Right on time - March 1st!
This photo shows the heater I placed in the shelter last night. It will be set just above freezing to protect the plants from frost. Solar energy will provide most of heat required to keep the plants from freezing. However, I feel using a heater as backup system is essential; especially since this whole system is new to me.
This is my indoor hydroponic system that I have been testing since late October. It works using the same bin system the outdoor setup will use. In this case, the bins are Styrofoam coolers.
That's how you haul 2x4x12's...a roof rack and two tie downs.
Well...it survived it! You can really see where it's missing two hoops. Once the weather warms up I will install the missing hoops.
Today, the first change was to design the bioshelter slightly bigger while keeping the same number of growing-units. The reason for this change is threefold. Firstly, I want to make sure some of the bigger plants have enough space and don't crowd out the smaller plants. Secondly, once you build it, you are committed to the space you have built. Lastly, the increase in space also allows for more insulation options and more surface area for solar energy capture.
Today I started working on the frame design for the Bioshelter. To the left, you can see the rough design floating in the air. The frame is made out of 2x4's. And the five gray boxes are plastic bins with a 18 gallon capacity. Each bin is what I call a growing-unit which means that it can operate independently of the other bins. I will go into more detail about the growing-units soon.
