Greenhouses

[JustMe]

I've been wanting one for years, getting to the point I really need one......but now I'm faced with how do I get one that is big enough to walk in, maybe keep some citrus trees year round, grow veggies in the winter and get seedlings off to a great start in spring..........maybe even keep a few chickens in there for a multipurpose option.

I've seen many types from hoophouses covered with polyethelyne sheeting, which worries me with snow & rain load, chickens pecking at it, maybe dogs & cats scratching at it and the temp changes that may break it down to shreds. Whether built with lumber or pvc pipe....I can see alot of problems with that type of covering, maybe even the framing.
Then there's the other wood frame, square or rectangle, which atleast seems more sturdy framing. Many are also covered with the plastic sheeting, while others are covered with the polycarbonate panels that are also stronger to hold up to what most may be exposed too, including weather & temp changes....more UV stable, I guess you'd call it.

Anyway, there are a thousand different options,, including kits that provide everything & you put together, or DIY's from your own imagination. I have alot of ideas, just not alot of money or construction/carpentry skills. I don't want to have to heat it, but use passive solar or heatsink and other little tricks to keep it from freezing in the winter.

Do you have a green house? What type do you have? Did you buy it or build it yourself? How well does it work? And all those kinda questions I can't think of at the moment

 

[WVDragonlady]

okay I don't where you're at but to have citrus trees you'll be needing to heat the thing so they don't die in winter. That could get costly.

Hubby built mine from polycarbonate sheet scraps he had lying around and some old windows taken out of remodels and thrown away(silly people). He did have to pay $99 for the storm door though lol
Its not heated and has a stone floor now that we moved it closer to the house. Works just fine for me. If I want to winter garden I do it inside the house.

*The metal beam you see in the pic on the roof and through the door and window was so he could move it to the new spot. He removed all that once it in place*

 

[Tootsie]

There are hoop houses and greenhouses all around me. My greenhouse lasted fewer than 5 years, and I took the plastic off the first 3 winters. 6 mil plastic on another structure lasted 3 winters.
I know plastic can be replaced, but if I do a greenhouse again, I am going to try to build it with glass, repurposed from old windows if I can. There are 2 window replacement places close by for parts.
A riser wall of block or stone should help with durability, plus some thermal mass for heat, possibly.
One of the nicest ideas I saw was a basement like hand dug ‘extra room’ added to a cabin, big enough to walk down the middle with growing space on either side. Glass/lumber top.
One farmer put pallets on end, connected, around his plastic hoop house to be able to have animals in and around it for some protection.

 

[JustMe]

okay I don't where you're at but to have citrus trees you'll be needing to heat the thing so they don't die in winter. That could get costly.

Hubby built mine from polycarbonate sheet scraps he had lying around and some old windows taken out of remodels and thrown away(silly people). He did have to pay $99 for the storm door though lol
Its not heated and has a stone floor now that we moved it closer to the house. Works just fine for me. If I want to winter garden I do it inside the house.

*The metal beam you see in the pic on the roof and through the door and window was so he could move it to the new spot. He removed all that once it in place*

View attachment 79026
View attachment 79027

Sorry, I should have included that I'm on the westside of WA state. So we're somewhat temperate, but can still get pretty cold (teens & 20's) in the winter and 90's & 100's in the summer, Though last year we did hit 120 in some places and over 100 for nearly 2 weeks which is nearly unheard of. Coldest I can remember was below zero but not more than -5. Those are our extremes.......so far.

If any supplemental heat would be required, I'd rather use some kind of solar heating as a 'just in case' if the power went out, but I have no knowledge or experience with that kind of equipment other than my yard lights. Just stick them outside, they take in whatever light during the day and they glow at night until whatever energy they've collected runs out. A similar idea for a greenhouse may or may not work in the way I'm thinking, because of the lack of actual sunshine in the winter.

 

[dademoss]

I will warn you, chickens in the greenhouse sound good, but those mother cluckers will eat every plant they can reach.

I learned that the hard way !

 

[Amish Heart]

Nice set up, WVDragon, and Terri has some photos of hers, too, around here somewhere.

 

[Biggkidd]

You & everyone else should think longer term food production. Look in to wallapini greenhouses there is an old guy on youtube growing citrus somewhere way cold maybe Minnesota. I started building one and my health interrupted. Hopefully we can finish it this spring. We have our turkeys in the left hand end. The rear / North wall is earth bags to the roof above the hillside I cut in to snd will have more earth up against them. Click pic for full size



The south wall will be made from used storm windows ends too if I have enough on hand.

 

[JustMe]

You & everyone else should think longer term food production. Look in to wallapini greenhouses there is an old guy on youtube growing citrus somewhere way cold maybe Minnesota. I started building one and my health interrupted. Hopefully we can finish it this spring. We have our turkeys in the left hand end. The rear / North wall is earth bags to the roof above the hillside I cut in to snd will have more earth up against them. Click pic for full size

View attachment 79037

The south wall will be made from used storm windows ends too if I have enough on hand.

Do you let your turkeys out? Or are they kept penned in there?

What, if anything, covers the south side especially in winter? I'm guessing this long side is south facing? Do or would you provide any extra heating?? Or is all that info in wallapini's?

Now, I'm off to research wallapinis, thank you for the tip

 

[JustMe]

I will warn you, chickens in the greenhouse sound good, but those mother cluckers will eat every plant they can reach.

I learned that the hard way !

Oh how I know that one, but was thinking if the greenhouse was big enough, the chickens would be enclosed at one end with poultry wire or something separating them from any plants........ but the litter they'd be scratching on their side, that is composting and generating some heat, along with their body heat, may be able to keep the greenhouse from freezing and warm enough for any plants to survive.

Atleast I think that's the idea. It was something I'd seen on Swedish Homestead, though I don't remember if he actually had any plants growing inside and may have only used the chickens in there to prep that garden area.

 

[JustMe]

A walipini isn't going to work for me. I sit on hardpan that is like concrete, so no shoveling. I'd have to put in some serious thought on this though. I do know someone with a backhoe, but only having a yard, my available space is limited

 

[Biggkidd]

Do you let your turkeys out? Or are they kept penned in there?

What, if anything, covers the south side especially in winter? I'm guessing this long side is south facing? Do or would you provide any extra heating?? Or is all that info in wallapini's?

Now, I'm off to research wallapinis, thank you for the tip

Yes the long side faces south. The turkey pen has a run through barrel to a fenced outside run now on the west end. The coop has wire on the east side toward the crops and clear plastic panels on front and above the dirt up to the start of the arched roof. At the top in the arch I have one of the auto openers for a vent to run the whole 8 ft width. On the south as I said we are using used storm windows that will be on a late fall early spring sun angle or about 45-50 degrees. That will give us the most light inside at the best times of year for us. The opaque roof allows light through and we hope will allow us to grow cool season crops in the heat of summer. The frame, roof, windows, heck just about everything was repurposed and free for the effort of removal and hauling.

It doesn't show in the picture but it's only dug in 4 feet on the north west corner. The east side is at ground level we are building the North wall out of sand bags filled with earth. There's really no reason you couldn't do the same. Building walls out of bagged earth that is. Even if you have to truck the dirt in it really wouldn't cost that much compared to it's worth. Your north wall and maybe part of the east and west should be 3 to 5 feet thick if you go this route.

If I figured and do things correctly with ours we shouldn't need any supplemental heat or light except in extreme weather events or specialty crops. The earth is the temperature bank to both help keep it warm in winter and cool in summer. With the way the glass will be angled it will reflect a lot of light and heat in summer for those tender cool season crops and bring all the light in for crops in the spring fall and winter. Our entire greenhouse with turkey coop is around 8x66. I know the turkey water never even gets a sheen of ice even on the coldest days we've had it and it's still open on one whole end and the top of the other end as I haven't installed the vent window yet.

 

[JustMe]

Yes the long side faces south. The turkey pen has a run through barrel to a fenced outside run now on the west end. The coop has wire on the east side toward the crops and clear plastic panels on front and above the dirt up to the start of the arched roof. At the top in the arch I have one of the auto openers for a vent to run the whole 8 ft width. On the south as I said we are using used storm windows that will be on a late fall early spring sun angle or about 45-50 degrees. That will give us the most light inside at the best times of year for us. The opaque roof allows light through and we hope will allow us to grow cool season crops in the heat of summer. The frame, roof, windows, heck just about everything was repurposed and free for the effort of removal and hauling.

It doesn't show in the picture but it's only dug in 4 feet on the north west corner. The east side is at ground level we are building the North wall out of sand bags filled with earth. There's really no reason you couldn't do the same. Building walls out of bagged earth that is. Even if you have to truck the dirt in it really wouldn't cost that much compared to it's worth. Your north wall and maybe part of the east and west should be 3 to 5 feet thick if you go this route.

If I figured and do things correctly with ours we shouldn't need any supplemental heat or light except in extreme weather events or specialty crops. The earth is the temperature bank to both help keep it warm in winter and cool in summer. With the way the glass will be angled it will reflect a lot of light and heat in summer for those tender cool season crops and bring all the light in for crops in the spring fall and winter. Our entire greenhouse with turkey coop is around 8x66. I know the turkey water never even gets a sheen of ice even on the coldest days we've had it and it's still open on one whole end and the top of the other end as I haven't installed the vent window yet.

So your turkeys are kept confined??? and not let loose on your property??? I am asking because I've wondered about doing that here so I can keep & raise heritage turkeys. I've been dragging my feet on that for fear they'd escape over the fence or some other type disaster causing problems with the neighbors. So far, I've only raised the big breasted ones that get too fat for flight and were only meant for a season before going to the freezer. But as I understand it, heritage birds are a bit different & more tendency for antics,

The best place I have for any type greenhouse is at the west end of the garden, right next to the property fence that is 6'ft wood and runs east/west. The fence is on the north side of the yard so it gets sun all day long with little to no shade in the summer. The space for a greenhouse is only about 10 to 15ft square. The biggest concern for this location is even with any windows or vents open, everything would get cooked in the hottest part of summer. I could cover it with something to reflect the sun & heat away and provide shade in there....but if we have another summer like last year, it would probably still get too hot.

Lots to consider here.

 

[SLADE]

I live where -20 is common.
I built insulated cold frames and still had fresh lettuce at the end of January.
If I had covered the lettuce with row cover and placed an insulated cover over the plastic covers at night I have no doubt greens would last all winter.
I have a 12x16 greenhouse for starting plants in spring and just built a 20x52 hoop house for summer growing of just a couple heat loving crops.
Growing cittrus is not on my radar as I can replace the vit c with berries.
The green house is for 5 percent of the crops.

 

[Amish Heart]

Our turkeys are confined. They have a huge covered run with another covered area in the run to roost in

 

[Biggkidd]

So your turkeys are kept confined??? and not let loose on your property??? I am asking because I've wondered about doing that here so I can keep & raise heritage turkeys. I've been dragging my feet on that for fear they'd escape over the fence or some other type disaster causing problems with the neighbors. So far, I've only raised the big breasted ones that get too fat for flight and were only meant for a season before going to the freezer. But as I understand it, heritage birds are a bit different & more tendency for antics,

The best place I have for any type greenhouse is at the west end of the garden, right next to the property fence that is 6'ft wood and runs east/west. The fence is on the north side of the yard so it gets sun all day long with little to no shade in the summer. The space for a greenhouse is only about 10 to 15ft square. The biggest concern for this location is even with any windows or vents open, everything would get cooked in the hottest part of summer. I could cover it with something to reflect the sun & heat away and provide shade in there....but if we have another summer like last year, it would probably still get too hot.

Lots to consider here.

Yes Bourbon Reds and they stay in the run or coop free to move between as they please.

 

[Biggkidd]

So your turkeys are kept confined??? and not let loose on your property??? I am asking because I've wondered about doing that here so I can keep & raise heritage turkeys. I've been dragging my feet on that for fear they'd escape over the fence or some other type disaster causing problems with the neighbors. So far, I've only raised the big breasted ones that get too fat for flight and were only meant for a season before going to the freezer. But as I understand it, heritage birds are a bit different & more tendency for antics,

The best place I have for any type greenhouse is at the west end of the garden, right next to the property fence that is 6'ft wood and runs east/west. The fence is on the north side of the yard so it gets sun all day long with little to no shade in the summer. The space for a greenhouse is only about 10 to 15ft square. The biggest concern for this location is even with any windows or vents open, everything would get cooked in the hottest part of summer. I could cover it with something to reflect the sun & heat away and provide shade in there....but if we have another summer like last year, it would probably still get too hot.

Lots to consider here.

If you are primarily interested in fall winter and spring greenhouse growing then east west orientation is the way to go for summer then north south seems to work best. With a space like that I might would keep the north south spread around 10-12 feet and the east west longer. That way winters angled sun can reach in without it having to be overly tall. Just my .02.Maybe something like a 12x16 or 20.

 

[JustMe]

If you are primarily interested in fall winter and spring greenhouse growing then east west orientation is the way to go for summer then north south seems to work best. With a space like that I might would keep the north south spread around 10-12 feet and the east west longer. That way winters angled sun can reach in without it having to be overly tall. Just my .02.Maybe something like a 12x16 or 20.

Thank you. I'll keep that in mind,