How are they anchored into the ground? Wind will blow them over otherwise. Heat travels upward so bulb or bulbs or heater should be near the bottom. Other than that -- nice lawn and landscaping and mulching and mango tree? in the background

What type of bulb are you talking about ?

You might be going into overkill there, we've been having similar problems with it getting cold in the winter (thought that won't happen till next year), you might actually be find without the light bulb and hot water as long as you can keep the plant sheltered at night.

I plan to use the structure to protect from freezing wind and temperatures below 40. The shop light will be fitted with a standard 100w light bulb and hung from a string about six inches below the lowest branch or on the ground below the smaller ones. The shop light also has an outlet that would make it easy to add a string of Christmas lights in the event of another 28 degree run like a couple years back. Up till last year I thought that insulation was all that was necessary, but a close friend reminded me that trees are not warm blooded, so they have no ability to warm themselves. Oh, thanks for the complement on my mulch! Much appreciated..

pj1881

that's a very nice structure but I just can't imagine that you guys get down to 28F in West Palm Beach. Here is a nice greenhouse that I ran across in the internet.

JF

http://www.flowerhouses.com/products/5%27-x-5%27-x-6.5%27-PlantHouse-5.html

Yeah, I have a hard time accepting the fact that we drop that low too.. We have seen records lower than that, see the link below. So far, my total investment for three of these structures has been $155 including lighting and 4mil plastic. I thought of putting up dome tents with the floors cut out, they are only $20, but the fell a little short in the height to diameter ratio in that size, the next size up put the cost above building my own structure. I also left the couplings open at the base to allow the addition of a couple feet next year! I figure if OhioJay can grow During in Ohio, its pretty lazy of me to fail to protect my trees the few days it gets cold enough to harm them..

Here is a link that might be useful: Palm Beach Int Airport Temp Info (1 mile SE of me)

pj - they look good to me. You wouldn't consider frost cloth instead of plastic would you? Like someone said, make sure they're anchored....and What is that tree in the second shot bending quite far to the right?

...and yeah, West Palm Beach - wow if you get down to 28, I guess I won't complain here in Palm Springs when we hit 30!

mangoterrier

that looks perfect. Bill Whitman successfully built similar shelters for his ultra tropicals like Mangosteen

mangodog,

The tree to the left is a Gumbo Limbo, its a Fla Native.. My wife refuses to let me use the axe.. I just finished putting the plastic over the frames, and plan to stake them down with stakes and cords.

Thanks mango kush!

Best listen to the wife. Axing that gumbo limbo carries a large fine if the code enforcement people get a hold of you.

Harry

mango Kush and others
Bill Whitman successfully built similar shelters for his ultra tropicals like Mangosteen

Bill Whitman's big book is at Broward County Library. Doing searches there is awful. I think a lot of illiterates got jobs cataloging books there. You have to search five different ways to find things (sometimes)

Here is a link that might be useful: Five Decades with Tropical Fruit, a Personal Journey

I had good success last year with similar structures. You can see pictures of mine on the thread linked below.

If you use plastic rather than frost cloth (which I do) you must have a heat source. Testing showed that without a heat source temps inside a plastic shelter are colder than the ambient air. I use a 250 watt halogen trouble light. My setup got me 4 to 6 degrees of protection. Also, I anchor mine into the ground with rebar, and still require tie downs to keep the structures from lifting up and flying off. My advice is to try out the full setup - plastic and all before a freezing night. It isn't as easy as you might think to get the plastic put up well. I was glad I tried it in advance last year as my first couple attempts failed.

Good luck! It can be done!

Here is a link that might be useful: My Shelters Last Year