I divided my greenhouse in half by tucking left over greenhouse plastic between an arch and the covering, dropping it clear to the floor. keeping it heated with an electric heater. I was doing that in Feb up here.
how cold is it there?
do you keep a remote sensor to monitor or measure the nighttime temps?
I have my thermostat set to run the furnace at 40° and remote sensors to watch the temps. in the greenhouses.
We put arches in the high tunnel and cover those crops with row cover to protect them. I have to uncover each morning but that is just a part of trying to run on a shoestring budget. as a matter of fact... my 30x96 has a row of lettuce transplants in it that I planted in the Fall along with a packet of seeds at the same time. there were a few below 0° nights.... I know it was below 0° but by how much? no idea. I was in texas at the time... but it was COLD! under the cover the lettuce survived and the seeds sprouted believe it or not! I was totally shocked to see how well it did. so... a tunnel inside a tunnel works very well, too. that said... a larger structure has a larger heat mass, too.
I don't use plastic as a row cover inside the tunnels. I use row cover, plastic tends to keep too high of humidity. (see Cole-Robbies thread on " it gets colder inside than outside on his hightunnel"... I think it has to do with humidity) grow molds. then you are battling diseased plants before you even get started. if you chose to go that route make sure it is ventilated some. just my thoughts and observations on what has worked or happened here. (Kevin does most of my worrying )
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carolyn k
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