Bubble wrap

Hi everyone, a few mornings have been a little chilly so I've been thinking ahead to winter, I'm just wondering if you use bubble wrap where do you get it from, best I can find so far is harrod horticultural. Thanks.

 

I have bubble wrap up in my greenhouse all year long.
It's too difficult with the benching to put up and take down again twice a year.

I got it from a speciality packaging firm. It was many years ago and I forget their exact name.

Go for the larger bubble, slightly thicker version.
Standard bubble wrap tends to perish/disintegrate quite quickly.

 

I buy the big bubble one too - normally from packaging companies. However can be worth looking for UV stabilised version to reduce the rate of disintegration. I try to reuse it for at least 3 years but the main problem is that when I store it under the staging in the summer it gets claggy and mucky. Currently appears to be about £26 for 30m at .75m wide for the UV stabilised stuff, but basic wrap is £12 for 100m!
I also use 2-3 cm polystyrene insulation in the bottom panels of the greenhouse and leave it there all year.

 

Thanks everyone, the bubble wrap from Harrod horticultural.

"Our 20mm greenhouse bubble insulation is UV stabilised, offers better light tranmission, is double laminated for extra strength and better insulation and can save up to 50% on heating costs when using a greenhouse heater."

 

You could look at this greenhouse and garden supplier, have ordered other items from them ok.
1.5m Wide Tri Laminated 25mm Bubble Greenhouse Insulation UV Resistant | eBay

Are you looking to heat your greenhouse ?

If using an electric heater connecting it via an electronic thermostat give more accurate control and lower bills.
A high up fan blowing down will help keep the heat low down and more even, plus the air movement around the plants is always beneficial.

 

@ricky101 that looks perfect thanks, yes I have a couple of fan heaters so I'll have a look at a thermostat, thanks once again.

 

There are quiet a few thermostats for greenhouse use, though at a price for full IP protection.

Aquarium users have found these littleSTC-1000 units very good, they do heating and can switch to cooling when above temp etc.

However you need to be competent in dealing with mains electrical connections and waterproofing /IP protection.

Note that these units seem to specify a 10 amp maximum relay , so you might need an extra 'Slave' relay depending on your heaters current or if handling 2 heaters etc. or a controller for each heater.
(usually have my heater set on half power to give a slower, gentler heat, rather than a sudden full power blast)

 

Thanks I'll take a look at that, the bubble wrap is from elixir garden supplies, I've shopped with them a few times and they've always been good, so I'm happy to shop with them again.

 

@ricky101 the bubble wrap should be with me in a few days, thanks for the link for the thermostat, I had a look at the wiring and housing it seems pretty straight forward but while looking i came across the inkbird Itc-308, by the time I added the cost of connectors and housing there wasn't a great deal of difference in price so I went for that.

 

I use a natural gas heater that has a thermostat but I also use ceiling fans on timers to mix the air on the half hour and instead o f bubble wrap, I have installed window film.

My greenhouse is single layer polycarbonate which I chose for ewsthetic reasons and that is why I used film to create an air space to help insulate. It does seem to work well and is almost invisible.

I used bubble wrap meant for greenhouses which is flat on both sides and uv resistant but the look was not nice and a pain to put in and take out. Cost me and felt stupid going there but at least I left it in place for one winter.

The film is the stuff that people use inside older homes if they don't have storm windows for the winter or double glazed windows. We go down to minus 30 Fahrenheit or worse so I only heat until mid November and start up again in April.

This shows how it looks with the film. Sorry about the reflection..

 

@mazambo the inkbird is a good product. I use it for my heat mats in the indoor setups

 

@CanadianLori I think i mentioned before I admire the way you're innovative in overcoming your growing conditions, I'm fortunate in only needing basic heat to overwinter a few tender plants.

 

@mazambo yes, looks a nice complete unit, spoiled for choice these days, had to build our own thermostats etc for the fish tanks many years ago as commercial ones were way too expensive.
Find 4c keeps all our plants ticking over.

@CanadianLori replaced most of our greenhouse glass with 10mm twinwalled polycarb when the local young footballers got too energetic.
It certainly keeps the cold out and the heat in, a bit expensive , but in those days half the greenhouse was given over to orchids.
It was expensive, but had little choice, though probably paid for itself in heating costs over the last 7 years

The only down side is its not as clear, so you cannot really see the plants from outside and the internal channels can let dirt/ moss in if the open ends are not properly sealed.

 

@ricky101 yes, the pretty, clear glass or polycarbonate clear have their draw backs. The glass can break whereas the clear poly won't and I know this because whilst climbing along a rail above the peak I lost my balance and stuck my bottom into one of the panes and it just bent and popped back out One of my smaller greenhouses had the twin wall and I decided to change it over to the clear purely for esthetics, nothing practical about it- the company told me it wouldn't work when I ordered clear replacement panels meant for their other model. I did it and sent them a pic But as you say, the single poly has zero insulation hence the need for the bubble wrap or window film.

Even then, I tried bubble wrap before the film so I may innovate but I seem to do it by the school of hard knocks and empty wallets