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watertrade

greenhouses

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there has been some discussion about building greenhouses recently. Just wondering what everyone has built/bought etc? I would be interested to know about any form of cold/sun protection. cold frames, shade houses etc.

I built a greenhouse a few years back - I will post the link when I can find it.:wacko:

Edit : http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14800&hl=greenhouse&st=0

Edited by watertrade

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Well..I've decided I really need a hothouse and have some material but not all.

I can take photo's as that comes together but I have a shadehouse for use in summer

that funnily enough I built last summer tongue.gif . I'll get some photo's of that tomorrow.

I have started an arbour for some vines to climb over that is almost finished and might actually have some photo's

of that already. I'll have to check...if they're not up today then tomorrow.

Sola

 

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Edited by Sola

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cool... i should drag my comments from the other thread over here...

but, another separate question - living in town has anyone had any bother from the fuzz or neighbours because you have a greenhouse? I mean, I don't look like a bearded hippy sort of pot smoking dude but does having a green house attract attention in others experience?

I really like the idea of your greenhouse in the thread you linked WT - do you have any pictures of it now?

I am definately going to have to do something here... it's frigging cold man!

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I could after much searching find a photo of the arbour I've started.  <br />Should look much better with some vines over it when it's finished.  <br />Secondhand steel concreted in the ground and very similar used for the top.  <br />I'll have two extra posts in the middle for support and thick wire strained over the top.  <br />Sola

Edited by Sola

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I'm going to try again to load the photo if this doen't work

I'll try again later.

 

Edited by Sola

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i got a mad little greenhouse from aldi for about $50!! apex is as tall as me, bout two feet deep four feet wide, four shelves which i turned into two big shelves. wide part faces north. took the clear plastic off and put some 50% green shadecloth covering the roof, then it hangs down the northern side tapering off to a point at the lower shelf. this gives all plants some protection from the midday winter sun but the lower shelf cops a bit more. in summer i'll probably add another layer for more summer midday protection.

used to be made out of scavenged wire grid (shelves, wouldn't handle big pots) held up by four star-pickets. idea courtesy of mac, who suggested bread crates instead of the wire grid (a better idea if plastic doesn't bother you). the reason i mention this is that it would have cost more from bunnings than the aldi greenhouse, that's without the roof frame or plastic cover.

Edited by ThunderIdeal

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To answer your question Meanies, no generally nobody notices or cares. I built a 40' X 22'

glasshouse/shadehouse, its divided roughly down the middle between the two, 15' at the apex of the roof. Its not something you could miss. It even stands out on google earth & I've never had a visit from the cops, council building inspectors yes but never cops.

Having said that I used to have a mate in Sydney who had a serious glasshouse who did get raided several times in the 90's but that was because he was running up power bills in the thousands every quarter.

Edited by shortly

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as far as cooling try white washing the outside this can be removed come winter , also maybe some shadecloth draped over the whole structure will help keep a bit cooler again remove for winter , is the plastic removable??

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It's not much but it does the job and cost next to nothing to build, most of the wood was from building sites and the plastic was donated by a friend.

Just wish I'd made it bigger:BANGHEAD2:post-5030-127943571531_thumb.jpg

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Edited by interbeing

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I recently purchase and put together a 3 x 2.7m extruded aluminium and polycarbonate greenhouse purchased from bloomroom on ebay. Got it delivered with a full staging kit for about $1200. Took me about 20 hours of work and sliced open my finger when literally doing up the last nut on the dynabolts into the slab.

Have had to seal up the drafty base with sand as actually had frost damage on caapi and psychotrias inside near the door although that was a Canberran -4. I'd recommend the one I bought but be prepared for an ongoing nightmare jigsaw puzzle experience putting it together...

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interbeing - that is really awesome man :) did you use a salvaged door from the tip or something for the entrance? oh and what type of plastic did you use and how is it affixed? I am guessing perhaps with staples?...

I really have to make mine nice and permenant here... also has to with stand high winds. I will go and drag across some of the pictures and info from that other thread... I really liked the look of the 'solar' green house.

edit: holy shit WT - I want to have sex with your green house. that is awesome... I can't grab pic's of it to post here for some reason so i'm posting another link to the thread. Man you rule!

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14800&st=0

Edited by meanies

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Meanies.

If you're using polyfilm in a high wind area, I recommend a duel attachment approach.

First, staple the stuff to the frame using as many staples as you can - and keep in mind that the staples are to restrict sideways movement, not outward movement. Don't go so overboard though that you end up with bumper to bumper staples, because this is basically creating a perforated line to rip across in the way that stamps or dunny paper do - I reckon at least 4 or 5 cm spacing should be OK. Make sure that you have at least a few cm extra on the waste side - if you skate too close to the staples the film will tear in a strong wind no matter what you do.

Then, over the staples, screw down battens. They don't need to be thick - 9-12 mm will do (although thicker gives better rigidity, and thus holding force, between screws) - but you want them to be at least 25 mm wide. If you can lay something with give, but with some resilience (say, tar paper or hessian) between the battens and the stapled film, all the better. After a few gales I've ended up adding more screws to hold down the battens on polyfilm - I reckon that if I were to do it again I'd probably even go to one every 10-12 cm.

The idea is to apply firm, even force along the entire length of contact between frame and film. If you have contact only at intervals, sooner or later the film will tear in strong wind, and it's Great Big Hole time.

Edited by WoodDragon

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okay good information.

so the poly film for the greenhouse... any suggestions? did a crappy three second search on ebay but no results... any other cheap suggestions? Torsten at some stage suggested getting the details from the rolls available from bunnings - alas no bunnings where I live - so anyone know where to get this stuff? Oh and how much does it cost?

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Meanies.

There used to be a cheap Evilbay supplier, but I haven't seen them offering lately.

Oo, and I added some stuff to my previous post, so do forget to refresh!

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yeah, couldn't find any on e bay as stated. What are general prices per metre though? Just as a ballpark figure.. I have no idea...

So with the one(s) you have built WD do they last for quite a while? Is the poly UV stablised and able to last at least say 5 - 10 years? I'm just thinking of making the one I do build as sustainable as possible... I figure it is probably better to build something that is going to last for a good long while rather than something that will require re-doing in 3 years or whatever. I am very hesitant to go down the road on making an actual glasshouse or something like that but if the plastic versions don't really last very long then perhaps this would be a better option in the longer term?

Anyone out there got any links to greenhouse poly links?

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www.adloheat.com.au do fitted "skins" from memory

solarweave is very good, the first time i used it was in 85 & its still holding up.

If you have a rural supplies it might be worth asking them if they can order a roll of horticultural film for you

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i always like the green house topics, and they always inspire me to have a go with building one aswell, but i never do...

at my location a glashouse would help me, to keep the tropical plants more shaded over the very hot summers, and warmer and more humid over winter. iboga, kava, yohimbe and so on, i'm thinking of.

so building a glasshouse is lot's of work, unless you just throw some clear plastic over some rebar sold for concret slabing...

but maybe for many of us, another setup could come very handy aswell, a setup which tries to just increase the benefical microclimat, by shielding.

for small plants it could be just a brocoli box, placed in a sheltered and sunny (morning sun)

position. for bigger plants one can, just build an (edwarnian) box just by using old doors and starpicks within minutes!! just by placing some boards in strategic spots in your garden, pergola or verandah, one can create a "much nicer winter home" for our beloved plants, and this can make a big difference to there wellbeing, specialy over wintertime.

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I'm trying to load the photo again, if this doesn't work any suggestions would be appreciated.

The polyfilm suggestions sound good, with the strip of wood over the staples I'm thinking it'll hold.

We'll find out anyway.

Edited by Sola

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having another go but looks like I have to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

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I am aware this thread started from discussion over pics in a thread about my garden.

So I thought i would grab my new camera and post some pics here.

Greenhouse mid winter.

My plastic greenhouse,affectionately known as the Condom,is nothing special...except for what it achieves.

I think anyone on this forum who wants to grow a wide range of Ethnos will need a protective and humid area.

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I am sure we don't grow just Ethnos,most of us appreciate all of nature.

Greenhouses get our plants off to a great start.

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I grow an understory of plants under my cactus bench

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sticky traps are a must....white fly loves psychotria and salvia species.

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of course you must have a Caapi growing over the back

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A lot of people worry about the right materials and expense.

The cheap homemade houses in this thread are all terrific.

Especially during the winter the most important thing is protection.

The best bonus of a hothouse is even when it is pissing down you can still hang out with some plants and do some gardening!

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Here goes...

Edited by Sola

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I have a greenhouse similar to colhawks, poly pipe with solarweave. Its up to about 7 years and doing great. its about 3 x 2 mtrs, psychotria and caapi have survived -5 in there. this method is pretty cheap to make, in comparison to buying something.

I will try to find some photos

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interbeing - that is really awesome man :) did you use a salvaged door from the tip or something for the entrance? oh and what type of plastic did you use and how is it affixed? I am guessing perhaps with staples?...

I really have to make mine nice and permenant here... also has to with stand high winds.

 

Thanks heaps, the door is just a pine frame, the plastic is similar to this stuff My link

and it was fixed with some gang nails.

The wind is hectic around my area too so I just braced it to the fence just in case.

Here's a pic inside

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hey nice lot of cacti there interbeing..... Tephrocactus papracanthus in the righthand corner ?

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