ive been working on getting my backyard ready to plant some shit come early spring... but i want to put in a greenhouse so i can possibly get an extra couple weeks of grow time... ive got some old windows.. was just hoping maybe someone on here had a few tips for building and insulating a greenhouse??? thanks.
any tips for building a greenhouse???
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BrittanyTheBananarchist
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well make sure the doors on it work well and are sturdy! that is if u choose to have doors. i have seen some without. when we built ours in the winter we had a lot of wind and it ended up messing up our doors on it. so now we only have one half working door. are you planning on putting a table in there at all? becuase if you are and if you plan to breed bunnies and stuff its a nice place to keep them in the winter ( also chicks ect.) if you do plan to put animals in there make sure that the table is up high, in case you have any racoons ect. we lost some bunnies to a racoon due to the table being too low.good doors also help with that as well. anyways good luck! you should post some photos of it when its finished.
arice
Member
For seed starting & transplanting, you could even just build a few boxes... say about 2 - 3 feet deep.. solid sides & bottom with glass windows on top. Insulate around the outside with hay/straw, mulch, leaves, sawdust.. anything warm and comfy! Make sure you put hinges on the windows though so that you can get air in there when it's not too cold out!
Also, I have built structures out of that sturdy clear plastic & PVC pipes & wood (for turkeys and broiler chickens, and vegetables)... You take wood boards and build a frame as the base, then arch the PVC pipes, using the wood to hold it in the arch shape. Then take the plastic and stretch it tightly over the entire thing. For doors, I would recommend having 2 for adequate air flow (on the warmer days). Those could easily be made out of wood, glass, and/or plastic. My vegetable structure was a 12 x 12 ft structure with 20 foot PVC pipes. A nice decent size! You can grow a lot in that!
For insulating it though, you won't need to.... but the only thing is that depending on where you are (where are you?) the ground may already be frozen where you want to set it up. This type of structure is good to set up and get going before the ground freezes so that the solar passive structure can be heated by just the sun & keep the soil warm enough to begin the early stages of those precious little seeds.. Or double up on the plastic!
So as a suggestion, I would say to go ahead and direct seed into very nice soil/humus mix in those boxes I was talking about, and then transplant into the greenhouse once it warms up a bit.
And try going to any conventional nurseries that have greenhouses! Those places have TONS of extra plastic laying around that they ship off to china to be made into those shitty toys you buy at dollar stores... I used to work at a nursery & there was more plastic than we knew what to do with.. my boss was grateful whenever I took some!
Those two little structures have done me good! So good luck! Let me know if you need any more information about anything agriculture related! Or if you need seeds! I worked for an organic seed company up here in VT and was able to hoard a bunch! =)
Also, I have built structures out of that sturdy clear plastic & PVC pipes & wood (for turkeys and broiler chickens, and vegetables)... You take wood boards and build a frame as the base, then arch the PVC pipes, using the wood to hold it in the arch shape. Then take the plastic and stretch it tightly over the entire thing. For doors, I would recommend having 2 for adequate air flow (on the warmer days). Those could easily be made out of wood, glass, and/or plastic. My vegetable structure was a 12 x 12 ft structure with 20 foot PVC pipes. A nice decent size! You can grow a lot in that!
For insulating it though, you won't need to.... but the only thing is that depending on where you are (where are you?) the ground may already be frozen where you want to set it up. This type of structure is good to set up and get going before the ground freezes so that the solar passive structure can be heated by just the sun & keep the soil warm enough to begin the early stages of those precious little seeds.. Or double up on the plastic!
So as a suggestion, I would say to go ahead and direct seed into very nice soil/humus mix in those boxes I was talking about, and then transplant into the greenhouse once it warms up a bit.
And try going to any conventional nurseries that have greenhouses! Those places have TONS of extra plastic laying around that they ship off to china to be made into those shitty toys you buy at dollar stores... I used to work at a nursery & there was more plastic than we knew what to do with.. my boss was grateful whenever I took some!
Those two little structures have done me good! So good luck! Let me know if you need any more information about anything agriculture related! Or if you need seeds! I worked for an organic seed company up here in VT and was able to hoard a bunch! =)
ahhh! thanks you! i didnt even think about insulation and ive got some pvc laying around i think ill use... seeds would be great... i wanna grow some kale, shard, stuff like that.. but im not really sure if you can get those types of seeds at just any old nursery? what do you think? im in knoxville TN btw... so our last "freeze" is supposed to be like early april... but mostof the stuff in planning on planting are cold growers anyway... ill get some pics up when its finished. thanks yall for the info 
outskirts
I ain't getting any younger.
You don't want my advice on greenhouses!
I tried to build one a long ago and completely fucked it up!
I tried to build one a long ago and completely fucked it up!
arice
Member
Nice Tennessee.. that's where I plan to start my draft horse powered micro veggie farm in 5ish years...
as for seeds check out high mowing seeds (organic, up here in VT. all seeds saved from produce grown on site. awesome people!) and johnnys . just google both!
online catalogs, quality, organic seeds.
good luck! we've got chard, kale, and spinach growing up here in VT and its february! (living in a greenhouse of course, but its still nice to see some green amongst all the gray and the white..)
as for seeds check out high mowing seeds (organic, up here in VT. all seeds saved from produce grown on site. awesome people!) and johnnys . just google both!
online catalogs, quality, organic seeds.
good luck! we've got chard, kale, and spinach growing up here in VT and its february! (living in a greenhouse of course, but its still nice to see some green amongst all the gray and the white..)
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