It is here! ... And it's done!

dustin0352 · Post by **dustin0352** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:06 pm

Looking good so far. The shade cloth will greatly reduce the inside temps. I felt the same thing as you when building mine, I was melting inside of there! I was also like how the hell are me plants gonna live in this, but I have figured out the proper venting techniques (takes spending a lot of time out in the gh) and key placement for shade cloth. I say key placement of shade cloth as all I have is 75% shade cloth and cannot cover the gh with that as no plants will get sun. Just hang in there, you will love it like never before once you have happy plants in there!

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:17 pm

dustin0352 wrote:Looking good so far. The shade cloth will greatly reduce the inside temps. ... Just hang in there, you will love it like never before once you have happy plants in there!

Just opening the vents helped greatly! Now I'm worried about next spring...

iann · Post by **iann** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:35 pm

I have enough trouble keeping temperatures under control in a greenhouse here, but then I don't have any shading at all. Shading is completely unnecessary except for perhaps 20 days a year, but its brutal on those really sunny days in summer. I can never imagine how you sunny folk cope. With shading, the temperature would stay lower and the plants could stand more heat, but the poor things get so little sun that I feel sorry for them

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:44 pm

iann wrote:I have enough trouble keeping temperatures under control in a greenhouse here, but then I don't have any shading at all. Shading is completely unnecessary except for perhaps 20 days a year, but its brutal on those really sunny days in summer. I can never imagine how you sunny folk cope. With shading, the temperature would stay lower and the plants could stand more heat, but the poor things get so little sun that I feel sorry for them

I'm still so new at this that I'm not sure how to cope yet, but I'm still leaning toward a shade house when it comes time for permanent structures...

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:10 pm

Looks great!
It won't take too much time to figure out how much cooling you'll need. The hard part is maintaining it

A small fan on a timer works really well.

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 6:20 pm

I've got the shade cloth up now, and the temperature has dropped considerably. The location of the GH is in an area that gets a breeze funneled through on most days, so I'm no longer as worried about cooling for now. It has just been so hot in there for the past few days that I am not able to do as much work on the setup as I would like. But I am making slow progress... there is weedblock down now, and soon there will be mulch down for the floor. (If this was a permanent installation I'd be thinking about putting pea gravel down to help with heat retention on freezing nights.)

I got a small ceramic heater with a thermostat in anticipation of cold nights, but I'm not too sure I'm going to be using it much if this 90 degree weather persists. Instead I'll be worried about sudden and drastic temperature changes...

dustin0352 · Post by **dustin0352** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:05 pm

Harriet wrote: I got a small ceramic heater with a thermostat in anticipation of cold nights, but I'm not too sure I'm going to be using it much if this 90 degree weather persists.

I know! Is it ever gonna cool down?!?! I finally got a temp/humidity gauge today for the gh. Inside in the shade was 103f and outside in the shade was 92f. Good thing though was inside humidity was 27% That was unexpectedly good! Anywho glad your progress is coming along better now. Question for ya.... If and when you build your custom enclosable shade house is it going to be placed in the same spot on the side of the house our in the back yard?

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:17 pm

dustin0352 wrote: Question for ya.... If and when you build your custom enclosable shade house is it going to be placed in the same spot on the side of the house our in the back yard?

That small side yard is my best bet. If I attach the shade house to the wall there will be some thermal mass to keep it warmer in the "winter", and that side is the south side of the yard and has few trees to block light, and easy access to water and electricity. Or I could make some trellis-like structures in the center of the yard about where the GH is now, only better designed not to block access to the front gate...

Any other place in my yard would probably take massive landscaping changes. Or is in the front yard ... I don't think a front yard shadehouse would be favorably looked upon by the homeowners association...

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:34 pm

Progress???

Very slowly making headway on this thing. It's hot so I'm only working on it in the mornings, and well, I gotta do my other work to pay for this stuff...

I have put down weedblock and am covering that with mulch for the floor, was a few bags short of a load (the story of my life).

Got one set of shelves put together. I'm not too sure about them. They seem flimsy to me. Won't be overloading any of these shelves! Although I must say that they got more rigid as they got more parts added. And, I still need a second set of hands to make sure all the connections are tight.

It's met Tucker's approval. So I guess I can keep it!

king_hedes · Post by **king_hedes** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:40 pm

thats gunna look great when your done

Harriet · Post by **Harriet** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:31 pm

It is done, and I can honestly say that I have not run out of room yet! The Gh makes my collection look puny, but not all of my plants need to be in there.

All I have left to do is to make sure the plants are in the right places for sun etc. and to watch them up close and personal!

I'm still not happy with the shelves, but they are sturdier than I thought they would be.

Galvanized tinker toy hanging rack. This green house was not designed for hanging plants, so we had to devise a solution of sorts... I now have two strong end rods, and three rods running the length of the sides and peak of the roof on which to hang stuff.

dustin0352 · Post by **dustin0352** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:18 am

AWSOME!!!! the hanging pots look cool! Looks like you have enough room to plant a chair right in the middle and hang out

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:31 am

I give it a year and poof! The sides will burst!

Congrats Harriet, looks great.

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:43 am

Looks great!
Good job on the hanging rack.

Post by **daiv** » Mon Nov 02, 2009 4:02 pm

Now, the best part... tangible/visable improvements in growth and flowering in almost no time!