Greenhouses

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I'm looking for a backyard greenhouse. Not sure I have the skill to build one myself. I need it mainly for seed starting & propogation, but might try some season extending too. Lots of ads in Countryside and other mags and lots of internet sites, but no independent reviews. Does anyone have suggestions based on personal experience? I would appreciate any info on products you have bought or have seen in person (positive or negative). Thanks

Dave in Missouri

-- Dave Coles (dcoles@nothnbut.net), December 21, 2000

Answers

A quickie is to use the a frame from a swingset. Also if you look up the preceeding threads on the one labeled lazy mans greenhouse, there were other suggestions also.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), December 21, 2000.

Depending on what you need,people here use what is called a float bed for starting transplants.Someplace in this house I have simple plans.

It's a short hoophouse that uses water flooded in it once or twice a day.One of our market growers uses this exclusively for growing transplants, including corn.Tobacco farmers are the main users,but it's real applicable to veg production and is very cheap to build.I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

if we didn't already have the greenhouse,this is the way we would have gone.

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), December 21, 2000.


Ours is really simple and wasn't too expensive, especially when you consider the size. I traded with a friend for 4 aluminum hoops, about 7 1/2' high at the center and 12'at the ends. The trade also included white greenhouse plastic, 24" of ridge pole and some very old pressure treated 2 x 6 lumber for the "foundation." We bought enough additional straight aluminum tubing to make two purlins, one for each side, 5 sheets of 4'x 8' x 3/8" exterior plywood, 8 2'lengths of rebar and various bits of hardware to connect the tubing and attach the plywood to the end hoops and 2 x 6 foundation. We laid out the lumber in a 12' x 24' rectangle on part of the garden and used long screws to hold it, then drove a piece of rebar about a foot deep at each corner and at 8'intervals along the long side and put the ends of each hoop over corresponding pairs. We drilled holes in the purlins and ridge pole and hoops to form the framework and used carriage bolts with round heads to hold them together. We also used the round carriage bolts to attach the plywood to the end hoops using 3 on the back and 2 on the front. We left the center of the front open for the door. My husband used a reciprocating saw to cut away the plywood extending above the hoops. He used scrap lumber to cover the seams between the plywood sheets. We had some thicker plywood strips from another project and used it as battens to hold the plastic. We use it to winter our chickens and the soil underneath is amazingly rich by springtime. I put leaves and waste hay in there for the chickens to shred. Since we have animals rather than plants in it, we used a gate for ventilation instead of a door. Even with the unusually cold and snowy weather we have had the last few weeks, the chickens are doing well.

Last year, the snow cover wasn't so heavy as this year. Before we put the plastic on last fall, I used hay bale strings to make a rather large mesh inside the framework to help support the plastic and any snow. It's worked well and since it's independent of the plastic, I will leave it in place to allow plants to climb next year. Also, we chose the white plastic because it doesn't allow as much heat buildup as clear plastic. That was important because we were using it for animals but it also lets us leave the plastic on longer into the spring after we move the chickens out. Since you are in MO too, you know how unpredictable our weather can be.

If you have specific questions, please feel free to email me.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), December 21, 2000.


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