I have made it fine with my green house over the last three years. Kept tomato and pepper plants alive, could start new seedlings any time I wanted. Cold weather was handled with (1) keeping the grow lights on the small stuff, some mass heat build up from sun and (3) a one burner propane heater.
Last night, with temp outside at 20 the greenhouse was about 31. After the ball game and before I went to bed (11pm) I turned on the propane heater. Well, when I woke at 6am the temp was 10 degrees. The greenhouse was below freezing, a bucket of water had thin ice, and most plants succumbed to the temps.
Lesson learned: My southern greenhouse is not built for brutal (to us) 10 degrees.
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- Newly Registered
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- Green Thumb
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If I lived in Al. I would make use of water storage in the greenhouse you have now. I would say 4 = 50 gallon drums of water would maintain a above freezing temp with out any heat source. The 10 degree temp you just had would have not frozen your plants if you had the water in there! In pa. the average temp I have in the winter in my barrels is around 40 but in Al I bet the temp would be more like 48 in the barrels.