Is this okay?

[FarmerDave]

Here are the plans for a greenhouse that I plan to make this year due to the constant torrential rains that Florida brings me and my plants. Which usually end up damagind them.

here are my plans, a little sloppy because i'm computer disabled.

please give me comments and some critiques so that maybe I can make it better.

also I'm looking for the opaque plastic sheet that people use for the lining of their greenhouses. So if you know of an easy place to obtain it I would like to know.

Thanks! looking forward to your replies.

 

[Not a Number]

These guys sell greenhouse film in rolls, free shipping. They're in TN.

They sell frames (10 foot is the smallest) and entire kits too.

Don't know how opaque it is. Judge for yourself from pictures of their greenhouse kits.

I just bought some pots and trays from them which are supposed to come this week so I can't vouch for them yet. Seems ok so far. They didn't charge an arm and a leg for shipping.

JB_OrchidGuy can probably help you out a lot better than me

Check out their flowerhouses too.

 

[z5guy]

good for you, a greenhhouse will be a great help, wish i had one, lol

 

[xvart]

These guys sell greenhouse film in rolls, free shipping. They're in TN.

Their prices seem quite reasonable, too.

xvart.

 

[z5guy]

yes, they are, the down side is that it doesent have as high of a light transmision as other materials and needs to be replaced every 2-3 years, but curruntly it is the best material for greenhouses on the market.

 

[neon-eon]

This post just kind of caught my attention. Maybe I should build a greenhouse as well. A couple questions though. How would you go about heating a greenhouse and what kind of lighting would you use? btw dave, your plans look real nice.

 

[glider14]

Dave lives in Florida, Gabe. he PROBABLY wont need heating and might actually need cooling. with me i only need heating for the winter .i plan to also make a greenhouse soon. im scared though that when i make it....it will get too hot during the summer!!!!!! ill have to get some advice from JB_orchidguy cause he lives in georgia and gets summers the same if not hotter than ours. id like it to be somthing like a lowland or lowland-intermediate GH. so i can finally grow somthing like N. rafflesiana and N. truncata and possibly N. bicalcarata!
Alex

 

[nepenthes_ak]

NOT to be mean or rude, but a green house it out side with see through walls. Theirs no need for light neaon.

 

[Clint]

I asked JB the same thing and he had a very good reason for lighting.

So you can see them at night

 

[FarmerDave]

yeah, I'm probably gonna cool it with a misting system placed around the edges of the growing tables, as well as two circulating fans, and maybe a swamp cooler if needed.
For heating (if needed) I will use the space heater in my bedroom.
would it be possible for me to later on split the greenhouse in half and place insulating materinal between the chambers in order to create a highland/lowand greenhouse?
or would you recommend just condtructing a new greenhouse?

First I'm gonna have it as a highland/intermediate greenhouse so that I could try and grow some plants such as D. regia, B. gigantea, (Maybe maybe) R. gorgonas, C. follicularis, some more needful highland neps, some 'mountain pings', Some good D.californica, and so on.

I know I set my expectations up way too high.

 

[droseraguy]

Set them high ! You can always back off if needed. In Florida you should be able to find a used poly-house without too much effort. Find a local greenhouse and ask if they have any Grower Talks or other greenhouse magazines, there's tons of ads in the back for stuff.

Another good source of ideas is the Ball Red Book. Check your library to see if they can find you one to look at.

Don't forget that alot of materials can be found at the local farm supply stores too (water lines and mist nozzles used for chemicals, etc..).

Take your time and do it right or you'll be fighting it for a long time ! Have fun !

 

[Clint]

I grow cephalotus alongside my Petiolaris group. My mother plant DID die but that's because I let it dry out completely (stupid me!) They do fine without cool temperatures for me.

You can absolutely make a high/low GH!

 

[FarmerDave]

YAY!!!!!
I hape to be able to grow highland neps like N. inermis and Lowland Neps like N. ampullaria in one greenhouse.

 

[Igrow]

Dave,

I am curious as to what you plan to use for bows in the design you posted?

I have thrown up a few different houses for growing over the years.

These were cheap, down and dirty, quick and easy.

At one point, I had 12 of them in my yard while growing production tomato's and peppers.
My friends called my place Podville, some were 50 ft. and some 100 ft.
It wasn't pretty, but it turned a considerable profit.

If you plans are anything like this, think about making it bigger than you have suggested.

If you have steel bows, your in luck, it can be any width you have the bows for. I was using 1inch PVC and to get the bow right with a 20 ft. piece of pipe, I had to go 14 ft. wide at the bottom. the PVC just wants to bend so far without stressing. My total height was just around 6 ft, which for me worked out, I had to heat these and it made it easier.

These do not stand-up well in high wind areas, if you have some wind protection they do OK.
Podville was in Montana so weather was a major factor.
I was able to keep them heated and keep them standing through our growing season for 14 years and turn a profit without a change in design.

If you end up using the rolled film instead of poly-panels, look at the available sizes.
Most often, it comes in larger rolls. I'd size what I was building to the sizes of available material.

So, if it's PVC and rolled film, a couple more pieces of PVC pipe ( the cheapest part of the whole thing) and your getting big.
I have never to this day had to much room in any grow house I have built or owned.

Here is another quick and cheap PVC wonder I built in Florida, I wrapped it with shade cloth and did a watering system on a timer. I was leaving the state for 5 months and had no one to care for my plants. I held the rain back with a plastic film on the roof under the shade cloth. When I returned, everything had survived....
It went up in one day and that was a while back. I still use it now to keep some of my plants watered when I decide to run off for days at a time.

Just though I'd drop a few thoughts on ya from my experiences..

 

[FarmerDave]

Thanks Igrow! I will think about making it bigger. How much did the big one in the first pic cost?

 

[Igrow]

Thats one of my 14x50's and I was paying right about $250.00 each for those.
It's been a few years and I was getting a pretty good deal on my poly film from a grower supply house at the time. I'd think I could still put one of those up for well under 400.00 today.