WOW...what a long night!!

[Cali-wanna-b]

Well as luck would have it I lost power for 8 hours on the coldest night of the year. We got down to 1*F with no power to my greenhouse or the heat tape on the robusta. I stole some of our candles from the house and managed to get the heat up to 26*F inside the greenhouse before I had to call it a night. Before giving up I buried the robusta and wrap under about a foot of snow to try an insulate it. Today most of my plants in the greenhouse look good except for 6 Cali fan seedlings. They got toasted. I was also worried about a couple royal palmettos but they took the cold night with no problem that I can see. I am sure the inside temp got below 26*F but how low I have no idea. Only time will tell with the robusta.

After this ordeal I would like to have some kind of backup heat source. I would be interested in any ideas you all might have. I thought about a small kerosene heater, but I am not sure. My greenhouse is only 8x10 and the kero heater would get it pretty hot. I might have to look for a decent generator in the future.

Craig

[Knnn]

Craig,
I've had similar experiences this Winter....................

How about a couple Hurricane lamps? in a pinch, you could even burn diesel fuel in them

Steve

[lucky1]

Craig,
this might be too big to do any good, but how about
one of those clay or metal patio heaters, and a box full of kindling and 2x4 ends.
But then you'd need a chimney vent

Bummer.
Barb

[Laaz]

Craig that sucks. Barb is on the right track. You need some type of vent, but you could also use a regular BBQ charcoal type grill which will burn for a few hours & puts out quite a bit of heat for a small area.

BTW... What are royal palmettos ?

[Cali-wanna-b]

Craig that sucks. Barb is on the right track. You need some type of vent, but you could also use a regular BBQ charcoal type grill which will burn for a few hours & puts out quite a bit of heat for a small area.

BTW... What are royal palmettos ?

The charcoal grill would be more appropriate in my situation. Heck, I could take a few burger patties in with me and keep them company. Anything larger would be a fire hazard, I have a poly cover.

Royal palmettos (sabal pumos) comes from mexico and grows at 2000-4300ft. It likes dryer conditions than most sabals and so far has proven to be a very tough sabal for me. Here's a pic from rarepalmseeds and a link if you want to read more.
http://www.rarepalmseeds.com/shop/SabPum.shtml

[lucky1]

Craig, last Fall I (briefly) considered leaving the Trachy planted.
But I chickened out and dug it back up.
My biggest worry was "what if the power goes out?"

Well, our own Wes North Van replied with a solution.
But I can't find it in the postings.

He's an electrician and had a solution to auxilliary heat kicking in automatically if power went out.
Some gadget.
Maybe contact him...for plants on next winter's backup heat.

Barb