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Garden Gate:  Considering a greenhouse and could use some input.  |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 19 2008 : 10:53:16 AM
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Well after many years of dreaming about it and finally getting mad when my favorite supplier can't sell me a high quality hotbed/cold frame arrangement, I'm now considering a greenhouse. I don't want to have to reinvent the wheel, so please share what considerations there are with kits, building, site preparation, etc. How did you secure yours to avoid having the wind take it away? (I live out on the prairie and MAN, the winds are severe sometimes!) How do you use it to extend your growing season? Do you add additional heat or heat cables for early seedlings, or to keep things going through the winter? Is it time consuming to use?
I'm sick and tired of settling for the plants that local nurseries can sell to me, and I'm even more sick and tired of getting seedlings from mailorder nurseries that are too checked back to survive, let alone thrive. I want variety! I want my heirloom veggies back, and a few newfangled ones!
I'm also willing to go for a nice, big, HIGH QUALITY hot bed/cold frame arrangement again, but I have yet to find anything that isn't light weight or flimsy. I'm a serious gardener here, and I live in a tough climate!
I hope you farm girls can help me! |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2008 : 11:34:00 AM
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I have three greenhouses right now. About the only thing I would do if I were to build another greenhouse is not have the hoop style. They do have their advantages I suppose, but I found there is too much wasted space as nothing can be planted close to the sides. My most efficient and productive greenhouse is 15'x 40' and made with 2x4 frame with straight sides and peaked roof. It sheds heavy, wet snow, and if I had to, I could put new plastic on it myself in an afternoon. The hoop greenhouse took three of us 4 days to put the new plastic on!
We are on the wild and windy west coast and the first winter one of the greenhouses moved about 5' so I anchored all three greenhouses with 5' long metal pipes that I recycled. I drove them into the ground with a sledge hammer, leaving about 6" above ground, along the crosspiece framing of the greenhouse and wired the frame right to the pipes. It has worked great.
Di
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Jan 19 2008 : 3:27:22 PM
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Thanks Tina! It was the FarmTek catalog that had the hotbed/cold frame that I'd wanted in 2006, but no longer carry it. They do have a sweet looking greenhouse that would look awesome with my old farmhouse, though.... 
Diane, you live in some cold weather! I really like your anchor idea; I bet NOTHING would move with that!
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PlumCreekMama
True Blue Farmgirl
730 Posts
Heather
Iowa
USA
730 Posts |
Posted - Jan 20 2008 : 08:48:49 AM
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| FarmTek has tons of stuff. They are actually located about 7 miles from me, so I have been able to look at their greenhouses and stuff up close. They look really nice! |
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cajungal
True Blue Farmgirl
2349 Posts
Catherine Farmgirl Sister #76
Houston Area
Texas
2349 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2008 : 05:36:49 AM
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Hey Mary Ann!
I couldn't afford the kits so I built a "hoop" style out of PVC pipe.(kinda' redneck) I used 8 ft. 1 in. PVC.
Connect/glue 2- 8ft pipe with a T connector (make 2 of these, they each become the ends of the tunnel)
Connect/glue 2- 8ft pipe with a cross connector (make 5 of these. The unused T's on these will be used for framing it out.
The connectors become the middle or the top of the arch when constructed.
Drive 1 1/2 in. PVC pipe into the ground (about a ft.with 6 inches sticking up above the ground) Drive another one about 15 ft. away. Insert one end of 1 inch connected PVC into one of the ground holders. Then, bending the PVC into an arch, insert the other end into the other ground holder. The arch should stand on its own. Repeat for all other connected pipes spacing about 6 ft. apart. Note: the ends should have the T connectors facing in toward each other. The pipes connected with the crosses are placed in between the two ends with empty connectors facing each other.
Insert 6ft 1 inch PVC in between the arcs in the empty T connectors. This connects each arch and gives stability to the whole structure and makes a roof line. I don't glue these sections. Thus, at the end of the season I can take it apart having only long pipes to store, not the whole structure.
Heavy Duty plastic is draped over the structure and strapped with cable ties on the PVC. On one end, the plastic is two pieces of plastic criss-crossed to make a "door".
We don't have a lot of wind so I don't know how it would hold up to strong winds.
Blessings
Catherine
One of the best compliments from one of my daughters: "Moma, you smell good...like dirt." |
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babysmama
True Blue Farmgirl
931 Posts
Elizabeth
Iowa
931 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2008 : 8:03:44 PM
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FarmTek is okay for some things but I know they have a lot of problems with their hoop greenhouses. My hubby worked there for several years and though we never bought anything big, it was nice to have his great discount for things like buckets, etc.
-Elizabeth |
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Garden Gate: Considering a greenhouse and could use some input. |
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Considering a greenhouse and could use some input.
