Hi. Hope you are all well. I have a small lemon tree which I bought this year. It has been doing fine and has 3 small lemons on it. It is now in my small green house for the winter. I live in the West of Scotland and we are having some cold frosty nights. Tonight it’s 1degree. Today I went in and wrapped the pot in bubble wrap and then placed in a box filled with the polystyrene nugget things and then tied the box closed. Several leaves fell off but there are some new leaf buds and flower buds appearing, I intend to “nip” these. I put in a paraffin heater but I am not sure if the fumes will be harmful. Am I doing it all wrong? I am new to all things greenhouse
Paraffin Heater and Lemon Tree
- Thread starter Newbie Ang
- Start date
Greetings, welcome to the Forums.
Heating your greenhouse in Winter may likely be necessary, though Lemon (Citrus x limon) can survive 1º C (~33º F) without damage. Do you have some rough idea how cold it will likely get this Winter, both outside and inside your greenhouse? In any case, it is still good to be prepared if it gets colder than expected.
Paraffin is certainly a source of heating fuel and will work if nothing else is available. However, like all combustive fuel you will need to ventilate for safety of human health (carbon monoxide, etc.), as well as plant health (ethylene, etc.). Of course, ventilating and heating the air are at cross-purposes here. Could electricity be run out to your greenhouse via an extension cord?
As far as insulating a plant in plastic. This will only work if there is heat within to trap. In some situations it can even insulate a plant from warm air. actually, frost cloth or similar is preferred over non-porous plastics that may trap condensation. Ideally, frost cloth should envelope the plant completely and also should be removed during the day, though many people do skip that step because of the labor involved. Even frost cloth properly used will only give a few degrees of protection at most.
Heating your greenhouse in Winter may likely be necessary, though Lemon (Citrus x limon) can survive 1º C (~33º F) without damage. Do you have some rough idea how cold it will likely get this Winter, both outside and inside your greenhouse? In any case, it is still good to be prepared if it gets colder than expected.
Paraffin is certainly a source of heating fuel and will work if nothing else is available. However, like all combustive fuel you will need to ventilate for safety of human health (carbon monoxide, etc.), as well as plant health (ethylene, etc.). Of course, ventilating and heating the air are at cross-purposes here. Could electricity be run out to your greenhouse via an extension cord?
As far as insulating a plant in plastic. This will only work if there is heat within to trap. In some situations it can even insulate a plant from warm air. actually, frost cloth or similar is preferred over non-porous plastics that may trap condensation. Ideally, frost cloth should envelope the plant completely and also should be removed during the day, though many people do skip that step because of the labor involved. Even frost cloth properly used will only give a few degrees of protection at most.
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@Newbie Ang, @Marck could go on but acts shy sometimes. I don't have that problem and will absolutely slaughter the written word. He mentioned something in passing that I think you might find enlightening should you not already be aware. One might not know how plants have evolved with fire, but on this site there are discussions about woodsmoke as a stimulant for some purposes because it contains what are plant hormones. Ethylene is used to ripen fruit commercially sometimes. Like when they are in a store but are tasteless because they were picked and refrigerated too early so they do not want to ripen on their own.
Stolen with glee off the web:
"Ethylene is the first-identified plant hormone known to regulate numerous processes in plant growth, development, and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Ethylene is best known for its effect on fruit ripening and organ abscission, and thus has great commercial importance in agriculture."
Stolen with glee off the web:
"Ethylene is the first-identified plant hormone known to regulate numerous processes in plant growth, development, and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Ethylene is best known for its effect on fruit ripening and organ abscission, and thus has great commercial importance in agriculture."