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My Figs in greenhouse

The tempreture  in my greenhouse will get about 45 degrees tonight will my figs be ok. what do you think
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that's likely warmer than my garage will be tonight (and was last night) with lows outside dropping to 34 degrees. 

I'm not especially worried, even though some of my figs are leafing out already.

~Chills
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Last night it was 29* here at my house, but it was 36* in the fig house. The fig house consists of a 4x8 sheet of plywood on a set of saw horses, covered with a blue plastic tarp, held down at the edges with 4x4's. Nothing fancy, but it helped take the edge off the cold. I just finished placing two trouble lights with 100W bulbs in them to help out tonight. The forcast is for the mid 20's tonight. I supose I wouldn't be concerned, but it's been unusually warm the past 2-weeks and the plants are leafing out. I'll let you know how it works.

Dan
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I like Dan's fig house.  Just a little embellishment and it could go in the front yard.
Ox
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A quick follow up on the fig house. All day on the radio I heard dire warnings of a freeze/frost, so I chickened out and added another 100W light bulb to the mix, for a total of 3, and threw 2-moving blankets over the top of the tarp for more Rs. In the light of day it looked like trailer trash, but after the sun went down, the blue glow looked as if a UFO had landed in the backyard. The low was 27* and it was a toasty 47* in the fig house. With no more threat of frost, the fig house is torn down and put away.
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Danny did not mention how his greenhouse differs from my current open-air greenhouse.
During nights below freezing temps, I modify my open-air greenhouse by slipping a clear plastic bag over a 4' tall tomato cage on each of my figs (not too many yet). This should help against frosty nights in May and with watchful eyes for overheating should help in total heat for ripening. Well, we will know by the end of the growing season if the total heat thing worked for zone5.
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Ottawan,
Open air-air greenhouse!? Please tell me more. If you discribed it in another post, I missed it.
I intend to plant my trees in a raised bed to help avoid water problems in the spring and was toying with the idea of some sort of small hoop house I could install over that bed to help extend the growing season in the spring and fall. I had set the fig house up last Sunday, and I could see that the trees responded very well to the heat and humidity that had built up under the blue tarp for the three days it was up. Any information on your open-air green house would be appreciated.

Dan
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Ox,
I'll put twinkle lights on it next time.

Dan
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Dan
I have not described the open-air greenhouse in any older posts because it may not help anyone in the colder zones. I have to use it because I have not got around to making a better one yet.
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Ottawan,
I certainly understand your desire for a greenhouse. I'd love to have one to fool around with, maybe a 10x20 footer. ~smile~ If I could reasonably run a passive solar greenhouse here in SE Michigan, I would have had one a long time ago. I have a cold frame that I've put thousands of plants through over the years. It has a thermostat that controls 2-light bulbs for supplemental heat when it gets too cold. It works great but it's an entirely different scale than a greenhouse.
I like your use of the tomato cages. If you had bigger trees (5' or less tall), I don't see why you couldn't make cages out of concrete reinforcement wire and bungee cord some plastic film to it when it was cold. Maybe even open the sides up a little to control the temperature. I would slit a lenght of garden hose to put around the top of the cage, so I wouldn't tear the plastic. Rain could be another problem. A top of some kind? I guess there's no attractive substitute for for a green house. I hope we all get the greenhouses we need and deserve.
Dan
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Hi ya'll,

Am giving a link below to our hoophouse - lots of styles and sizes available from Farm Tek.  One great thing about ours is that the sides roll up.  That was my husband's idea and it sure makes a big difference.  We also found the need to add some plastic mesh four feet high to keep critters out when the sides are up.  It is taken down each fall and replaced in the spring.

We also add a shade cloth during the summer, haven't put it on yet since it has been such a cool Spring.  I have seen small greenhouses at grocery stores, etc. that use white plastic instead of clear.  The light inside is better than with shade cloth yet it is much cooler than clear and maybe cooler than the shadecloth.  I am not sure how that would affect winter growing, but the shade cloth sure inhibits good growth during summer.  The figs seem to do okay though I wonder if they would do better with more light.

We also have a divider down the length inside and add a dropped plastic ceiling for winter since the south side is heated.

If you want to try a simple frame, you could use PVC pipe that is flexible.  By putting a short piece of pipe in the ground, you could then put a longer piece of rebar inside that to support more of the PVC.  This type of structure could be taken down during the summer and replaced during the fall and winter.

Our first hoops were made using cattle panels.  They are 16 feet long and were bowed over to create a structure just tall enough for me to be comfortable.  That was about nine feet apart and gave about a six foot height.  We just used cheap plastic from the discount store and replaced it every fall.  It had to come off during the summer because it got extremely hot.  In winter I only occasionally used a heater in it when I had tomato plants in transition from the house to garden.  The rest of the time the temp was about the same as the outside temp though things were not subject to the brutal wind chill that killed things outside but not inside.  So, just the wind protection makes a big difference. 
 
Elizabeth in Missouri
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