While I'm turning the heat down in my home to save energy and reduce CO2 emissions, here I am considering heating my greenhouse to protect plants and provide warmth for early sowings.
Should I feel guilty about heating my greenhouse? While I'm turning the heat down in my home to save energy, keep bills down, and reduce CO2 emissions, here I am considering heating my greenhouse to both protect plants through winter and provide warmth for early sowings. Of course I'll be keeping heat to a minimum, and insulating the greenhouse with bubble polythene to reduce heat loss, but my environmental conscience keeps asking me the same question.
Looking at things another way, I wonder if it's actually worth heating the greenhouse. Does the cost of heating exceed the value of the plants I'm trying to protect through winter? I'll need to do the sums and work out what the cost of replacing the plants would be. Some of them are quite special, like the melianthus I raised from seed, and quite large pots of agapanthus that I probably couldn't replace, and which would take an age to grow again.
A large electric propagator does provide an alternative for seed raising, just warming the area I need for seeds and seedlings rather than heating the whole greenhouse. The only problem is that I soon outgrow the propagator, forcing me to move seedlings onto the cooler bench alongside. What if the snow returns?
None of us wants to waste heat or money, and I'm certainly not the only gardener with an environmental conscience. Our hobby does require us to both protect tender plants and raise new crops from seed every year, so some heating is an essential requirement, isn't it? Or should I forget the tender stuff and concentrate on hardy plants instead? There's nothing wrong with parsnips, carrots and brassicas, but I am rather partial to tomatoes, cucumbers and aubergines. My dilemma continues…
See more comments...
