Best greenhouse for $'s

[Illustro]

Didn't read thread, but I needed a wee greenhouse on account of living on the edge of the Bering Strait, or so it seems...went to the local building recycler and bought an old glass door for $50, leaned it against a sunny wall, stacked some bricks at both ends, then voila, magnifique! When the harsh polar winds blow at night my plants don't end up icicles, and during the day gets into the 30's; the plantie plant plants love it. They all grin like Carl Sagan I swear.

[B'Hhmmmm]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/190712061907?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

i just brought this green house for all my seedlings, Just a quick question, should i invest in some shade cloth? or will the clear pvc cover be fine?

kinda knew to the hole greenhouse aspect of things..

Cheers

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

this is a very cheap option for under $100 delivered http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tunnel-Walk-in-Greenhouse-3x2x2m-Metal-Frame-HOTHOUSE-Plant-Cover-Portable-Shed-/330691896961?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4cfec5e681

i reckon with $50 and some nouse you'd have it secured OK and a cheap greenhouse with 1-3 years in it!

[LokStok]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/190712061907?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

i just brought this green house for all my seedlings, Just a quick question, should i invest in some shade cloth? or will the clear pvc cover be fine?

kinda knew to the hole greenhouse aspect of things..

Cheers

hey bromo, you should definately use some shadecloth, unless you've set it up under a shady tree. Especially up where you are,

the full sun will cook anything in there pretty quickly without some protection.

I use 50% top and north facing side all year round on a comparable size GH, only diff is it is glass.

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Hey y'all, those with a Sams warehouse discount shop nearby, starting tomorrow they have a walkin greenhouse (1.5 x .75x 2m) for $40. Reinforce with gaffa tape and a few tie down ropes and its a really neat seed raising house.

I myself will be getting one

Edit; just set it up and it's ripper for the price. Some camping pegs and rope reinforced it and it looks good for a year or two!

Edited August 1, 2013 by thed00dabides

[B'Hhmmmm]

Cheers lol .. I've done that now an my greenhouse isn't sitting at 70 degrees anymore ... Glad I didn't move any seedlings in as I would've been gutted losing those seeds you sent buddy

[shroomau5]

Hi folks, I have been looking building a greenhouse, or in my case, more of a shade house, and have settled on a geodesic dome design.

I am in cyclone country so I need something strong that is designed for high wind and looks sexy enough to fit into the design of my block. Im feeling pretty good about getting back to my plant friends that I have neglected and didnt have the space or time for.

So Geodesic domes. Anyone built one? I have been looking for the last couple months and found this site that sells the hubs to build one. http://www.vertexhubs.com//

Im going to order a 3 frequency 5/8 kit. I plan on making my dome 6-8m in diameter. It costs $100 to ship so I asked the chap what would it cost for multiple kits on the same order and he is giving a $100 discount each on the larger kits if I buy 3 or more.Postage will remain around the $100 for multiple kits. So if you're a dome greenhouse fan that wants to come out of the closet,.let me know. I will be ordering in the next 3 weeks. The kit only includes the hubs and doorway connectors.

He also ships samples if anyone wanted to see it. I may do that first.

Edited March 24, 2015 by shroomau5

[pinegapcontrol]

They sound awesome, do you know how they attach to the ground?

[shroomau5]

Some people build a small frame at the bottom to give it some height or they go straight on the ground and get anchored there in multiple ways. Im still undecided how I will do it. I will probably do concrete footings and bolt it in place. There are corkscrew type fittings that screw into the ground also. Depends on how permanent you want it I suppose

[IndianDreaming]

Sounds interesting - how are you going to cover the dome?

[shroomau5]

I have no idea how until its built and Im standing there with a roll of shade cloth

I may need two rolls of shade cloth if wrapping gifts in wrapping paper is a gauge of my abilities.

[pinegapcontrol]

what do they mean when they refer to frequency?

[shroomau5]

I found this helpful

http://www.geo-dome.co.uk/article.asp?uname=domefreq

[Freewheelin]

I bought one of these from bunnings a few months ago: http://www.shelterlogic.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=44d0edcf-b7ff-4fe1-a1d8-a39300e8b06e&CategoryName=Greenhouses for around $200

I was impressed sufficiently enough to recommend it here. it's easy to put together and fairly soild, and once built would be easy to just pick up and transport if needed. The components it comes with are suprisingly decent. the canopy is held down with rachet straps and there are 4 auger-type fixtures that tether it to the ground.

The canopy lets in more than enough light and heat - so much that i had to put two layers of shadecloth over the top on the western side to cope with the sometimes brutal afternoon sun. I'm not sure what the %age of UV blockage is but the plants seem to be going fine, except for the ones that are burning.

[Freewheelin]

just my 2 cents but i'm cringing at the idea of a geodesic dome. it's so much more complicated than a simple arch type of setup. many more connections and more complicated connections is just going to make for a weaker more failure-prone structure, not to mention the buttnutter of trying to cover the damn thing.

post #6 has the right idea. it doesn't need to be built out of steel tubing, pvc pipe easily bend over the lengths that you will need and should last quite a few years before it starts to fatigue.

[franky]

I bought one of these from bunnings a few months ago: http://www.shelterlogic.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=44d0edcf-b7ff-4fe1-a1d8-a39300e8b06e&CategoryName=Greenhouses for around $200

I was impressed sufficiently enough to recommend it here. it's easy to put together and fairly soild, and once built would be easy to just pick up and transport if needed. The components it comes with are suprisingly decent. the canopy is held down with rachet straps and there are 4 auger-type fixtures that tether it to the ground.

The canopy lets in more than enough light and heat - so much that i had to put two layers of shadecloth over the top on the western side to cope with the sometimes brutal afternoon sun. I'm not sure what the %age of UV blockage is but the plants seem to be going fine, except for the ones that are burning.

I got one of these for bunnings dont hate me but for half price $100, I found the plastic to be pretty shitty, but the frame is a good shape and size. I have dyna bolted it into the ground, covered it with my own plastic good shit.

[shroomau5]

I did consider the strength of the dome quite a bit. Any force applied to a triangle is evenly distributed over all sides. In the case of a geo dome made up of multiple triangles, any force, (like wind) gets evenly distributed over the whole structure.

The more connections or hubs means less stress on each of the connections, if each point is bearing equal load.

There is a bunch of math for geo dome tensegrity but I couldn't understand it.

[Freewheelin]

yep, you are right, but something inside me still doesn't like the idea of so many connections.

however, that company looks like they make a pretty decent product, and it seems that they make straight up greenhouse kits, so you wouldn't have to worry about how to cover it.

keep us posted. would love to see how it goes

[Freewheelin]

I take that back:

"The 2 frequency geodesic dome greenhouse kit comes with all the vertex hubs you will need to create your new greenhouse. Also shipped with the hubs are connectors to frame out a doorway into the dome. Currently our kits are shipped without the tubing for installation. Your local hardware store will be able to help your find 1/2″ or 3/4″ tubing to connect the hubs."

it seems they don't even supply the tubes. hmmmm would be quite a project

[pinegapcontrol]

i wrote to these guys asking about how i would go about attaching greenhouse plastic to the triangles, no reply. Im guessing the tubing would need to be very precise too (within 1mm i would imagine).

[shroomau5]

Yes no tubing and you would be looking at a couple hundred metres at a guess for around a 6-8m dome.
The tubing would not have to be that precise IMO. There would be room to adjust as its being built and screw it once built.
A cheap drop saw would cut all the tubing to length in a couple of hours . 3-4 if you like a ciggy break.
I have read through a fair few blogs and some of them have wrapped each triangle . Its a lot of work. Unnessesary even. Trust me its not going to be hard to wrap with a little bit of patience
Just thinking out loud and convincing myself.
There are cheaper PVC pipe hubs online as well. I want mine to last a while though. Not sure how long PVC pipe lasts in the tropical sun without daylight savings..

Edited March 30, 2015 by shroomau5

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

I'm heaps keen on this after a weeks worth of reading. Not for a greenhouse tho, but for a semi permanent shack on a property for camping in. Would be great to cover with canvas, google images brings up a few ideas.

Has anybody estimated a costing for the tubing for a dome say 5mtrs and 10mtrs? Or any size for that matter.

Thanks for the neat thread hope you don't mind me jumping in!

[Anodyne]

I was thinking bamboo could be used for making less-permanent domes (it'll survive a few years of outdoors & rough treatment if the wood is treated). Search for "bamboo stardome" for plans. Might be a way to test how you like the dome design without forking out a lot for materials. The smaller ones are just interlaced, no connectors required (assuming you can get bamboo poles long enough in the first place, although you could probably use other materials - eg. fibreglass tent poles or pvc pipe instead). The larger ones are lashed together, or some small ones designed for portability (i.e. using many short poles) used homemade connectors, eg. five pieces of pipe bolted together into a star. Some people had covered theirs with a basic round parachute (I don't think they're usually waterproof but you may be able to coat the fabric), or there are designs here for sewing your own covers of shadecloth or waterproof material. I liked this one, you'd have a huge bean-lattice & a shady cubby rolled into one!

[theuserformallyknownasd00d]

Bambo huh... I actually have 15mtr tall bamboos at my disposal ;) as thick as my wrist in parts which I'm assuming won't work!

Thanks for all the idea ano! Safe to say I won't be sleeping much tonight now....

[shroomau5]

I'm heaps keen on this after a weeks worth of reading. Not for a greenhouse tho, but for a semi permanent shack on a property for camping in. Would be great to cover with canvas, google images brings up a few ideas.

Has anybody estimated a costing for the tubing for a dome say 5mtrs and 10mtrs? Or any size for that matter.

Thanks for the neat thread hope you don't mind me jumping in!

You would need around 80m for a 3v dome with a diameter of 5m http://www.sonostarhub.com/dome-calculator.html

If you went pvc which I probably would, for a semi permanent structure, 3m of 3/4in pvc pipe is around $5 bunnings prices. Cheaper if you went to a plumbing joint and bought 80m.

3/4in steel probably around $30 per 6m (not bunnings)

Edited March 30, 2015 by shroomau5