Today was a special day at Kennesaw Mountain Daylily Gardens. My two new friends, Roger and Owen Nugent, from Alapaha, G
eorgia, came to replace the "plastic" covering on my Greenhouse. Roger and Owen are brothers, and they work together installing Greenhouses, and sometimes, as in my situation, replacing "plastic" coverings. Roger and Owen worked together to move the "air-pump" that keeps air in between my two layers of plastic. The pump was moved higher in the 
Greenhouse so that it would be less likely that water could enter through the pump into the two layers of plastic. Then, Roger and Owen removed the plastic on the right side of the Greenhouse. You might think that this would be a simple task, but I saw the work, and it takes knowledge of how to handle the plastic, and knowledge of how the replace the plastic. Fortunately, there was no wind blowing today, and so we avoided a wind issue.Once the right side was replaced, then, of course, the plastic on the left side had to be removed. For
tunately, Roger and Owen knew exactly what they had to do, and they removed the left side in what seemed to be just a few minutes. Then, they proceeded to replace the plastic. It was amazing to me to see that I could look through the new plastic whereas
I could not see through the old plastic. It seems that as the years pass the old plastic becomes more of a "preventer" of sunlight entering the Greenhouse. With the new plastic, the sunlight will have "easier access" to the Greenhouse. My seedlings should grow much better, and hopefully, over this coming winter, all of my Greenhouse plants will grow better than they have the past two years.By far, the most difficult part of replacing the plastic on the Greenhouse is replacing the plastic across the top. Roger and Owen began b
y using the old plastic from the left side of the Greenhouse as a "mat." They then rolled the new plastic for the top onto their "mat." They had to be particularly careful with the plastic for the top because there is not a lot of extra plastic to spare. To my surprise Roger an
d Owen had to cut the plastic so that there would continue to be two levels. Also to my surprise, they used the old plastic as a base. So, what they did was put the new plastic on top of the old plastic. Once the new plastic was secured, they then pulled the old plastic out from underneath the new plastic. By taking this approach Roger and Owen avoided any snags or tears to the new plastic. As in all other tasks, "experience counts."You can see in the picture here that the old plastic is being pulled from underneath the new pl
astic. You can also see that your "Editor" stepped in to help Roger and Owen. I have a plan for the old plastic. I'm going to use this old plastic to cove
r several of my rows during the winter. This should help these rows to have a Florida winter here in north Georgia. My new seedlings should be giants by next summer. After all of the work was done I stood at the back of the Greenhouse with Roger and Owen, and thanked them for their hard work on a hot, steamy, early September afternoon in sunny Marietta, Georgia.Well that is all of the news for today from the Kennesaw Mountain Daylily Garden.
Bill
Be careful using that plastic as a row cover or you will cook your plants.
ReplyDeleteThanks Marty,
ReplyDeleteFrom experience, I know that "plastic row covers" present hazards. Here are a few tips that I have learned the "hard way": 1. Keep the ends of the plastic rows open unless you are certain there will be a freeze or a frost. 2. Remove the plastic to allow rain to penetrate to the plants. 3. Use overhead watering if there is insufficient rain. 4. It may be necessary, if bugs become too prolific, to spray when the plastic top is removed.
In general, the plastic row cover is a very good idea. In fact, I recommend that this method of growing be used. As I may have said in the post, it is almost like "importing" Florida weather.
Bill