Compost King
Free Ranging
Winter Garden update:
Even though its not closed in the heat during sunny days has started turning my super hot peppers red. They had stalled for weeks since it started getting cold. Thats an assumption on my part but its been a long time since they had color on their peppers.
above: extension cord coming in, I drilled a hole at the bottom in a way that you can not see it from the outside with a 5/16th drill bit.
Below: View from the inside
Above: This is a Moisture trap, Condensation and water slowly leaking in will form on electric wires and travel down hill. Equipment below this trap is sensitive to moisture. I drilled a hole angled down to the outside so trapped moisture can escape. I sealed the seems with silicone caulk.
Above: I cut out a piece of Resin material I received as free scrap. I cut it large and shaved it down so it fits snug.
Below: This Resin Material fits snug above moisture trap, any condensation that falls will hit it and run into the trap.
Above: Sensitive Equipment, Ballast for HID lighting and a surge protector. Its a mess now because I am not finished, this is what the moisture trap is protecting.
Above: the HID lighting fixture, I had to put in a loop with a twist tie to make sure any moisture on the line will travel down hill to the loop and drip away from the light. The bulb on this light is very sensitive to water, it will shatter if it gets wet and the bulb costs $90. Or that's what it cost 10 years ago when I bought it.
Below: I installed a barrier between the light and the ceiling which is expected to collect condensation. this should carry the condensation away from the light... I hope.
Above: First test, yes the light and bulb works. Its been in storage for 10 years. The Bulb has never been used before but the light fixture has and worked fine before. 400 watt light I am really using for heat on the coldest nights. The light from this will be a bonus. I was going to buy a heater made for green houses and realized I had this in storage and its designed for indoor growing so why not put it to use?
Below: I set the timer to see if that worked, it works. I thought it would be cool to check it at night so I can see how bright the light really is. That turned out to be a mistake for other reasons however I did get some really cool night pictures.
The 3 pictures above as well as the one below were taken with flash off. It does fully display how much it lit up the back yard. I am going to have Rooster Crowing Issues when temps get very low and the timer goes off. I wish I had a thermostat but a timer might be better because it causes me to check the hourly weather report every night and manually setting the timer for that point I feel I need heat.
Above: The wood I used for the north wall does not line up well, the light at night helps to show the gaps. If I seal these it will be while the light is on to assist me in finding where I need to seal.
Below: This is why I should have not run the light at night for a test. This is Hemp and its flowering runs on a night cycle. I grew it right next to the greenhouse, or rather I built greenhouse right next to it. oops! I hope it does not slow down seed production because its looking like seeds will barely mature by the first frost as it is. Its not good to interrupt its dark cycle. I do not turn on my back door light because of this plant. I do not need to use the light for heat until the first frost and this plant has to be harvested by the first frost so all is good as far as future use of the light.
Even though its not closed in the heat during sunny days has started turning my super hot peppers red. They had stalled for weeks since it started getting cold. Thats an assumption on my part but its been a long time since they had color on their peppers.
above: extension cord coming in, I drilled a hole at the bottom in a way that you can not see it from the outside with a 5/16th drill bit.
Below: View from the inside
Above: This is a Moisture trap, Condensation and water slowly leaking in will form on electric wires and travel down hill. Equipment below this trap is sensitive to moisture. I drilled a hole angled down to the outside so trapped moisture can escape. I sealed the seems with silicone caulk.
Above: I cut out a piece of Resin material I received as free scrap. I cut it large and shaved it down so it fits snug.
Below: This Resin Material fits snug above moisture trap, any condensation that falls will hit it and run into the trap.
Above: Sensitive Equipment, Ballast for HID lighting and a surge protector. Its a mess now because I am not finished, this is what the moisture trap is protecting.
Above: the HID lighting fixture, I had to put in a loop with a twist tie to make sure any moisture on the line will travel down hill to the loop and drip away from the light. The bulb on this light is very sensitive to water, it will shatter if it gets wet and the bulb costs $90. Or that's what it cost 10 years ago when I bought it.
Below: I installed a barrier between the light and the ceiling which is expected to collect condensation. this should carry the condensation away from the light... I hope.
Above: First test, yes the light and bulb works. Its been in storage for 10 years. The Bulb has never been used before but the light fixture has and worked fine before. 400 watt light I am really using for heat on the coldest nights. The light from this will be a bonus. I was going to buy a heater made for green houses and realized I had this in storage and its designed for indoor growing so why not put it to use?
Below: I set the timer to see if that worked, it works. I thought it would be cool to check it at night so I can see how bright the light really is. That turned out to be a mistake for other reasons however I did get some really cool night pictures.
The 3 pictures above as well as the one below were taken with flash off. It does fully display how much it lit up the back yard. I am going to have Rooster Crowing Issues when temps get very low and the timer goes off. I wish I had a thermostat but a timer might be better because it causes me to check the hourly weather report every night and manually setting the timer for that point I feel I need heat.
Above: The wood I used for the north wall does not line up well, the light at night helps to show the gaps. If I seal these it will be while the light is on to assist me in finding where I need to seal.
Below: This is why I should have not run the light at night for a test. This is Hemp and its flowering runs on a night cycle. I grew it right next to the greenhouse, or rather I built greenhouse right next to it. oops! I hope it does not slow down seed production because its looking like seeds will barely mature by the first frost as it is. Its not good to interrupt its dark cycle. I do not turn on my back door light because of this plant. I do not need to use the light for heat until the first frost and this plant has to be harvested by the first frost so all is good as far as future use of the light.
