Greenhouses out of old windows!

Another picture. I have a tomato plant with tomatoes on it, obviously I might lose it since temps have gotten to 36 already or lower. I wonder if I could transplant it and put it in the greenhouse?

What a lovely little house for your babies. Why can't you just pot up the 'mater plant?

Your GH turned out great!!

Love your GH Linda, looks supper.
Take a cutting from the tomato outside, that's what I did.
Take a couple of the suckers , coming out from a leaf stalk, they root fast.

Thanks all, I still have lots of finishing touches. I potted up the tomatoes today and put them in there. Now here we go, guess what, it got to 89 degrees in there this morning. I emailed hubby and said "Houston , we have a problem!"
He emailed back and said put up shade cloth on the south side. So I took all the shade cloth pieces we had, long strips and got on a ladder and used his screwgun to take the roof screws out holding the heavy sign material on and tucked the shade cloth under it. It worked and the temp changed 10 degrees. It warmed up here and will be for a few days. We had 60's. So hubby is already working on his idea for a fan and vent system he can put together himself that will open automatically when it gets too hot. Now I came up with the solution for the wood floor. I remembered hubby using some roofing sealant that was really good on my fountain and recomending it to others. So I mentioned that and he said great idea, it keeps out all water from getting through. So I bought a gallon for around $21.00 and will put it down in white. Then I may faux brick a pattern or stone on it. I have the stencils already. Or maybe paint a pretty fake rug.
I have another set of shutters going with the crackle finish, but ran out of crackle medium and I bought Wal-Mart out last week. So I hope they got more in. Hubby is making the door and I am asking for something victorian with some gingerbread maybe. I have a glass door know with lock and a pretty victorian back plate that has been sitting for years, I have always wanted to use it on something. It was in his mothers collections, so I think it is going on there. Better used than sitting around unseen.
Linda

WE got some more shutters up today on the back of the greenhouse and put up some trim on the front by door. I spent all day faux painting with stencils a brick floor. Hubby thought I should paint the grout lines, but not going too this year. I figure when dirt gets on it , it will look even better. If I don't like it then i will paint it next spring. Here are a couple more pics. Hubby left to go get materials to make me a Dutch Victorian Door with gingerbread and an old glass knob and backplate that was his mothers that I never did anything with.

Inside with faux brick floor, it has roof coating underneath it on the wood to protect from water spills.

This is the side, I plan to use those 300 used brick to make a patio in front of it in the spring, maybe some picket fence on corners.

I worked on the Dutch Door all day, and then added more after this picture. Some more Ivy on top, it looked bare and then some hot pink butterflies on top and bottom. I will take a pic in the daylight. It is hung but hubby still needs to make a small shelf since it is a Dutch Door and add the glass door knobs that were from his mother's collection. I used some Iron Brackets I had in place of the gingerbread as they wanted $70 at Home Depot for four! I did them Shabby Chic so they fit right in. I hope to put a window box between the shutters by the front door.
I only wish it was twice the size. But the cost was low.
Linda

Here's a pic of the door hung. We will finish up some things this weekend hopefully. This has been a lot of man and woman hours of labor. Labor of love though.

Oh, how pretty! And a dutch door, that's a neat idea. You hardly ever see one of those. Did you make it? Did you do the painting of the flowers & butterflies and such? Want to come over to Heber and paint mine???

AZgrammie/Lois

Hi Grammie,
I used stencils which I had a collection of to do the door. I also carry lots of craft paint on hand. We got the door knobs on and scored for $2.00 some green short fencing with rounded scalloped tops, kind of like the old fencing you see in old dowtown Kingman in the older homes yards but better. I made it work to go on the back of the door.
We layered it and we were able to do both the top and bottom. It is so cute to tuck vintage cards and postcards or seedpackets in. I also found some clay pots today. Now I have to go back tomorrow as I spotted a piece for $25 that would make an awesome potting bench just outside the green house. I am looking for a small rocking chair to put inside. But for now hubby made a new seat for my grandmothers icecream chair.

Hope your vintage cards & seed packets don't get wet!

Do you check out the local thrift shops for bargains & old stuff? I do! Yesterday got a beautiful chandelier for $5. Not for the greenhouse, though!

I'm not sure if my greenhouse is a greenhouse or playhouse. I call it Linda's Glass Cottage. I got a new find today that will become a potting bench, but will put it in Trash to Treasure forum.

More pics of nearly finished, just some touch up here and there

Grammie,
We don't get enough rain for it to get too wet in there, but who knows. Today we got a good storm. But the roof didn't leak. The inside is filling up. I have enough room on shelves for seedlings, it is floor space for those palms that takes up room and a friend gave me an old screendoor to go inside, she didn't realize how small my greenhouse is. For now it will stay there, but come outside later when I finish the potting bench and brick patio. It's really my little place to go and take in the green and sunshine and that is great for my winter depression.

Another pic, double shelves all the way around.

that is a really nice space, it looks so professional. Mine just looks messy in comparison.

So organized, pretty and clean!

I'm gonna add my potting bench here too, since it is a complement to my greenhouse. I did this on $25. That was the cost of the bench. It had layers of mudd on it. I wire brushed it. Washed it. Did it again twice with tsp and then rinsed again, even had to use a chisel to get if off. Then the hand sander. Finally learned how to put the sand paper on that right today! Hubby wasn't home so I had to figure it our myself. Then I dry brushed it and wiped with a cloth in green paint I had. Not sure what it really is, but it works great as a potting bench. I was told it was a place to make bread and pie crust, I could see why, the flour wouldn't get on the floor with the ledge around it. Good reason it makes a great potting bench. And the added plus is it has rollers. I will send the before pic first.

Here's the remake, maybe six hours invested or less.

Love, Love, Love the greenhouse. I have heard that lace curtains can be used as shade cloth. I have seen some pics where they hang them loosely across poles so they drape across the ceiling and provide a dappled shade.
Ric and I have been planing to build a GH from old windows, too. I had been expecting to build it this summer but due to a hand injury Ric was on the injured list this summer and it has been moved back another year. Our windows are large warehouse windows. They are single pane and metal. I have been told that I could probably build a poly GH for what it will cost me extra to heat what I am planning to build.

Holly, is there anyway to layer two windows together to make a dead airspace?

Cathy, Possibly, I'm not sure if we have enough to double up even if we wanted too. The warehouse windows have center sections that pivot open if we did try to double up then they wouldn't be able to be opened. Mine will be a lean-to type so the back wall (north wall) will be against the house and that will provide some insulation. We have a solar home and Ric has some very good ideas for solar gain in the GH. The roof will be an double wall poly so that will help with the heat loss in that area. We will be insulating the footers so that will also save some heat. Sometime next spring we will start digging the windows out of the barn where they have been stored for many years. Then we will have to decide whether to use them or not. They will need to be cleaned (wire-brushed & sandblasted) many of the glass panes will need to be replaced, possibly with a double pane if that will work. It would be much easier to buy the poly but I have had this look firmly planted in my head for so many years. My dream is a glass house conservatory.

Having that north wall against the house will help a lot, I cut styrofoam insulation boards to fit into my frames for during the winter for the north side, what a difference it made.

Glad you mentioned styrofoam boards. I have some slight air gaps to fill, but our winters aren't as cold as areas back east or where you are, so not a big problem. I stuffed bubble wrap in them, you see the roof gables into the shed, but just rests on it, so we still have to figure out ideas to seal it good. Now we plan on putting a second layer of the sign material inside with an air gap in the cealing. Will that help with heat loss in winter at night? I love the lace curtain idea, but not sure if I can fit them behind my shelves, I will have to look. Were the ones you were talking about on the ceiling? My cealing is solid, not light comes through, most light is coming from the south then some on north and east. But the intense light is south side. I took the screen door out today and put it by the potting bench and grabbed a wicker chair from my bedroom and put in the corner with a small wrought iron plant stand for a cup of coffee or ? It is a nice place to sit in the morning or mid morning.

Here is where the screen door went. One of my friends suggested that I could attach chicken wire to my wood on each side of my greenhouse and run it across the vinyl shed wall and then hang stuff on it. I have the chicken wire, just not sure yet.

This message was edited Dec 1, 2009 10:07 PM

Yes, they did hang them from the ceiling swagged across on poles to block the light comming in thru the glass roof.

Some people are just blessed with all the imagination and talent.
I have some talent,NO imagination!

violap, me too. I'm always in awe of creative people.

I look at a lot of books. There is one book I have called Garden Junk, it is really awesome. I have had it a while, so you could look on Ebay or check the libraries. Great ideas in there that I implemented.
Linda

Sweet Linda, we all read those book but you put it into reality, Supper Job.

Well, my reality for my greenhouse isn't so great right now. I should have gotten bubble wrap today. These unusual temps for AZ are taking a toll on the greenhouse. I lost another coleus already, it is 38 degrees out there and 29 outside. The palms even look like the edges are getting brown, so I may not have much left tomorrow. Live and learn. I think I should have bought bubble wrap today or foam panels to line it. I did buy another set of xmas lights the bigger clear bulbs and strung them on the lower shelf since heat rises. One of my coleus survived last night on the top shelf, but not it bit the dust along with some other new transplants. Hubby needs to double line the roof with an air space. I am shocked it is this cold and it will last for a few days. I sure don't want to move them into the garage after building this and hubby says a heater is too expensive. We have 1500 watt ceramic heaters in the house and a wood pellet stove. I am glad we don't have hundreds of dollars in it. The succulents seem to be surviving better as they have water in them already. Everything is watered so that should have helped. Any suggestions?

I can tell you after having done the bubble wrap for my GH this year, THEN having seen the idea for using a solar pool cover, I wish I'd have just gone with the solar pool cover instead of the bubble wrap. You can sometimes find them pretty cheap on ebay or craigslist. From what I read, go with clear vs. a blue one though to allow maximum light transmission. Maybe you can get a large rectangular one, and cut it to fit in almost a shower curtain going around the inside of your GH to provide insulation for your plants. Perhaps, with some steel piping around the top (think along the lines of a shower curtain rod for a claw foot tub), you can pull it around the inside of the GH when needed, or push it back to a corner when it's not necessary. Heck, for that matter, Imagine you could do the same thing with a good blanket. Open during the day to let sunlight (heat) in, pull it to cover the window (and provide some heat retention) at sunset.

Curves, Sorry to hear that you are having issues. Many of the members of my HGHA only use their GH in the spring to start annuals and veggies. There are a few that heat them all winter but most don't and those that do have cut back the area they heat by putting dividers in their GH. One of them uses a smaller hoop house inside a larger hoop house to grow tomatoes. The air space between the two has made a huge difference. Maybe you could group your plants closer together and make an smaller area just for the colder months. It wouldn't look as nice as having them displayed but it might work for overwinter storage.

Curves,

I think you should run an electric heater in there. The 1500 watts one that you mentioned would produce about 3000BTU and that would be plenty for the size of your GH. It looks like your 10 day forecast is cloudy and cold. If you have no sun to heat up the GH, it will be a problem. Some of the plant material that you mentioned is very touchy at 40ºF.

Also, without an actual heat source in the GH, it will remain only a few degrees warmer than the outside ambient. So it you have a heater in there, it will make a huge difference. I have used a little propane tent heater (camping heater), which would work awesome too. The little cylinder tanks would only last 6 hours, so you would need to time it that it would be going until after sunrise. The coldest temperatures will be at sunrise.

my little electric heater barely makes a blip in our electric bill, I set it to keep the GH at 50º.

Same here for the electric heater cost to run. If you are thinking of buying one for you GH, get one that is OK for bathrooms so it can handle the humidity.

Curves, My experiments with solar panels, old golf cart batteries, inverter, timer, and 100W light bulbs for heat only between 4 am and 7 am, isn't working. Batteries too old, I figure. We willl keep trying, though.

If you have city electricity fom your house, Joanna's idea is a good one, Since the temps fall dramatically in early morning, you might try using a timer to turn a heater on then -- you will probably not be using too much electricity in the house durng those times.

As usual, when I go away for a few days all heck breaks loose. It was allegedly 2 degrees below zero in Heber night before last (but warmer out here on the ranch usually), and I was down in the Valley in sunny Apache Junction! Got home yesterday and the 6 tomato plants I had in the Big Greenhouse were dead, and the baby fig tree looked very sad -- but I hear figs will come back in the spring. All the cool weather crops (lettuce, chard, etc.) came through OK. Meanwhile, none of the plants in my Little Greenhouse were damaged! About 24 tomato seedlings, 3 geraniums, and my young dwarf grapefruit, tangelo, and orange looked okay. There is no supplementary heat in either GH.

Low temp this morning out here was supposed to be 8 degrees. Last night when I got home from AJ, discovered that when DS had watered all the plants while I was gone, he had not refilled the water containers in either greenhouse. So since it was past the suntime needed to run the water pump, I filled gallon water jugs with hot water several times each, and drove back & forth to the big greenhouse to fill the 5-gallon pails out there. Didn't help, darn it. It was 24 in the big greenhouse. I don't unnerstan' it.

I am very pleased that nothing in the little greenhouse froze -- in fact the temp in it was well above freezing at 7:30 this morning. I know we do not have enough water in the big greenhouse -- 7 each 55 gallon drums, 5 each 35 gallon trash cans, 3 each 5 gallon buckets, and a few 1 gallon milk jugs. If I can get about twice that much water out there, plus put bubblewrap on the ceiling, I think it may be self-sufficient as far as heat. I'd rather get more water containers, which is cheaper than using some kind of electricty with all the paraphenalia (sp) I'd need.

Joanna, I have those little propane cannisters and a small heater too, but somehow running out to the green house in my bathroom at 4 am to light them is not that appealing! I just use them before bedtime to warm up my bathroom before I jump into that claw-foot tub! Ahhhhhhhhh. 8^)

I hooked up a 30 LBS tank to my propane heater so it will last for weeks. I don't run my GH until March 1st and it is still winter here then. Last year we had several days of -30ºC or -22ºF. The propane heater throws 9000BTU and the plants do really well. I use electric & propane in combination for the cold cold temps. Otherwise just the electric when it is around the freezing mark.