My Cold (Green) House

Never really thought about the differences per pot material, as all mine are in ceramic. I do think that there is a difference between the pots with short feet that contact the mat better over higher feet, but as I'm only looking to keep the soils from severe low temps over long time periods, it doesn't matter. I do place the probe in a mid -mid/large size pot for that reason, to buffer the differences. I also have air control with the heater and the cooling vent system, so the mats don't have to do all the work. But I do keep the air pretty cold, just don't allow it to go low 20's, it generally stays around 28 -32 for air temps in there.
 
Hey there! Hoping to bump this thread as we prepare for winters. It’s hitting low 20s in Minnesota soon, and because I have a trident now, I wanted to make sure I have the right setup to prepare for the impending winter.

Currently, my setup is an attached garage which will have a temperature-triggered outlet (as seen in this thread with @JudyB’s setup). I have a heater that will turn on when temperatures dip below 32, and I should be able to monitor it. However, what are you all doing to cool trees in the middle of winter? Turns out, having an attached garage might mean that I may have some weeks of high-40s. Ideally, we’d not wake up these maples in the middle of winter. Do you guys use fans? How do you go about that without desiccating the trees?

Thanks for the input! And thanks again @JudyB for sharing your setup.
 
Bonsai Noodles said:
Hey there! Hoping to bump this thread as we prepare for winters. It’s hitting low 20s in Minnesota soon, and because I have a trident now, I wanted to make sure I have the right setup to prepare for the impending winter.

Currently, my setup is an attached garage which will have a temperature-triggered outlet (as seen in this thread with @JudyB’s setup). I have a heater that will turn on when temperatures dip below 32, and I should be able to monitor it. However, what are you all doing to cool trees in the middle of winter? Turns out, having an attached garage might mean that I may have some weeks of high-40s. Ideally, we’d not wake up these maples in the middle of winter. Do you guys use fans? How do you go about that without desiccating the trees?

Thanks for the input! And thanks again @JudyB for sharing your setup.
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MA here. i nestle them behind the garage to protect from wind, keep them raised off concrete patio (i heard touching the ground is good if you have option while against wind break. for severe forecast for a week or two out of entire winter, i will move those trees inside the garage and back out asap. everything staying outside gets a top layer of mulch or leaves for extra insulation. ill keep them out in the snow btw, generally, but for the single digit days - ill shuffle some of them into the garage for short term
 
Bonsai Noodles said:
Hey there! Hoping to bump this thread as we prepare for winters. It’s hitting low 20s in Minnesota soon, and because I have a trident now, I wanted to make sure I have the right setup to prepare for the impending winter.

Currently, my setup is an attached garage which will have a temperature-triggered outlet (as seen in this thread with @JudyB’s setup). I have a heater that will turn on when temperatures dip below 32, and I should be able to monitor it. However, what are you all doing to cool trees in the middle of winter? Turns out, having an attached garage might mean that I may have some weeks of high-40s. Ideally, we’d not wake up these maples in the middle of winter. Do you guys use fans? How do you go about that without desiccating the trees?

Thanks for the input! And thanks again @JudyB for sharing your setup.
Click to expand...
You'll need to keep it from waking in your warm weeks, but does your garage get up that high? I use a fan and a vent to bring the cold air in, but my main warmth maker is sun even on my building that has shade cloth and solid roof. In your garage and your climate, do you get in the 40's several days in a row?
 
JudyB said:
You'll need to keep it from waking in your warm weeks, but does your garage get up that high? I use a fan and a vent to bring the cold air in, but my main warmth maker is sun even on my building that has shade cloth and solid roof. In your garage and your climate, do you get in the 40's several days in a row?
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I'm not too sure, since I haven't tracked closely in a previous season. My measurements so far suggest that I might have a week/or two with those temperatures around late February (hopefully it can be pushed into March, which would be more ideal). Right now, it is 32 F outside, and my garage is 44 F inside. The upside to my setup is that not much sun is coming in (no significant windows really to this garage), so solar heating is not going to wake the trees up. On the other hand, that is a downside because if the trees do wake up early, doing a two-step might be difficult. I've purchased a grow light in case this happens (and also in case there are some really low days early Fall, as we're already experiencing with a 19 F day in less than a week from now). Not too sure if I can get a fan system to work. Maybe something like an evaporative cooler?
 
JudyB said:
Yes I think that you're overthinking, just pick a large or middle size pot, not a small one to put the probe into. That way the mat will fall on the high side for temps (the safer side) than the lower side as far as keeping the roots at a certain temp. It will fluctuate somewhat, but we are only after keeping roots from freezing solid for any length of time. I'll occasionally get a little surface freezing in the larger pots, but it never freezes solid, and the surface freeze is temporary.
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That’s why you don’t set them to 34-35. You give yourself plenty of slack setting at 38 in both directions. 👍
 
Put my economy FarmTek hoop house and propagation mat set-up into use today... first sustained sub-zero weather this season (tonight).

I won't trigger the thermostats/temp probes/mats until they're really needed. Goals are to 1) mitigate against drying winds; 2) mitigate against sustained and deeply cold root temps (< 20-25 F) ; and 3) not burn the house down!

Shade cloth (not yet installed) and roll up sides for cooling on warmer winter days! Also, I have this located mostly in the shade blow a deck off the back of our house... so that helps keep the temps stable, too.

Hats off to Judy! I very much appreciate her willing ness to share so much useful info! Thank you, Judy!!

Noah
IMG_2419.JPG
 
butlern said:
Put my economy FarmTek hoop house and propagation mat set-up into use today... first sustained sub-zero weather this season (tonight).

I won't trigger the thermostats/temp probes/mats until they're really needed. Goals are to 1) mitigate against drying winds; 2) mitigate against sustained and deeply cold root temps (< 20-25 F) ; and 3) not burn the house down!

Shade cloth (not yet installed) and roll up sides for cooling on warmer winter days! Also, I have this located mostly in the shade blow a deck off the back of our house... so that helps keep the temps stable, too.

Hats off to Judy! I very much appreciate her willing ness to share so much useful info! Thank you, Judy!!

Noah
View attachment 335552
Click to expand...
That looks great! Good job!!!
 
EricMack said:
Noah,
@JudyB advised me before last Winter. I only had a few trees but it was my "first bonsai Winter" and it came up quickly. I used the Bayite thermostat and the Redi-Heat blue mat. See the pics... I put all my pots in one large black plastic tray (holes in the bottom for drainage), and buried the Bayite probe about an inch deep in the largest pot (you don't want to hit the bottom of the pot). Then, all of them went under my incredibly sophisticated Winter tent 😁 which allowed moisture (melting snow or rain) to seep through. I live in central Ohio, we do get snow and cold temps. Everything worked great, and I could easily read the Bayite from inside the house. Notice the high-tech water/element protection around the Bayite...
View attachment 332396

View attachment 332397

Obviously a very simplistic setup for just a few trees, but it worked great and was easy to source/put together.
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Where did you get this tent from?
 
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