Electroculture Gardening

[Kev]

This discussion thread is a place where we can discuss our experiences with Electroculture, or our desires or plans to implement the practice.. This is where we can ask each other questions and give advice.. Stories of your experiences are awesome, and photos will be even better!!..

Post what you want regarding personal experiences below..

Discussion

[hugh]

I’ve been using small stakes for potted plants. It doesn’t work super well on all plants, I suspect that I have to figure out the soil or other factors in those cases.

But when it does work, it works really well. I recently put this stake around one tomato plant in the pot and it shot up like crazy. This type of stake also saved a Basil plant that I have.

[Kev]

Oh nice!.. Thanks for posting this.. It is interesting when you see results that indicate an obvious influence, and in other cases not so much.. There’s one researcher who noticed the same thing over time with his experimentation and spoke about it in one of his videos.. He suspects it has to do with the specific species and their specific biochemistry and such.. Of course soil and all the other factors are part of the equation as well..

I conducted a control experiment this past summer with 10 different species and I saw these kinds of mixed results, which I suspect were due to how the individual species respond to an antenna stuck in the soil — in some cases, dramatic differences.. in other cases, no differences.. I drafted documentation of the experiment with lots of photos.. I’m gonna share the link to that here real soon, and I’m excited to do so.. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a couple photos of the more dramatic differences I saw.. (In the photos, the control container is on the left).. ?

[hugh]

Awesome, looking forward to seeing your results. I’m thinking the same thing, species probably has a lot to do with it too. It generally works with my peppers, but not the Kangkong. I want to do a more scientific study this year to get a better handle on what works.

[Kev]

Oh wow, I just learn a new plant — Kangkong.. Don’t think I’d heard of that one.. What I saw is that it’s a tropical plant.. Do you know if it can be grown as an annual outside in temperate N. America??

And perhaps the results of my study could give you some information or inspiration, at the very least on how *not* to do it.. I had some missteps and it was a learn-as-I-go situation, but now I’m better prepared on how to conduct a really legitimate scientific study.. I’m thinking about doing another one this coming season, but the big thing is I need to reduce the number of species in the study, so I can keep a handle on it.. Plus devise better measurement strategies, etc. etc.. Not sure if it will happen though, as I want to expand into more complex antenna configurations, and not sure I can pull that off in a potted garden, or get my ducks in a row in the next couple months.. But we’ll see!… (And I too saw differences with my Thai chile plants).. ?

[hugh]

I’m not sure about growing Kangkong outdoors in temperate climates, probably better indoors. Prolific grower, can create tons of greens fast. Tastes good too.

Yeah, I know what you mean about wanting to grow too many plants. I have to focus, haha.

[Suzanne]

The greatest benefit in my landscape was the huge reduction in slugs. I found only a handful throughout the season vs hundreds and hundreds in the past. I wasn’t expecting this. I read afterwards that it has something to do with the copper wrap and the iron /rust) content of the soil. I did see plant damage late fall, but I’m not sure it was ?. The particular plants that had it were too crowded in their pots and likely unhealthy, and became a target.

Love your test pots, Kev. A picture being worth a 1000 words ❤️

[Kev]

That’s so good to hear that you saw a clear reduction in the slug population.. I’ve heard many people say this and I’m looking forward to being back out into an open garden so I can see this for myself as well.. Slugs really are an issue, especially with veggies, and all the “tricks” like beer traps just don’t work in my experience.. What you say about the iron in the soil is probably a part of the slug problem.. and most likely, a decrease in slugs has to do also with increased energy in the soil, making soil microbes more healthy, and creating a healthier environment overall, so the slugs just don’t move in.. If you think of slugs as a clean-up crew, or at least opportunists that take advantage of less-healthy conditions, it makes sense.. And the way they targeted your potted plants that weren’t doing so well points to that..

What kind of antennas did you put in your garden??..

[Nick]

Last summer I started with the electro culture after I found the work of Yannick. I was mostly learning and slowly start to use his techniques but the small results I saw were impressive and so far my chickens also like it a lot. I even bought a 3D printer so I could print my own molds for the paramagnetic towers. Coming season I really hope to see the effects of everything I am making. I did the steel cables with magnets, the big and small paramagnetic towers. Small atmospheric antennas and a big 12 meter antenna, the basalt, the Lakhovsky circuits, the Ighina spirals and the 432Hz rainbow colored chime. For next season I am making a new bigger garden were I want to apply these things also. I am currently on holiday in Colombia but when I get back home to the Netherlands I will make some pictures and share them here.
I even prepared a pallet with everything to make above techniques to ship here to Colombia and try it on farms here but my transporter failed to ship the pallet. Maybe I try it again next time I go to Colombia.

[Kev]

Wow, you’ve gone all in on it, and quickly.. Soon as I get out into an open garden again, I’m gonna use the approach of galvanized steel wires underground as well, threaded with magnets, and connect that up to a tall antenna.. I’m particularly drawn to the designs of Chris Winters regarding this, though I’m gonna be more creative with it for sure.. I’m gonna be using crystals too I think, or want to figure a creative way to do that..

One of the things I want to get to is crushed basalt rock inside of copper pipes, as you’re doing.. And I’m interested to hear how the 3D printer works to make round towers, how that plays in the construction process..

One of the big stand outs in my control experiment last summer was my use of a Lakhovsky Cubit Coil (which was a Lakhovsky circuit based on cubit dimensions).. Once I deployed it on my Broccoli plant, situated at 30 degrees, pointing north, the plant took off in growth.. It was undeniable, with massive root growth as well..

I’m looking forward to your photos!.. ?

[Nick]

Sounds interesting! Looking forward to see all ideas and results of people the coming season.

I also got some pink quartz to use in the garden.

The 3D printer I got to print the molds for the 51degrees tower heads and separate cones. The cones and towers are made of a mixture of paramagnetic basalt, cement and sand (and a natural pigment for the colored ones). Inside I put a copper double Ighina spiral with a quartz crystal in it. Al inspired by Yannicks work. The paramagnetic basalt was hard to get. Bought the powder in Germany, while there visited the awesome cathedral in Cologne. Now that is a master piece of electro culture! And the basalt gravel I had to buy in Belgium. For the big 1.5m towers I used ceramic pipe and filled that up with the basalt gravel. Also with the copper spiral and quartz inside.

Might take some weeks before I come with pictures since I’ll be returning to the Netherlands on 1st of February but I won’t forget ?

[Kev]

Wow.. Love all of it.. So many ideas.. And not surprised you’re using 51 degrees.. Just last night I was imagining a tall garden sculpture that quickly morphed into an electro-antenna.. It was inspired by this dried flower spike I have from an Agave plant.. This flower spike and all it’s side branches and spacing of where the flowers bloomed is embedded with mathematical relationships that I have yet to fully uncover — (gonna have to get out the ruler and calculator and dig into it in earnest).. It’s like a living fractal pattern.. So far I see the number/percentage of 51, and I’ve been able to identify Golden Ratio relationships and then hung some ornaments at those points to create a Golden Spiral that winds up the height of the spike..

So that’s what inspired this electro-antenna I’m working out in my head.. So far it involves the master number 9, 51 degrees, the Royal cubit, an upward expanding Golden Spiral of crystals, and possibly a hyperbolic cone off the top that terminates as a spire, maybe with a globe in there as well, or maybe just a pyramid.. That’s why I was contemplating how I could possibly fashion out a hyperbolic curve.. Yep — throwing in the kitchen sink.. Crazy.. Lol.. ?

[Suzanne]

I did some research after discovering the absence of the slug population. I found that it is a common benefit. Matt at https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bl5pebZs3uA&si=U1cBBamE5xo6Z-nM

talks about the reasons why. My memory is vague, but recall it is a “clean up” issue, Kev, like you suggested, but it’s the rust in the soil, not the iron per se.

I use the KISS method of electro culture. Natural branches, preferably from my own environment, wrapped with 14 gage copper wire bought in bulk from Home Depot. Very affordable, very easy. I use bamboo poles also.

[Nick]

I finally made some time to finish the videos about my garden. This first video is from 3 weeks ago. The cables with the magnets are galvanized wires, I misname those a few times in the video.

https://youtu.be/85a11dKeezs

[Nick]

This is from today.

https://youtu.be/6S-wWrI1msM

[Nick]

This is how I am growing my seeds this year. First picture is also from 3 weeks ago. The second one is from today. We did the changing to bigger pots today.

Any tips, questions or remarks then please share.

[Kev]

Hey Nick!.. Finally got some time to spend with your 2 update videos.. Love everything you’re doing — the pyramid you built, the basalt tower, the tall antenna and underground wires with magnets.. especially intrigued by your soil mixture with the basalt powder, guano, chalk, and lava..

Also looking forward to seeing the Lakhovsky coils you construct.. Say, I have a question — have you ever used a voltmeter to test to see the current flowing through your metals??.. I bought a voltmeter last summer but I couldn’t make sense of it.. I tried, but was very surprised how the instructions I found on it seemed upside down, or totally incomplete.. What readings I did take of my passive copper antennas showed there was something there, but still couldn’t make sense of what I was looking at.. but it was something.. ?

Oh, by the way, I’m finishing up my outline on building stone structures (ziggurats and pyramids) in the garden.. I was going to try to make it not be over-the-top, but it turned kinda into engineering instructions.. Lol.. No worries, mate, it’s simple though.. I can’t help but be detailed.. I think I’ve found a way to build pyramids (even somewhat large ones) where you can do so with a specific slope angle, and execute the slope angle and get really close.. You might be intrigued by it.. We’ll see though if it’s a doable approach, as I’ve yet to test it.. It’s simple though too, and should get you close, if you’re trying for precision..

[Nick]

Hey Kev

Yea I used a voltmeter on my antenna’s and got results. Also no idea what it actually means but I saw some numbers and that made me excited hahaha

Everything is growing good so far. I can’t wait to transplant them outside. And since I can’t wait I am going to put 3 tomato plants outside this week, 2 weeks to early and see how they fare.
Tho I had problems with germination seeds, many seeds didn’t but no idea iff it’s the seeds or my fault.

[Kev]

Ah yes, I love the pyramid over the seed pots.. I’ve yet to try it.. Far too much going on to focus on fashioning a copper pyramid.. It is frustrating this year though — I’ve got a load of seeds sown outdoors and almost nothing is germinating.. Sure, it’s natural conditions with overnight cold, but we’ve been having very warm and sunny spring weather too.. I’ve always had the best success with seed germination, but not so much these days.. But also, I’m doing what I’m doing in the spirit of cold stratification and natural conditions in general.. My thought is that if the plants are meant for natural conditions here, they’ll do their thing, and I’ll get the most resilient ones of what’s possible.. We’ll see, it’s still mid-April.. In the end, I still feel it’s the best strategy.. But I’m sure a pyramid or two, or three, would help..

The tomatoes you put outside — what type of antenna have they gotten?

[Nick]

The containers over the plants is mainly against the rain. The are still very small and I don’t want them to be destroyed by heavy rain. So last week they were off because of good weather and coming week will have much rain again.

I like make some pictures when the tomatos are planted. That will explain easier.

[Nick]

A little update. The garden isn’t doing so great. There has been so much rain in April and May. In April we had 2x the average of the last 100 years and in May almost 3x of the average of the last 100 years. And all that rain resulted in a plague of naked slugs. So the plants already didn’t grow very much because of all the water and very little sun. And then all the little plants got massively attacked by the slugs

I’ve tried diatomaceous earth against the slugs but they just slitter over it. Now waiting on some containers to make some beer traps. I also looked at copper but saw reviews and pictures of slugs just sliding over the copper strips like they weren’t there so not spending money on that.

I did manage to 3D print the mold for the big cone. But with everything not growing I didn’t feel like making a cone that big.

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  Nick.

[Kev]

Oh no, no bueno on all that.. Ugh.. Slugs are an ongoing thing for everyone and I don’t think there’s a tried and true remedy to stop them.. I came across this spray the other day that’s at least worth trying.. This guy steeps garlic & onions & capsicum & mints in water for a couple days and then sprays it on his plants.. He reports good results.. I would do it a bit differently than his method, by blending it all real good for maximum extraction.. But you don’t want to heat it, just cold steeping.. I was just thinking recently how slugs stay away from members of the mint family, due to their volatile aromatic essential oils, so this made sense to me.. (And some critters stay away from the mints too).. I’d be willing to try any one of the mints — Lavender, Rosemary, Mint, Oregano, Agastache, Lemon Balm, etc.. He also mentions adding soap to get it to stick to the plants, but I’m not entirely convinced that even helps.. Regardless, it may require frequent/daily spraying, especially if rain washes it off..

Also, I once contemplated how to create barriers with salt that slugs won’t cross over, but that’s not possible, as it would salinate the soil, no matter how cautious you were.. I thought of creating troughs, or little moats, full of salt water, but too sketchy — the salt would end up in the soil, guaranteed.. So now I’m thinking barriers made out of garlic and mint water or something.. I’d try anything.. I know, crazy — little moats around your plants.. Lol.. Another idea was barriers covered in sharp little needles.. 🙂

I’ve seen mixed results on using copper.. Years ago I learned about that, and since I had some copper sheet metal on-hand, I cut strips of metal and then formed them into rings about 2-3 cm or more in height.. I put them around where I planted young plants, or where I sowed seeds, and they were entirely effective.. All my young seedlings were protected.. Never lost a single one.. Other people say it doesn’t work and I have seen slugs just crawl right over copper too..

Beer traps never worked for me.. I think I saw the guy in the video below make a video on his beer traps, and they were full of slugs.. He may not have used beer though, can’t remember.. But it’s also worth considering using something else (or at least I would try something else, since beer never worked).. Something else fermented like wine or kombucha..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iUjwrmxufo

[Nick]

Thanks for your suggestions. I ordered nematodes (natural predators) (Phasmarhabditis Californica). These are so small they crawl into the slugs and kill them. It takes 2 weeks to see results. From what I read this is the most effective way. And once the slugs are gone the nematodes also die off. Fingers crossed. Best would be if the rain would stop but so far it really doesn’t look promising 🙁

[Kev]

I didn’t know about these nematodes.. How do they arrive and how do you disperse them?, just sprinkle them around in the garden close to plants so the slugs are sure to come into contact with them??

[Nick]

They came in powder. Open the satchet and disperse them in 1 liter of water. Mix it and then add 125 ml on 10 liter of water and apply to 5m2. It was pretty easy actually. Takes 2 weeks for the nematodes to kill of the slugs.
https://www.biogroei.nl/aaltjes-tegen-slakken

biogroei.nl

No-slug | Aaltjes tegen slakken

Hou rekening met enkele dagen levertijd Bestrijdt naaktslakken in je tuin Toepassen maart - oktober Toepassen vanaf een bodemtemperatuur van 6°C

[Kev]

Very good.. Thanks for posting this.. I read up on it, on the product page.. Sounds like a safe biological remedy without complications.. I especially like how they say you can overdose with the nematodes and that’s fine, as they die off anyways.. and the nematodes as the carrier or delivery of a bacteria that kills the slugs — nature is brilliant.. And it makes sense that foraging critters that eat slugs won’t be effected.. Will definitely keep this in mind.. Slug pellets never worked for me, and as I said, beer traps were useless.. but some success with copper barriers.. So nematodes it is.. Did you use a pump sprayer to spray the solution??.. I’m guessing yes..

[Nick]

Nope I didn’t want to spend even more money on it. Also put a copper mesh around the garden and connected it to a antenna so hopefully some electrical current will flow through it. Bought some beer traps and installed those. So for the nematods I just used a watering can. If this all doesnt work then I surrender and then slugs win.

[Nick]

The garden this year was a mixed succes. It was a crazy year anyways will that much rain and the slugs. Also the seeds I bought were not the best quality. But luckily we had good weather in the second half of July and the whole of August. So some things managed do well while others didnt do so well. The trees i’ve planted did the best. My apple family tree is already 3 meters tall while I put it in the ground 10 months ago at 120cm height. They are supposed to become 2-2,5 meters after 3-5 years. I got some pruning to do to keep it in check. Another factor was that the garden I made was fresh. I think everything had to settle in and start to create a living system which will costs some time. Next season it will have had enough time to do so so I am pretty sure the results will be better.

[Kev]

Hey Nick.. sounds like a relatively good report, especially the point that it’s a new garden and has to settle in and develop the community of various things that make a living system..

I was thinking about you just recently, wondering how this year went and how successful the slug control was.. Can you say the nematodes were effective??.. I happened to notice one of my local nurseries selling a mix of 4 different nematodes (including the california species you got).. I wouldn’t have noticed, unless it had been brought into my awareness by you..

That’s really good apple tree growth.. When you planted it at 120cm, how old was it??.. Was it just one year old??.. I grew a bunch of heirloom apple trees from seeds this years.. some of them haven’t grown too much (as I have them all in troughs, so maybe neglected and crowded a bit), but a few of them absolutely shot up in their growth.. One of them reached about 50cm in just 8 months.. Of course, I’m not in the ground either, just containers..

[Nick]

I didn’t see any slugs after. I think it was a combination of the nematodes and the weather that improved. April and May were extreme with the rain, 2 and 3 times as much as the 100 yearly average. I don’t know the exact age of the tree but its a young tree. I asked the company how old they are when they sell em. I’ll let it know when they reply. It’s a tree with 5 different apples. Under the tree sits a cone with copper spiral with a quartz crystal in it. And I used lots of basalt when I planted the tree. The tree stands in a corner of the copper pyramid. And a copper coil around the base. And ofc the magnetic antenna’s, the big round tower next to it and the big antenna in the garden. And the last thing I added was the charcoal. The tree is loving it.
The kales you see in the picture are planted in the beginning of July after I took out many things that didn’t survive the rain and slugs. The kales are doing great. I’ll let them continue till after the winter. Let’s see how tall they can grow.

The fig tree also doing great. I had it in a container for 1 year and that didn’t work out. I planted it the same time in the garden as the apple tree. November 2023. Usually fig trees give ripe fruits 3-4 years after planting. But I already had 3 ripe figs this summer.

I grew some things in containers also. It works but I just don’t get the same results as planting in the ground. It’s a big difference for me. Next year I skip the containers.

• This reply was modified 8 months, 4 weeks ago by  Nick.

[Kev]

Yeah, that apple tree is lovin’ it!.. Kales look good too.. With all the electrification you’re doing, it makes me wonder about something Barre says, which is in regards to measuring electrical potentials within soil, and doing things to optimize the electrification.. I wish he would share how he takes these measurements, and what devices he uses.. That would just be interesting to look at.. I’ve heard several people talking about measuring fields with radiastesia (am I spelling that incorrectly?), but no one has said what that is exactly, or what the devices are that are used..

And it’s true, containers are *not* the way to go.. I know it’s strong language, but I have to say, I despise container gardening overall.. As you may recall, that’s my situation — an apartment balcony container garden.. I put good energy into it as best I can, but it’s frustrating to have to use 5-8 gallons of water per day in the heat of summer, just to keep it functional and alive.. and things are more susceptible to heat fry and cold kill when the roots are so exposed.. (Working on ideas for getting my containers through the winter this year without any losses.. want to do heated greenhouses for the deep freezes, but no electrical socket outside.. but we’ll see)..

But I also go all-in and don’t do things small.. Not sure if I told you, but I spent February through about June taking hundreds of cuttings from plants around my neighborhood and did a massive operation of rooting them off, in order to create an arsenal of stock plants for the future.. Nothing specific in mind, but that’s just how I am — I’m so compelled to propagate plants, I just can’t help myself.. All of my rootings started in small pots, and many got upgraded in size as they took hold and grew into full-fledged plants (many flowered in this first year)..

I never did a full proper count, but at one point I’m sure I had around 400 cuttings and plants going, if not more.. and of course I had lots of losses, especially when I tried to root when it was too warm.. and at this point in the season, I’ve stopped rooting, as it’s too late in the season, generally.. I’d have to count, but I’m sure I got over 300 plants now.. See??.. Nuts.. Lol..

But overall, it was a borderline full-time job on some days, and had to be very vigilant with it all.. But I love it..

[Nick]

Yea I wish I knew how to measure electrical potentials in the soil. Or just soil analysis in general. Another thing I wish is that Dr Barre would empty his mind on all that he knows into practical workshops so everybody interested could do all those awesome things.

Put some sort of flexible isolation around the containers?

So all the flowers you took pictures from you made cuttings from?
You really need a farm so have a place to do all your cool things regarding to plants.

• This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by  Nick.

[Kev]

The idea I had for protection during winter freeze was greenhouse boxes with glass on the top & front, and plywood on all other sides, and I would put foam insulation on the interior sides of the plywood, and then I would put a heating element of some sort inside to keep the temperature above freezing, ideally about 40 F (4 C).. but just above freezing would be good enough.. Maybe a hot plate or heating pads, whatever.. but no electrical socket outside, and no way to run extension cords.. But also, I’ve got so many plants, that would entail about 3-4 rather large boxes, and that’s just ridiculous..

Then I came up with an idea.. I have one window in my apartment, which is in the bedroom.. If/when we get a freeze, I think I’ll bring all my plants into the bedroom, and slightly crack the window to let the cold air in, but also keep the heater running, in order to keep the temperature around that 40 degrees.. and of course keep the bedroom door closed and put a thermometer in there to monitor the situation.. and I’ll sleep in the living room.. Thankfully, when we do freeze here, it’s not usually a long-term thing, maybe only a week or so per year, or maybe a couple weeks like that per winter.. Just depends.. I remember winters here where we never reached freezing even once.. All this because I’ve found that bringing plants into a warm environment during winter is too shocking, and it kills them more often than not.. So, a cold, but not freezing environment is the ideal..

I think a voltmeter may be able to measure electrical potentials in the soil.. Not sure, but I may be confusing that with taking measurements when constructing an Earth Battery, which is where you put copper and zinc plates in the ground, which sets up a potential, like a battery, and creates a flow of telluric electricity.. as I understand it.. so dunno.. But I agree! — Barre needs to do workshops so we can all glean these informations and skills!!.. As an engineer, I’m so all about it.. 😁

Speaking of voltmeters — I think I may have mentioned this.. In the summer of 2023, I finally got around to getting a voltmeter during my control experiment, because I wanted to measure the voltage running through my copper antennas.. And I did it correctly where I put one probe on the antenna, and then the other in the dirt of another container that didn’t have an antennas, to ground out the circuit and create a current, so the voltage could be measured.. as I understand it.. I actually got consistent readings over & over again on individual antennas, and then the same reading on other antennas.. so that looked right..

But then, it got confusing.. Sometimes when I turned on the voltmeter, the display starting showing whacky readings without actually measuring anything (touching the probes to anything).. And then the units-of-measure didn’t make sense.. With a voltmeter, there are ranges of voltage it can measure, and you have to dial in the range in which you’re measuring.. For example — one of the readings I remember was 0.4 microvolts (when I was in the microvolt range).. But when I turned the dial to the “2-20 V range”, it said 4 volts (when it should’ve said something like 0.0004 V, if I’m not mistaken).. How does 0.4 microvolts become 4 volts?!.. Lol.. And then the 20-200 V range said “400 volts”, and the 200-600 V range said 40,000 Volts.. What?!.. Lol.. Either a POS voltmeter, or I wasn’t interpreting correctly.. The decimal point was moving in the wrong direction.. I tried to find info. online, but of course, nothing..

And yes, a plant propagation operation is near the top of the list of business ideas for a homestead.. Could do online sales, such as Etsy.. I’ve ordered a lot of plants from growers on Etsy, and many have greenhouse operations, and a well-honed situation.. My hesitation with that is shipping plants in pots.. That alone would be a hassle, because I know what it would entail.. So shipping would be best bareroot — makes packaging much easier, and lower shipping costs for the customer (less weight).. Etsy would be a good choice just because the infrastructure is already in place, and no need to build out a website.. Could also do local sales, depending on local population density wherever you are.. I would def do a donation-based operation, to keep it out of the “legal”.. Just let people show up & shop for what they want, and make a donation of whatever they want.. And in that, my vision also includes having the nursery be a demonstration garden as well that folks could come visit and hang out in.. I’m chompin’ at the bit to build another koi pond.. Lol..

Apologies for the long-ass response, but one last thing — most of my plant cuttings were from just about everything I came across in my neighborhood walks this year.. My plant and flower photos only represent a small fraction of the total..

[Nick]

A cheap small grow room like this an option?

Maybe your voltmeter is broken? Or you need to read the manuel again hahaha

I’d like to visit your future homestead 🙂

[Kev]

Yeah, those small plastic greenhouses are definitely an option.. thanks for the reminder.. the issue is keeping it above freezing.. i’ve had too many losses of potted plants when it freezes, and a small passive greenhouse isn’t guaranteed to stay above freezing in the depth of winter.. the question is how to keep the temp above 0 C when it’s -9 C outside (as an example).. a heating element would probably work great (but never tried it).. the issue is not having an electrical outlet outside, but I could punch a small hole in my window screen and run an extension cord during those really deep cold days.. I tend to overthink it (and want to build a solution from scratch), when all I need is something simple like this to start.. 🙂

We’ve been having a bit of an Indian Summer here, still warm-sunny days, but the cool-rain is coming in earnest this week.. Going over to a friend’s place this week to do a big autumn planting.. Hey, I got a few hundred plants that need homes.. Lol..

Exactly how are the winters in the Netherlands??.. If I’m not mistaken, you’re at a latitude even farther north than say NYC, but I’m guessing you’re tempered by the ocean..

(oh, and the voltmeter instructions were like anything online — very basic.. no elucidation on the discrepancy I was seeing.. booo)…

[Nick]

What about thermal heating? Something like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU7cvF_mxyk

The winters here are not too cold anymore. Grandfather and parents talk about long cold winters upto -20 Celcius. But the last cold winter I can not even remember properly, over 25 years ago. Now it’s usually between 0 and 10 degrees Celcius. WIth maybe 1 or 2 weeks of frost going to -5 during the day and -10 during the night but that is rare. The last time I did ice skating outside is more then 15 years ago and it only lasted a couple of days.

[Kev]

Oh nice, thermal mass heating.. forgot about that option.. That would work, actually.. If I got a large pot (or large pots), and boil some water on the stove, and then put those in the greenhouse with a lid on them, that would work really well, especially if it’s a box with foam insulation for extra measure.. would probably have to boil water 2-3 times per day and switch out pots, but it could work really well I think..

Hmm, now I’m thinking of rigging up a tall box (or 2) of scrap wood with one side made of plastic, and throw in some foam insulation.. Thanks for the idea.. best one yet.. all sorts of scrap wood around here..

[Author]

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