It's a Greenhouse!

Shepherd Jim · Post by **Shepherd Jim** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:33 pm

It's a bit late at this point. But, you could spread some sort of "fabric" wall-to-wall prior to installing the crushed stone floor. This could be as simple as a plain plastic painter's drop "cloth" with slits cut in it do permit drainage or as high tech as specially made "landscape fabric" which is water permeable but holds down the weeds -- usually sold at any garden center these days.

If the fabric wrapped up over the sill/edge boards it would contain the small stones without the need of the larger rock border (tho, the rock border DOES look nice!)

Jim

John C · Post by **John C** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 6:27 pm

Shepherd Jim wrote:It's a bit late at this point. But, you could spread some sort of "fabric" wall-to-wall prior to installing the crushed stone floor. This could be as simple as a plain plastic painter's drop "cloth" with slits cut in it do permit drainage or as high tech as specially made "landscape fabric" which is water permeable but holds down the weeds -- usually sold at any garden center these days.

If the fabric wrapped up over the sill/edge boards it would contain the small stones without the need of the larger rock border (tho, the rock border DOES look nice!)

Jim

Yeah, I was thinking about putting some plastic down before I built it but ended up not doing it. Good idea though.
And I have been trying to think of things to do with those rocks. They have just been sitting around for the longest time so this worked out fine I think.

lancer99 · Post by **lancer99** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:05 am

Shepherd Jim wrote:...you could spread some sort of "fabric" wall-to-wall ... as high tech as specially made "landscape fabric" which is water permeable but holds down the weeds -- usually sold at any garden center these days.
Jim

I did this. I forget the name, but it was some super-duper high tech stuff from HD, and I ignored the user comments (basically, "it's useless!) and figured it was worth a try.

I don't really have any basis for comparison, since I used it under all of my pea gravel, but I was still disappointed in the number of weeds.

-R

Post by **daiv** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:56 pm

John,
The whole setup really worked out swell! It will be fun to hear how your plants progress.

RE: Grass killer - there is a third option - you can put an old board or carpet or something like that down on parts of the floor for a while that will smother out the grass over time. If it dries up and doesn't get light. This still has its drawbacks as well. So really you just have to decide which is the least of the evils.

RE: The plastic covering. What did you use for that? Did you get UV protected plastic?

iann · Post by **iann** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:06 pm

I didn't put anything fancy on my greenhouse floor to keep down the weeds and not much grows, I think because its too dry for most weeds to germinate. Occasionally something comes up but its easy to control. Maybe if I just left it alone for years the weeds would eventually take over since there is plenty of moisture a few inches down in the soil.

John C · Post by **John C** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:10 pm

daiv wrote:John,
The whole setup really worked out swell! It will be fun to hear how your plants progress.

RE: Grass killer - there is a third option - you can put an old board or carpet or something like that down on parts of the floor for a while that will smother out the grass over time. If it dries up and doesn't get light. This still has its drawbacks as well. So really you just have to decide which is the least of the evils.

RE: The plastic covering. What did you use for that? Did you get UV protected plastic?

Thanks Daiv!
No it is not UV protected. Looked everywhere for that and couldn't find it so we just got the regular one. I figured by the time the current one is no good i will have found some online maybe.

Plants are doing good. It was getting pretty hot in there even with the sides opened and they are getting a bit to much sun before. (Before they were in the shade for part of the day, now they are in full sun all day long. So a few of them have gotten a bit of a sunburn.

Should have thought of that before i moved them.

) So I put up some screen and it has lowered the temperature to a reasonable number and it is not as bright.

And yes, lots of little sprouts of grass popping up all over.

masscactus · Post by **masscactus** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:39 pm

Hey John,

Reads like your new greenhouse experience worked out a lot like mine. Started with no screening but within a week had a handful of plants begging for shady mercy. Heat too - ambient temps in high 80's or above saw the temps at the peak near 120F! Mid range where the plants sit hovered around mid to high 90's.

Noticed a few changes right off the bat, flowers opened much quicker and some minor color changes (appropriately I think, sunburn aside). I also started to notice that the rate at which pots evaporated changed somewhat significantly. My plants used to be pretty much "bathed" in air, sitting on screened racks with circulation from all sides. The greenhouse changed that as they were all sitting on wood shelves with only the peak and back open. Plastic pots in particular held the moisture longer than they previously did. Humidity as well maybe playing a role here as the plants used to be indoors overnight where it was drier and consistently warmer. I started running a fan during the day and am much happier with results now.

How are things going now? When do you plan on moving plants indoors?

iann · Post by **iann** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:42 pm

Interesting that your pots dry out more slowly in the greenhouse. I find that mine dry out much more quickly, but then it is so cool and humid without the greenhouse heat effect.

masscactus · Post by **masscactus** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:56 pm

I thought so too, a result I wasn't really expecting.

Terra cotta pots dry pretty much the same if not a bit faster.

Chalking it up to reduced air circulation (from what they were in) and exposure to more humidity all around. Although August was sunny and warm there was a lot of rain, particularly overnights. Everything outside was always wet. Surely this played a role somewhat?

Post by **daiv** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 9:24 pm

John C wrote:No it is not UV protected. Looked everywhere for that and couldn't find it so we just got the regular one. I figured by the time the current one is no good i will have found some online maybe.

I think you're going to be surprised at how short lived this plastic is when exposed to UV. Bury it in the ground and dig it up in a 1000 years and it will be just like new. Leave it in the sun and you're not likely to get a full 12 months with it.

The good news is that you can get the UV stuff on-line fairly easily and not that expensive for what you need. Even the UV stuff only lasts so long. The stuff I got is rated to last 4 years - if that gives you an idea of how quickly the regular will deteriorate.

Buck Hemenway · Post by **Buck Hemenway** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 6:46 pm

masscactus wrote:I also started to notice that the rate at which pots evaporated changed somewhat significantly. My plants used to be pretty much "bathed" in air, sitting on screened racks with circulation from all sides. The greenhouse changed that as they were all sitting on wood shelves with only the peak and back open.

We've changed from solid plywood shelving to wood slats spaced about 2 inches apart in the last year. Exactly the same conditions other wise, the soil is drying much faster with the air movement. It is a huge factor.

masscactus · Post by **masscactus** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:20 pm

It is a huge factor.

I am beginning to see, one of the lessons learned this year. Plastics are back on wire shelves, and running the fan more or less put things back to where they were.

John C · Post by **John C** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 5:58 pm

masscactus wrote:Hey John,

Reads like your new greenhouse experience worked out a lot like mine. Started with no screening but within a week had a handful of plants begging for shady mercy. Heat too - ambient temps in high 80's or above saw the temps at the peak near 120F! Mid range where the plants sit hovered around mid to high 90's.

How are things going now? When do you plan on moving plants indoors?

My plants are doing good now. After I put the screens up there was no more sun burning. A few of them look a little funny on one side but other than that everything looks great. An Adenium lost most of its leaves and dropped its flower buds, I stuck it in the greenhouse and in a few days it is full of leaves again, It loves it in there!

Don't know when I am moving them in. I will leave them out as long as I can. Maybe find some cheap small heat source to keep most of them in the greenhouse? But I am not going to worry about that now. Cold is still quite a ways off here.

Will post more pics of the greenhouse and plants soon.

John C · Post by **John C** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:17 pm

Here is a link to pictures of my plants in the greenhouse.

http://www.cactiguide.com/forum/viewtop ... &start=120

masscactus · Post by **masscactus** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 2:48 pm

Don't know when I am moving them in. I will leave them out as long as I can. Maybe find some cheap small heat source to keep most of them in the greenhouse? But I am not going to worry about that now. Cold is still quite a ways off here.

Ahhh, Texas! Your "as long as I can" will no doubt surpass mine by at least a month or two

. Year round is not an option for me without a better greenhouse and cash to, literally, burn! I will overwinter as I have been but am going with a big coldframe this year. I expect the best winter yet.

Your stuff looks great, aside from the cripsy Gymno

.

It's a Greenhouse!

keeping down the grass invasion

Re: keeping down the grass invasion

Re: keeping down the grass invasion