Neebie to GHs And a Question

Hi,
My DH will be setting up my GH today. I checked out a video from the library by Jeff Ball on How to grow plants in a geenhouse. He mentioned how he doesn't use his GH is the summer. I'm thinking how that makes sense because it gets really hot here in the summers. 100+. I have a HF green house, plastic. Do any of you cover yours to keep the plastic from getting damaged when it's so hot? I know plastic does. But don't know too much about GHs yet. Sure sounds like allot to learn but I'm looking forward to it, sounds like fun. Also I discovered we are setting it up the wrong way. He said the long side should be facing the south to get max winter sunlight exposure. My hubby already poured the cement to ancor it in the ground to its footing. The door faces the south. Will that matter that much, I'm not sure if I will use it much in the dead of winter. It is only 6X8 too. Guess we should of listened to the tape before we set the footing.

Sagewoodfarm

Hi Sagewood,

Hopefully someone with a PC GH will confirm this, but I've never heard of PC heat damage, even in warmer zones.

I use my GH all summer here in zone 5b/6a. With proper cooling, you can keep the temp at or even just below the outside temp.

This link includes a description of GH orientation and other construction details: http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1105/

I wouldn't worry too much about it, my GH is N-S, too.

SB

I don;t have a PC greenhouse, but I did have a PC irrigation system set up in one of the greenhouses, and turned off the fan one summer for a few days to sterilize it and the PC warped really badly from the heat. If the greenhouse is only 6x8', I would consider removing the plastic each summer, esp if you don't have a fan in there to cool off the air inside.
OTH, maybe because the greenhouse is so small, the heat may not build up so bad in it, esp if the door is opened. This greenhouse was over 60' long and the door was closed, so the heat built up pretty high in it.

I don't know what all your little abbreviations stand for, but I can tell you about what we do.
We have 3 houses, shortly will be 4.
The oldest is about 8 years. Plastic has been on this one for 5 years.
We use it all summer, every summer. It holds are production tomatoes.
High temperature in there is about 100º.
The house is 30 x 96 & has 2 - 32" exhaust fans. We have the intake area slightly smaller to create a wind. This helps with pollenation.
Tomatoes won't pollenate in extreme heat, but we only lost 2 clusters last year.
Our other houses are for growing bedding plants & vegetable starts.
They are shut down in mid June. At that time fans go off & heat goes up. They will get so hot that you cannot go in them. We have never had any trouble with the plastic.
Some of the black plastic inserts that were setting around in there did get cooked. Twisted & deformed!
These are hoop houses covered with 4 year 6 mil greenhouse plastic sheets. 2 layers on each house.
The big one faces east-west. The other 3 are NW-SE. The direction was determined by lay of the land.
Bernie

Hi Bernie, FYI

HF = Harbor Frieght, the maker of a 6x8 hobby greenhouse
PC = polycarbonate

"I don't know, nutting"
From Sgt. Schultz of Hogans Heros.
Bernie

Hey Bernie-do you ever have any damage to the electrical stuff in the greenhouse when you turn off the fan ( the heater etc) I would sure save money in electricity if I shut the fans off in my greenhouses in the summer but it gets so hot in there, it makes me nervous about some kind of damage being done. Like I said above, the PVC pipes got wasted from the heat, and one summer I had the fan off in the 100'x30' house and I checked in there and the heater was on! I think the thermostat, or the electrical unit in the heater went wacko because of the extremely high temps. I had to take a deep breath and run to the end of the house to hit the fan breaker to get it back on to cool the house down enough to turn off the heater.

I haven't, but all the units are made for outdoor use.
Bernie

Tigerlily, for my information, did you have damage to PVC or to polycarbonate? SB

This will be my first summer with my HF greenhouse. I think any small greenhouse is more difficult to maintain steady temps than the larger ones due to a smaller space that heats up fast.

I dont plan to use mine during the summer as it will get alot of sun. Honestly...once all frost danger is over I plan to open the top vent and leave the door mostly open. I will invest in a shade cover if I have the extra dough but that might not be possible this year.

One thing I will say....order you an auto vent right now...you must have that to automatically open the top vent...if not you will cook your precious plants very fast.

Stressbaby, its PVC thats warping. Also the grey PVC rigid conduit that carries the electrical wires is also warping a bit. I looked up polycarbonate, and it seems tough, and... clear? Have never seen a gh made from it. Are these gh's made from tubes of PC or sheets? Seems to come in both.