Rocks on the floor of Green House

Do any of you have rocks on your floor?
I am putting down river rocks and man is it making a difference in the temp inside and I am not finished putting them all down yet.

Lavina

I have pebbles on the floor of my small 6x8 greenhouse. I put landscape fabric under them. About 4 inches of pebbles. When I water, I let the excess flow onto the floor to help raise the humidity for my orchids. So far I haven't had weeds or anything growing up thru it. Had it for 3 years now. Haven't noticed that it raises the temp, but I guess that's possible since they would absorb heat from the sun. With the shelving and plants in mine, the floor doesn't get much sun.

I put small smooth gravel, but this is a new greenhouse so I can't compare.

How big are the river rocks? Are you laying them like cobblestones? Love to see a pic. =0) Jay

I was going to put rocks, pebbles on the floor, but my dealer said no dont do that. It can give a home to insects.

One of the people from my Hobby Greenhouse Assoc. was showing pics last month. He installed a small circulating fan at the top of his GH to pick up the rising heat. It blows down a solid PVC pipe which then attaches to another PVC pipe with holes drilled in it. He dug a trench at the back of his greenhouse laid the pipe with the holes in the trench and covered the pipe with stone. Hope I have described this well enough for you to picture it. Not what you are talking about but it works very well to capture and retain some lost heat. You will get some solar gain from bricks, concrete pavers and stone. Darker colored floor will absorb more heat but lighter floor will reflect more light up so think about what you need most. Also if you use wheeled carts the size and type of stone will be an issue, you can do a mix of pavers in the isle and loose stone under the benches.

I don't have a problem with insects living in the pebbles. It may have to do with the green anoles that also live in the GH all year long. LOL

No insects spotted yet but I have lots of Skanks.
I am using the size rocks that are one size above pea rocks.
Maybe I will take a picture and put it on a disc and get one of you to post them for me.
I have lost the USB cable to my camer so I am having to get disc anfd with vista can't get the photo program to work either. GRRRRRRRRRR

Lavina

Lavina, Have you tried ebay for a replacement cable. I was able to buy a camera battery charger cheap there when I lost mine. Or if it has a removable card, you can get a usb card reader for it. Becky

Good ideas I think I will try e-bay and then see about USB card reader.

Lavina

Lavina,
This may be a dumb question but what is a skank?
Linda

Linda - she may have meant skink - a lizard-like amphibian. Ours here are black with bright stripes running down the length of their bodies - very beautiful! They live in damp places under mulch or debris. Most I see are about 2-3 inches long, but sometimes I'll see a biggie - maybe 6" long! Samantha

Here's a pic:

Graceful thats it. LOL

Lavina

Wow, those are really cool. I have never seen one here is CA, but maybe I'm just sheltered.lol.
We have lots of snakes and regular big lizzards though. Its pretty hot and dry here in the summer.

Cool. I was wondering too because around here a skank isn't a nice word. :-O

LOL!!!

lol@skank= funny
I use upside down carpet in my GH

LindaCA,
If you do some wildlife research, you may find there is a native skink in your area. They are pretty shy and usually hide under rocks and boards. I know we have a native skink in central New Mexico, but it's rare to ever see it. It doesn't dart around and make itself obvious like the blue tail lizards we have all over. =0)