Greenhouse Plans

[John W Kelly]

- Take a look at using polyethylene film (plastic) for the outer layer. It is a heavy duty plastic that has been uv treated for greenhouse use. It is relatively light weight, disperses sunlight well, and inexpensive.

- You could build some 4ft wide benches, 2ft high, out of 2x4's and chicken wire to set flats and/or pots on.

- Also, if you're planning to pump water from the spring, look into getting an inline fertilizer injector. Mount it above a rain barrel, mix fertilizer in the barrel, then drop the intake hose of the injector into the barrel and draw up fertilizer while watering.

- You might want to figure out some type of vent system; with a fan on one end of the greenhouse to pull air in and some louvers on the other end. Also, you can hang several smaller fans for air circulation if needed.

- A couple of space heaters would probably be enough to keep the greenhouse warm in the winter (?).

- Hopefully the long side of the slab faces north/south.

[Old plug]

I have been watching this and would love to have a greenhouse but it would have to be a of maybe 6 x 10. And I have my doubts about that. You allgrow veggies and a greenhouse is certainly cost effective since your growing food. In my case i only grow orinmental plants snd flowers.we use about 10 flats a year for impatients alone. Plus we have around a 100. Plant hosta collections plus a couple if other colletions as well spread out over a 1/2 lot. But i still enjoy reading and seeing the pictures of your gardens in that forum. They alllook extremely well kept.

[blue79]

Ive been wanting to build one for a while and after looking around i think i would build one like mhpgardener on youtube.I want mine about half the length of his.(have to wait till we buy or build a new house)

He put two layers of plastic on and a little vent inbetween the two layers and it created an air pocket between the two layers and that does away with the condensation dripping all over everything.

I would like to grow most of the year and then late fall move a couple dutch buckets of cherry maters and one 4x8 floating raft of lettuce into the basement or garage under lights on timers and then shut the greenhouse down when it gets to cold and not have to heat the greenhouse.

I wouldnt want to worry about heating it in the winter unless it was profitable to pay for the heat cause i wouldnt want to mess with a woodstove all winter.I have watched all of his videos and that guy can grow some food.

A geodome greenhouse would be nice to but im no carpenter and would get lost on all the angles.

As far as ginseng...that would be in the greenhouse for many..many years.Be better off to plant patches all over the woods and then protect them instead of using up the space in the greenhouse.

This guy makes growing look easy..alot of good videos about growing and some about his greenhouse.

[Njardar]

We built one from Harbor Freight two years ago. Come spring it will be packed with flats started indoors. If you go this route buy several packages of extra clips from a place like Charley's Greenhouse.

[ollie]

There's more work here than I can shake a stick at! I got down to the property yesterday and trekked back into the woods where the slab of cement is. Man is it wooly back in there! Trees fallen everywhere and a lot of under brush that will need to be burned off or killed off somehow. I do think the slab is running north and south. You can barely make out the slab in this pic and the stream is to the left of the slab. My first priority would be to make a road going down to it and then start clearing it out to prep the area. At one time there was a road down to this slab. Back in covered wagon days this slab was home to a tomato canning factory. Wish I had a pic of that.

[ness]

Are you going to have enough sunlight in there?

[ollie]

No, not right now it looks like! Man, there is a LOT of work to be done. I thought about that too Ness. I would have to harvest a lot of trees just to clear it out so the light could shine down in that valley.

[ness]

I thought it looked a little tight in there. Having that slab is a nice start on all this. Is this your home or another property?

[ollie]

One of our properties. There is roughly 60 acres with a house on it and barn up the valley. Probably about 500 yards from the house give or take. Would have to get a dozer in there and cut out a road, but good thing is there was an old road there already way back when.