My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Humidity
 

For the first time, I put white 50% shade cloth over my 18 ft x 10 ft lean-to greenhouse. Besides reducing light and heat, it diffuses the light.





Notice the white capillary matting on the benches and the reflective plastic sheeting on the right wall. The purpose of the matting is not to water the plants but to raise the humidity and help cool the greenhouse.





Here you can see plastic milk bottles with a pin hole on the bottom to drip water on the matting.





To stop algae from growing on the matting, I periodically spray it with a solution of Physan 20. It is too early to tell whether it works but I can guarantee that, without it, the matting will become an ugly mess. Also, I will have to do something to prevent roots from growing into the matting. It would be nice for the matting to remain a pristine white to reflect light. I know from experience that the matting can be washed in undiluted laundry bleach which removes algae and roots. Unfortunately, the price of laundry bleach tripled during the pandemic.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Just as a suggestion, you could use the same cloth and water container setup but dangle a piece of the cloth in front of a fan to get the moisture into the air faster. Maybe then you would have less of an algae problem?

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

I tried something like that in which I dangled capillary matting into a water reservoir at the bottom of the matting. It didn't work because the matting draws water upward only a couple of inches.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Your tomatoes look marvelous.

And your grow setup looks ready to roll.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Time to start moving things around the greenhouse isn't it?

I have had light frosts in the Ohio valley and I am starting to put up my indoor infrastructure to handle the influx of plants.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

No frosts near Chicago, yet. I already removed the shading. I still have to remove the capillary matting because there is no need for additional cooling and the increased humidity from the matting just condenses on walls thereby transferring heat to the outside and increasing my heating bill. Then I have to soak the matting in bleach solution and clean in washing machine for next year.

But, imagine the heating bills of growers in Holland with the Russian gas situation. Do we have any Dutch members?

What is your "indoor infrastructure?"

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

I have to change out a few light bulbs and move some furniture around.
Plug in way to many lights on an extension cord....that kind of stuff.

It would be great to have a greenhouse like yours:)

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Don't they still make vaporizers, or nowadays called humidifiers, you can fill with water and plug in?

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Yes, and there are also high pressure spray atomizers, but, if you don't use distilled water, you get residue on everything. I don't mind getting this residue on leaves but I don't want it in my unvented gas heaters.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Ah, good point. I was not aware that regular water would leave a residue, but it does make sense, now that you bring it up. :08:

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Minerals in the water will spot everything.

Vent free gas heaters produce a fare ammout of moisture as well as vent free logs for the fireplace. I use both.
I believe the ventfree will create more moisture than an atomizer ever would.


My wall mount 30,000 btu ventfree in the garage is in a high moisture area and no issues with mineral buildup/rust on the pilot or igniter or ceramics.


I see the point with excessive condinsation on the windows it is difficult to strike a balance, at least for me anyways.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

I don't use the heaters in the summer and I don't want extra humidification in the winter because the extra moisture would end up as extra condensation on the inner surface of the polycarbonate panels thereby transferring heat to the panels and raising my heating bills.

No, a ventless gas heater won't produce nearly as much moisture as an atomizer designed for use in a greenhouse. I could prove it by calculating the gallons per hour of water produced by burning 30,000 BTU of methane but, at the moment, I am too lazy. You should know from your own experience that a wide open stove burner, which is about 10,000 BTU, won't raise the humidity in your kitchen nearly as much as a pot of water over low flame, about 1000 BTU.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

I was thinking a tabletop atomizer not a atomizer with its own 1inch water supply.:)

See your position though.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

I was thinking about something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Ideal-Air-Hum...ef=sr_1_3?th=1

200 pints/day = 1 gallon/hour

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

I was thinking a 19.95 DeVilbiss from the big box.
Good to see we are on the same page..:ha:

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Along the lines of what I was envisioning, but I was thinking more like those humidifiers for kids with the croup. A gallon an hour is a lot of moisture.

If you could convince my ex wife to stand in there and talk for a few hours, it would heat the place up and add a ton of moisture...

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

me, i am thinking HOT TUB :08:

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Okay in all seriousness. Put a dehumidifier OUTSDE, and run the condensed water - which will be distilled - inside to the reservoir of the humidifier. They should balance each other out and give you the clean moisture you need.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

I have a dehumidifier in my basement and it uses about 600 watts of electricity to remove 3 gallons/day of water. I really hate what it does to my electric bill. I sometimes collect the water for use elsewhere.

Re: My Greenhouse Experiments with Light, Cooling and Temperature
 

Yikes!

Rain barrels?