Home Made Greenhouse

My husband has made me a greenhouse for all of the seeds that I have been collecting over the past year. We are not sure if it will work. We would welcome any feedback pros or cons then we can adjust it accordingly.Any input would be helpful.

another

Are those window frames under the film?

my husband used pallets and removed some of the center slats.

This is the starting of the shelves inside.

very nice. talented hubby too. have fun with it.

It looks great,whats it anchored down to?

Pinky:

Your DH did a great job! A couple of things you might want to think about: as CC asked, what anchors it? You will need to attach some type of heavy duty strap to all 4 corners and centers, and then attach those to heavy duty tent poles that are driven into the ground. Another thing is ventilation. You might want to devise a way to allow heat out during the day so your "babies" don't cook. Enjoy your new GH!!! Smiles...Gretchen

Lucky lady
It looks really good. I am sure you will have a good time with it.
alice

It does look very sturdy. Nice shelves too, I would be sure to double line it tho - especially in MI, or you will never be able to heat it in the winter. You can attach the extra layer of plastic or bubble wrap inside to give it a dead air space.

Way TA go Pinky.......
.......I think that you have a built-in dead air space already if you put the second layer 'inside' because of the thickness of the pallet construction, prob around 4" at least. What a clever idea....also since most pallets are of hardwood it will resist rot that much longer.
........... As Kauffman said , make sure you anchor it securely and figure out some kind of ventilation opposite the door of you use a fan or on the roof if you want passive air flow.
......Peeps here never cease to amaze me with their inventiveness.
Shirley
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Thanks to you all for the feedback and help. That is a good idea about the ventilation. We are going to make a vent in the back of the greenhouse. We will also put double plastic on it. We bought a big roll and that will do the trick. As far as the anchores. We have non at this point. What are the anchores for? The greenhouse is very heavy, about 200-250 pounds. Is it to make sure the greenhouse dont blow away? We have our plastic attached with trim over each point where the plastic is attached to strengthen it. I am so happy and I think the hubby done a good thing here for me. Now he will not have to have my seeds and pots setting all over the house. LOL

This message was edited Nov 20, 2003 6:04 PM

Pinky...yes, the anchors are to keep it from blowing away or over... Even though its that heavy, it can still blow with a stiff wind, and that would be a real bummer. Know that you'll have fun with it!

Oh ok Kaufmann, thank you all so much for helping us get this greenhouse going. Love you all.

Pinky, These GH's are famous for blowing over in a good wind, and that would be so sad to see all the plants lost =(
.................They balloon up ...then Whoosh! ...GONE
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Hi scooterbug, the hubby is going out in the morning to add the other plastic and anchor it down. I will have the vents in a few days. I am keeping my fingers crossed. thanks for the help.

It looks fantastic! I'd love to do something like that,but unfortunately, Hubby isn't too keen on building one for me!

Lucky you!!!!

Melissa

heres the one dhmade for me out of FREEE windows!

heres the shelves inside
your going to love your greenhouse-i know im crazy about mine!
Id anchor it down -the winds are very tricky!

Im glad your here at daves with us-hope to see you this spring at my michigan get together-plant trade! :)

welcome,
dori

That is great,your DH done a great job. We thought of doing something like that, but windows are very expensive around here. When and where is the plant trade?

Dori - that is beautiful!! Are the shelves glass too - they lok like it - everything is soo cleeean.

Pinky the plant trade will be here at my house and im not sure of the date yet, but i will let you know! We had fun last yr! The windows were all free we just paid for the wood. I just collected them for a few years and then started the whine process!!! But honey everyone at daves has one--puppy eyes!!
The floor is upside down used carpet! cleans up easily! I can even vacuum it! I found an old dirt devil in the junk-works great! lol

Azalea--- the shelves are made of of rabbit wire stretched n stapled to the 2x4s! horseshoe suggested i use it and im sooo glad he did!

It sits empty of plants now-to much $$$ to heat all winter here in michigan-but its great for an afternoon sit in the middle of winter-if the sun is shinning it can get 80 and be 32 outside! luv it luv it!

Thanks for the info. Maybe I will start watching for windows and see what happens.

Notmartha very nice

waaaaaaaaah - I want one tooooooo!! Where do you ever find old windows???? I live in the wrong place.......

Thanks everyone-i think the pallets was a great idea too!

I got the windows from my MIL replacing her porch windows-6crankouts one at each end of the gh and 4 on roof great for venelation and they all had screens to keep the bugs out!
My Dh read the paper and in the "freebies" were windows-anderson house replacement windows-he went there and no one was there so he loaded a load and brought them home-went back and someone was there and he got another load! :)The guy said there was 2ce as many the day before!
We watch the papers all the time for free windows and glass doors.
The door on mine is a sliding patio door turned into a hinged door! I have a collection of windows in the barn for my next GH.
I like it better than plastic cuz i can sit at my desk and just look out at the garden. The boys and i have camped out in it and caught butterflies and let them fly around in there. I have enjoyed it LOTZ!

Nice greenhouses you guys. For old windows check around with some builders in your area, they may know of a salvage yard for used building materials or maybe one just for windows and glass doors. Also check the yellow pages under used building materials and see if your local recycling center has any. Ask a lot of people. We bought some windows for a house remodeling job from a salvage yard.

pinky100, great GH you DH built for you. We live in same zone. I do heat mine in the winter , try to keep at about 50 degrees. You will need some kind of ventilation, it is surprising how hot it can get in there with the sunshine.

Notmartha, yours looks great too.They get filled up very fast. The glass windows should be very good. Donna

Yes I am so excited to see what I can grow out of the pallet greenhouse. Now we are doing fall sowing, but rest assured the GH will be full this winter. Can not wait to see all the flowers in the spring that I grew in it. Hubby loves flowers too, which makes me so happy.

yeah i kinda like flowers too-heres one of my gardens

This message was edited Nov 23, 2003 9:29 PM

Great ideas for GHs here! Wish I'd have seen these before ordering a kit. 8(

Best of luck to you on all of your propagations!

Mercy!
Two very nice greenhouses! Ya'll love them, don't you!?

Lookin' good!

Ya'll better reward your hubbies somehow! Hmmm...take em out to eat? Fix a big meal? A "Hubby Day At The Spa"? Or better yet..."crank up the truck! There's enuff stuff up the road on the curb to build another greenhouse!"

Pinky, Dori/notmartha...ya'll could be in the greenhouse bizness soon!

(Love it! Just love it! Ya'll did good!)

notmartha You have got the most fantastic flower garden. How long did it take you to get it so beautiful? You can see that you have worked very hard on it.

Horseshoe, yes I owe my hubby big time for the GH. We went out for chinese the other night. So he is all happy. Now I want a glass GH....heheh

Mine is all glass too! There are all kinds of glass places around town....when they take out old ones, and leave them in the backs of the shops, they are there, if you ask the crews...and mostof the time the answer is yes! Glass patio doors make for super walls! We also used some of them to enclose a patio room off the grnhse......have fun,......glad to see people recycling...Elaine

OK you guyz......
......... Ya got me goin' here. I picked up 2 very large aluminum clad double hung windows and the shades that went on them. I'm on my way !
........I think I'll put one on each end which will be solid. Now I just need something for the sidewall and roof. I'm building a shed type against one of our barns.Roof will prob be the old style clear fiberglass panels.
........ Got to start small, if I like this one and keep it, I can always upgrade the roof panels. Since I do not intend to have a year round GH, to dang cold here, just about anything will do.
.......I saw a good steel entrance door with really nice hardware on it but it was too heavy for what I need =(
........Thanks for it incentive,

shirley

Scooterbug fiberglass will turn yellow from the effects of ultraviolet rays in about five years. You may want to take a look at Dynaglass which looks a lot like the other but is good for twenty years. If you do use fiberglass try to wash it off with soap twice a year as this will extend it's life greatly.

Great thought go green house. The used sliding doors give you entrance, light,ventalation hey what could be better. Ernie

Ernie,
.... Thanks, I am familiar with the drawbacks of the old style fiberglass. We have a lot of it here and there on the farm.
.....Like I said start small and make sure before the big bucks get spent. This GH will mostly be used as a season extender.
......The way the cold winter winds whip up this hill sometimes it actually takes your breath away....brrrr ,hate even thinking about it.
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Scooterbug yes materials on hand especially for proto types are the way to go.

I grow pretty good toms, peppers, and cukes in a season extender made with rebar,4x4s,1"pvc , and clear plastic.

The older I get the more I hate the cold but the odd thing is I would love to live in Alaska go figure. The power of the fish I guess.

Good luck with your project and enjoy. Ernie.

Pinky, I just this week had my son upgrade mine which is similar to yours. What kind of plastic did you use?? I went for two seasons with a very heavy plastic from the hardware store, and got sick of replacing it, cheap, but a pain to replace. I had him cover it with a green house material that I had shipped in. It is constructed like cardboard with two sides and the flutes inbetween. It was expensive, but I think it will make it permanent. I thought about glass, but had some on the roof previously and it broke from the snow weight, and the sun was too bright coming through clear glass during the summer. I will try to post some pics tomorrow, as we are all on the same page here, and will be able to help each other!! Legit

Legit,
..... Color me envious. Sounds like you got the best. Polycarbonate twin wall.
>a thought for you northern gardeners....A steep pitched roof will minimize the suns heating effect in the summer, while maximizing the effect of the low winter sun =)
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This message was edited Nov 30, 2003 10:30 AM