Greenhouse dreams

Great idea, TD. Keep us posted (and "picted")

countrynaturals wrote:Great idea, TD. Keep us posted (and "picted")

Unfortunately CN, I think it is just going to remain one of those ideas that I will never put into action. However, if I ever find a frame for one of these temporary garages, at a garage sale or on Kijiji and at a good price, then I may give it a try.

Maybe I should just focus on putting a small hoop house on one (or more) of my SFG boxes.  Actually what I really need to do is build a whole new 4x4 bed with a mini hoop house over it. 

TD, Great idea for buying a frame on Kjiji or other sale, at least. You have me thinking of looking on Craig's List for the frame, then I could install plastic or shade cloth, depending on the season.

If you are thinking about another 4x4 with a green house, remember to leave a walk way around it!

Somebody asked how much it costs to heat and light my greenhouse. The timing was perfect to get my first month to coincide with our electricity billing cycle without using heat in the house to mess up the calculations. Our bill went up roughly 10% using grow lights on the sun porch and heat/lights in the greenhouse. I can live with that.

If you find a frame, it's super easy to cover it.  We bought 6 mil greenhouse grade plastic and created two end panels (10 x 20 structure), put zippers in each end to make a 3' roll up door.  I use the zippers to vent the structure a little or a lot depending on the daytime temps.

We covered it length wise in 3, 10' x 22' sheets  starting from the ground up on both sides then placing the top panel overlapping the sides.  We used clamps on the end ridge poles to secure everything and recycled walkway pavers to hold the bottom down and keep the wind (and the cat!) from getting inside.  We do not generally have huge winds so depending on where you are you may need to do things differently. 

You could also look at swap meets.  I used to use a booth "tent" that was made of metal electrical conduit that put together and broke down into 5 ft segments.  If they are still used today, they were cheap to buy at a vendor at our local swap meet.  An old pop up tent that needs a new cover could be scrounged and covered as well.

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:If you find a frame, it's super easy to cover it.  We bought 6 mil greenhouse grade plastic and created two end panels (10 x 20 structure), put zippers in each end to make a 3' roll up door.  I use the zippers to vent the structure a little or a lot depending on the daytime temps.

We covered it length wise in 3, 10' x 22' sheets  starting from the ground up on both sides then placing the top panel overlapping the sides.  We used clamps on the end ridge poles to secure everything and recycled walkway pavers to hold the bottom down and keep the wind (and the cat!) from getting inside.  We do not generally have huge winds so depending on where you are you may need to do things differently. 

You could also look at swap meets.  I used to use a booth "tent" that was made of metal electrical conduit that put together and broke down into 5 ft segments.  If they are still used today, they were cheap to buy at a vendor at our local swap meet.  An old pop up tent that needs a new cover could be scrounged and covered as well.

All great ideas AJR. Thanks.

Greenhouse ain't doin' so good.  Cuke starts are damping off & pattypan squash has developed aphids and powdery mildew. Tomatoes are hanging on but not thriving. Celeriac is doing okay and the butterfly plants are very happy, but my south-facing sun porch is doing far better. If I had to buy/build a greenhouse from scratch, I wouldn't bother unless I had very deep pockets and could set up something big with all the bells and whistles.

countrynaturals wrote:Greenhouse ain't doin' so good.  Cuke starts are damping off & pattypan squash has developed aphids and powdery mildew.

Time to rip those puppies out!

Here are some greenhouses that can withstand lots of wind and snow.

When I need to replace my current greenhouse I will talk to Dave at Alpine Organics. They have a CSA and market garden near here and got into greenhouses after making several of their own.

This is the DYI they put together.  They use 4x8 sheets of double wall poly-carbonate over a wooden frame.  They are not going to blow apart.


This is a molded fiberglass greenhouse, it is what my DH wants.  It is single wall and there for does not retain as much heat.  I have a friend who has one for 10+ years and loves it.
http://solargemgreenhouses.com/product/medium-greenhouse-8-x-12/

Turan, thanks for posting these great ideas.