for people in the uk
those plastic greenhouses that cost about £20 i had one and the other day it was really windy and broke my greenhouse sending all my seedlings and my lillies i was growing all over my garden
We are doing to be building a greenhouse and my husband wants our contractor friend to build one instead of buying a kit. Can anyone recommend a book with some good plans for a greenhouse in the 12'X16' size. I thought it would be cheaper to buy a kit, but our friend says that he could do it cheaper with local materials. I'd appreciate any input from any members who have greenhouses. What kind do you have and are you happy with it, etc.
Regards, June
Bill
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Below a review from above link.
Eat fresh, home-grown vegetables year round? Eliminate canning and freezing? Do this all at low cost? Eliot Coleman does, you can, too, and here is the how. Coleman is a market gardener in Maine who may eat better than Bill Gates. He shows that sunlight and wind protection are more important that temperature--and, by the way, most of the U.S. gets more winter sunlight than Coleman's place. Inexpensive, unheated greenhouses that he calls tall tunnel houses--some say hoop houses--and cold frames protect from wind and keep snow off the veggies. Greenhouse comfort is more to benefit the gardener. The key is what and when to plant. Full info given for planting dates, construction details, sources of seeds, tools, greenhouses. Well illustrated. An essential guide for organic gourmands.
In the long run it is not cheaper to build your own. You will need to replace the plastic every year or two and it is not very strong either. We bought a hobby house 10x20 here:
If nothing else, this site gives dimensions of greehouses of many configurations which your friend can use as a template to build you one. If you want a permanent house, you should not use plastic, but hard side polycarbonate panels, extruded. Not the junk found at Home Depot. It's not necessarily long lived.
Thank you all for your responses. My husband wants us to build a quality glass and cedar greenhouse, not a plastic one where the plastic has to be removed every year or two. We live in zone 6B in North Carolina mountains and we can get some heavy winds when hurricane season comes around, so it's important that we had a sturdy structure. I need an all year round greenhouse since I have tropical fruit trees and bushes that will be going into the greenhouses as well as using it to start all my flowers and vegetables in late winter. I'll check the sites you all posted and do more research; but mainly at this point I need to find a book with some plans. I got one soft covered book which was helpful for some points, but there are only a couple of plans of smaller greenhouse plans in that one and I want to build one larger than those (12'X16')
Thanks again for your good feedback!
Regards, June.
June I did read where you are, but does the following website help you at all?
"Copy" ;-)) I believe you said in an earlier posting that you had someone who would build one for you?
Mike
Oh, your subject header said plastic greenhouse.
Best of luck. There is no greenhouse which could be considered a sturdy structure when you get hurricane winds. Insure it in the house insurance rider.
The mention of plastic greenhouse was from any persons original message. When I tried to post a new message it wouldn't work, so I just responded to the other one.
Thanks for the hint about adding a hurricane rider for the house. Our house and my studio are insured against hurricanes, so it won't be a problem to add a greenhouse if they'll cover it.
We're planning on securing whatever one we buy or build to a 1-1/2 foot stone wall.
Thanks! June
Thanks Mike. I'll check that one out, although, unless they have agents here, with the Euro being strong the and dollar being so weak, I doubt if it would be cost effective. We do have a friend who is a contractor and he seems to think he can build me one cheaper than a kit; but I want to check the costs on these kits because I know that those companies must be buying glass, metal, etc. in greater bulk than my contractor and since they are factory assembled, it just might be cheaper.
Regards, June
If you get hurricanes and want it to have a fair chance of surviving them then you need to build it to code for residences or for commercial greenhouses. This isn't going to be cheap.
We don't hit too hard with hurricanes. By the time they these mountains, the wind levels are usually at a much lower level - much like a strong, tropical storm. But if we build it, our contractor will know what to do; and we assume that we will have to get a permit, so all of that will be clarified.
Thanks! June
I am in the Ozarks, where we get a thirty to forty nights a year below freezing and one or two below zero. My plans are to do a 12 X 24 greenhouse on a slab. It will be a simple sloped shed, 8ft to 6ft over the 12ft width. 8x24 side all salvaged glass from used patio doors, etc (about half collected).
Building to be either a contracted, metal sided horse shed or a simple frame building. Glass wall will be lined, on the inside with 55 gallon metal drums filled with water and painted flat black -- work bench on top. My existing well will be in one corner, so 110 and 220 is already there.
Thinking of putting in a 600 or so gallon black rubber stock tank, with a few bluegills in it to experiment with hydroponic lettuce on foam blocks. Also thinking of a two ft. "awning" (2 x 24) consisting of solar cells.
I plan to have the usual ventilation and aux heating (probably LP gas, so loss of electric won't be catastrophic). Maybe an attached shed for "stuff" and mowers, etc.
Anyone who has tried any of this that has any suggestions or traps to avoid would be listened to attentively.
cheers
oz, adventuring
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