took up the space, I’m probably asking too much :)

[@chriswise9674]

Question : do you think this style of GH would work well in PA? We have summers that get into the 25s C and high humidity. I'm wondering if having the low roof on the one side (for more light penetration, I assume) would be a good thing here in my climate.

[@BalticHomesteaders]

What degree latitude are you? When you say low roof do you mean the polycarbonate side? I worried that maybe that 90cm high wall would be a problem but it’s been no problem at all and in fact I think a big help, my peppers this year grew incredibly well right next to it, see more recent videos.

[@chriswise9674]

I am at 41 degrees and zone 7. Relatively cold winters. Hot humid summers. Yeah I meant the poly side. I like your idea of the opening vents in the low knee wall.

[@chriswise9674]

I should have said we get many days of over 90 degrees Fahrenheit

[@BalticHomesteaders]

@chriswise9674 cooling will be more of a problem, your sun will be higher than mine, maybe consider extending the north roof line out to cast shade when the sun is right above. Tomatoes don’t care much for super high humidity nor temps. Having said that use shade netting like I have and that’s way cheaper and less faff :)

[@chriswise9674]

@@BalticHomesteaders Thanks for that! I will send pics (if you want) when it's done, later this winter (I hope). Thanks for all the fabulous ideas.....this is a great channel.

[@johannakuhlin4787]

Can you explain stuff for the not so tech-savy. i only speak html and ssc..

[@BalticHomesteaders]

Sure, happy to, which bits in particular was it you wanted explained, may be easier to do a video.