Insulate your greenhouse with double laminated bubblewrap to keep it warm during winter. This method involves cutting and fastening the bubble wrap around windows, vents, and louvres to allow them to be opened. Bubble wrap provides an extra barrier to retain heat during colder months, and it is essential to use a special horticultural bubble wrap specifically designed for use in greenhouses.
In this guide, Monty Don shows how to insulate his greenhouse using bubblewrap, measuring and cutting it to fit the interior panels from floor to ceiling. Use long, continuous sheets, minimizing cutting and joining to reduce heat loss. Label the bubble wrap panels for easy storage and reinstallation.
The best way to bubble wrap the greenhouse is to use long, continuous sheets, minimizing cutting and joining to reduce heat loss. Install the bubble wrap before the first frost to safeguard plants during the cold months. When spring arrives, peel the wrap off to allow more warm sunlight into the greenhouse.
Start at one side of the door and wrap a long, horizontal sheet around the greenhouse until you reach the desired level of insulation. This will help protect your plants during the colder months and ensure they stay warm during the winter months.
📹 How to insulate a greenhouse with bubblewrap
Insulating your greenhouse is key to efficiently keeping your greenhouse warm over winter. By attaching bubblewrap to the inside …
Can bubble wrap insulate plants?
Bubble wrap is a crucial tool for gardeners as winter approaches, providing a warm, insulated environment for their greenhouse plants. It acts as a heat-trapping hero, keeping the warmth inside and reducing heat loss. It is cost-effective, as most bubble wraps are affordable upfront and save energy bills without the need for overtime heaters. Its translucency allows for sufficient sunlight for plant growth while preventing burn and ensuring a well-lit greenhouse.
It is easy to use, as it can be cut, attached, and removed using tape, Velcro, or clips. Additionally, bubble wrap is eco-friendly, being reusable for multiple seasons and reducing waste. Opting for recycled options can further reduce environmental impact.
When to remove bubble wrap from a greenhouse in winter?
The decision to remove bubble wrap from a greenhouse is influenced by weather, temperature, and plant condition. Bubble wrap acts as insulation, keeping heat during colder seasons for winter vegetables. However, it can cause humidity imbalances in warmer months, potentially causing plant rot or wilting. Additionally, removing bubble wrap allows for thorough cleaning of corners, shelves, and staging, ensuring a healthy environment for plants. Therefore, the choice to remove bubble wrap depends on personal preferences and environmental conditions.
What is the one downside to bubble wrap?
Bubble wrap is not biodegradable, but it can be used for various purposes such as shipping, soothing, and lightweight. It is not biodegradable, but it can be used to relieve stress and anxiety. Despite its popularity, most brands are not biodegradable, and purchasing bubble wrap may result in it taking up landfill space. Popping bubble wrap can be a relaxing activity, and its lightweight nature makes it a valuable asset for shipping goods safely without adding too much weight.
How should bubble wrap be placed?
The use of bubblewrap significantly impacts the protection of your package. To ensure better protection, place the bubblewrap flat side on the surface and place the item on top to wrap. Bubblewrap is shock-resistant, lightweight, and cost-effective, making it ideal for delicate and fragile items. It can be reused as long as the bubbles are intact and the sheet hasn’t been ripped. Springpack offers a wide range of returnable packaging, with a minimum of 30 recycled content.
Bubblewrap is ideal for delicate and fragile items that need dust-free or non-abrasive protection. It comes in various sizes, making it suitable for wrapping small wine glasses, larger items like vases, and heavier items like glass panels. It can also be useful for mirrors due to its flexibility, making it easy to wrap around awkward and large items. Springpack offers a wide range of returnable packaging options, ensuring cost-effective and eco-friendly packaging solutions.
Does bubble wrap keep a greenhouse warm?
Bubble wrap is a temporary, cost-effective insulation method used by many gardeners to keep their greenhouses warm. It can be easily removed during summer and stored in small spaces until autumn. However, it is not a perfect solution as it is a single-use plastic that will eventually need to be thrown away. However, it can be reused for insinsulating individual pots and planters, providing several years of use. Overall, bubble wrap is a popular choice for greenhouse insulation.
Is it worth bubble wrapping a greenhouse?
Horticultural bubble wrap is a cost-effective and low-carbon alternative to traditional greenhouse insulation methods. It is a passive system that consumes no power once installed, allowing sunlight to enter the greenhouse. Translucent bubble wrap allows sunlight to enter, making it preferable to opaque insulating materials. It is a temporary measure that can be easily removed during summer and stored until autumn.
Why do people put bubble wrap in the greenhouse?
Horticultural bubble wrap is a thick, larger, and more effective insulation method for greenhouses. It creates air pockets between two panes of glass, allowing for the transfer of heat and cold. This insulation helps retain valuable heat during the day and prevents frost at night, increasing the greenhouse’s temperature by one or two degrees. To bubble wrap a greenhouse, it is best done after an annual clean, ensuring all glazing is clean, nooks and crannies are clear, and pests and disease have been removed.
After cleaning, allow the greenhouse to air and dry, reducing moisture inside to prevent loss of access to windows and vents. Proper horticultural bubble wrap is thicker and treated to withstand UV damage, lasting 2 or 3 seasons. It is crucial to consider the longevity of bubble wrap while reducing single-use plastics.
How to insulate a small greenhouse?
Insulating your greenhouse can significantly improve the growth of your crops in cooler climates. Using bubble wrap, snow, plastic bottles, and polystyrene boxes can provide insulation and help keep plants warm and protected from weather and pests. Even if you grow crops outdoors over winter, it’s essential to bring some under cover to ensure they’re ready for spring. For example, growing cabbages in your greenhouse over winter allows them to be ready a few weeks before outdoor ones, and serves as insurance against losses due to weather or pigeons. If you’re worried about the unheated greenhouse being too cold for your overwintering plants, there are cost-effective ways to make it extra snug.
What is the cheapest way to insulate a greenhouse?
Double glazing in a greenhouse is a cost-effective way to seal air gaps and reduce heat escape. Bubble wrap, a cheap insulation material, is a popular choice for greenhouse growers. Larger bubbles allow more light in and provide better insulation. Purpose-made horticultural bubble wrap has large bubbles and is UV-stabilized, making it last longer than online packaging. If you have a lot of bubble wrap, consider using it and recycling it when it degrades.
Attach the wrap to the inside of an aluminum greenhouse’s frame using greenhouse clips or a staple gun. Insulate the roof and leave the wrap hanging loose across the door. If you only use part of the greenhouse for overwintering plants, section it off to clad in bubble wrap or create a screen divide. Only use insulation if your plants need it to survive the winter, as it slightly reduces light transmission.
Does bubble wrap go bubble side down?
To properly wrap items, start by laying them on a flat, dry, and uncluttered surface. Lay the sheets of bubble wrap bubble side up, ensuring that the textured surface grips the items better than the flat side. The flat side will protect the bubbles from being popped by the box.
There are two methods to wrap items: the “burrito” method, where the item is placed in one corner or side of the sheet, and the folding method, where the item is placed in the center of the sheet and folded from both sides. Use enough bubble wrap to protect the surface of the item from scratches, but consider adding another layer or two for protection against bumps and drops.
If needed, use tape to hold the bubble wrap in place around the item to prevent slipping or unrolling during transit. Use a sturdy, correctly-sized box for shipping, fill any empty spaces with paper, foam, or packing peanuts. Use scissors to remove the wrap carefully, as tearing it off with your hands can damage the item or cause you to drop it.
When wrapping irregularly-shaped items, use separate layers of wrap targeting potentially vulnerable areas. Pad the weakest part of the item, such as the stem of a glass, the neck of an instrument, or a section of glass, to ensure it receives an extra layer of protection before wrapping the entire item in bubble wrap.
How do you install bubble wrap?
Bubble wrap is a quick and easy method for insulating windows. It can be cut to the size of the window pane, sprayed with water, and applied while the window is still wet. The bubble side should face the glass. To remove the wrap, pull it off starting from a corner. This technique is used for greenhouse windows in winter and can be used with or without regular or insulating window shades. It also works for windows of irregular shape, which can be difficult to find insulating shades for. Many people have been satisfied with using bubble wrap for window insulation for over five years.
📹 How To Bubble Wrap AGreenhouse ForInsulation | D.I.Y
How To Bubble Wrap A Greenhouse For Insulation I D.I.Y I’m Brokefarmer and in this episode I will be trying to insulate my green …
Hi Craig . Why is it always the highest panel that we miss, especially if you put your steps away 🤣🤣. Great article . I insulate mine each year also, and have kept my non hardy tropical and other plants in the greenhouse year after year, only adding a couple of greenhouse heaters if really low temp . Last year I even sewed lots of garden fleece together and in double layers and hung it from the ceiling and the north facing wall and over the doors entrance . It saved on extra heating while the weather was extreme and was really toastie in there. My red banana plants grew like mad 😁 but I think I may have to chop it down a bit this year or it won’t fit in . We even had to buy sack trucks to move it . . Cheers for all your great articles, please do more, they’re very helpful .
Hey, I know this is an older article, but can you tell me what your temps were like at their lowest during the winter months? I have some musa basjoo that I want to overwinter in pots (when the time comes in november), but I don’t want them to get temps that are low enough to kill the stems. I can bring them indoors, but that is not exactly ideal. Does your setup keep above 5 degrees C?
Just as an fyi – you can buy higher quality metal versions of those greenhouse frame clips. They use a flat head on one side, and a bolt on the other. You tighten them against the frame. Not much more expensive, better quality, and hold really tight. I have hanging baskets and lights off mine and they are solid.
Hi Craig, just noticed your article and glad I watched! Thank you for a no-nonsense, straightforward and informative post! Would like to check please, does the bubblewrap, as you mentioned, heat your greenhouse 10 deg just with the bubblewrap alone, or with the heater as well? I have some adopted quail, so I don’t want to use a heater due to the noise, and the tube heaters dont seem very effective, so I am hoping the bubblewrap would be sufficient for both the quail and the plants. Also, am concerned about condensation, so would having a window open slightly all the time be sufficient as a solution … put up greenhouse 2-3 months ago and never had one before. Many thanks in advance.
H Craig, thanks for sharing this informative great article! The week ahead will start to get warmer (I assume you are in south of the UK), could you share how will be in the warmer days with the bubble wrap, and opening the ventilation can coller it enough, please? Thanks again, you website is extraordinary helpfull. (thanks for the article for the ginger plant, by the way)
Hi new subscriber perusal your articles it’s a great idea to insulate greenhouse I have a lean to greenhouse against my garden shed, unfortunately the guy who put it up didn’t use all the rubber seals especially on the roof would you recommend ceiling and caulking waterproof of course to fix this problem wonder if you have any suggestions and I will be insulating it wit
How much warmer does it stay in the greenhouse at night? I’m from New England and just set up my small greenhouse 4X6. I have a bunch of baby seedlings inside and it’s still to cold at night to keep them out ( about 25F–33F. I’m itching to get them out there. Wondering if i should bubble wrap and use a small heater.
Hiya, great little article, I would like to know how you attach the wrap in the corners where there are no websites for the clips to fit into? I know there are other types of plastic clips to fit in the corners somehow but mine keep pulling or falling out!! So do you use something like double sided sticky tape and fit it in the corners that way ? I’ve searched for articles on how to use that type of clip but cannot find any! Subbing to your website 👍👍
Bubble wrap is great. Looks cozy. The roof is the most important part to wrap though, heat rises. I’d grab another roll and be tempted to make a false roof just at your head height, with the bubble wrap taped together. Or a few cheap dollar store shower curtains to form a sheet and hold the warmer air down lower.
Not certain it will work for polycarbonate panels in a greenhouse but we have used the same type of bubble wrap to insulate our windows in the house. We learned that if you mist the window with clean water in a spray bottle the bubble wrap will adhere to the glass without adhesive. We’ve seen it last all winter just using water and pressing out the air to stick it. Enjoy your articles. Please keep up the good work.
Mylar, put under the grow beds, it keeps ground warm also the bubble wrap is awesome. The heat in the bubbles satyr warm great idea. I have 6 PVC pipes, 8 foot long that have water in them to absorb heat from sun, it is then pumped into the greenhouse to a heater core, very slow pump it actually warms up my greenhouse 26 degrees. It’s amazing and cheap
Love your idea. Covering roof with tarp (ideas from Lead Farmers articles) might work too. My brother recently covered his very large RV with tarps, which he plans to use as hay covering for the homestead later. He brought them at a farmer wholesale supply, according to his measurements. I also use tarps to enclose my garden balcony during frost. Blessings and prosperity.