Garden shed greenhouse project

toy · May 31, 2009

Taylortractornut said:
Great looking green house sure looks better than mine. I made a 13 by 21 oiut of a couple trampoline frames. I used some film from FarmTek that was 150 bucks for the whole sheet.

I have had the same idea of using trampoline frame as a frame for a green house. I already have the two frames for a couple years but that is as far as I got , could you take a picture of yours and post it. I think that would be a good use for them.

jimmyj · Jun 1, 2009

I made a mistake. It's .006 inch thick plastic or .015 ml.

As for venting, so far all we're doing is opening the front and rear doors. I plan to cut in a couple of windows in the gable ends of the highest part. Lee Valley tools has little temperature sensitive pistons that open or close the windows more or less as the temp goes up. If I have to I'll put in a fan but usually by the time it gets really hot we've got all the plants out of it.

Heat-Activated Window Opener - Lee Valley Tools

I sure hope it gets warm soon. Our marigolds and tomato plants are getting really tall and leggy but they are still calling for crappy temps for another week.

randy41 · Jun 1, 2009

I have a 10x48 hoophouse that I erected with a door on each end and roll up sides. Opening the doors has been sufficient ventilation so far and I have not yet needed to roll up the sides.

jinman · Jun 1, 2009

Does anybody remember when greenhouses were really greenhouses? I grew up on a tract of land my father had purchased from a nursery. Near us were their main greenhouses and they were metal framed glass structures with flat pea-green paint on the inside of the glass. Everything I see in new greenhouses uses poly film. Of course, back in the 30s when the glass greenhouses were built, there was no poly film. That was created by the space program.

randy41 · Jun 1, 2009

I seem to remember the windows being painted white.

hunterridgefarm · Jun 1, 2009

VERY NICE!! Now you got me thinking about my plans. I hope to start my greenhouse by Fall...as well as the potting shed...pole barn...equipment shed...

David

JohnDeere4300 · Jun 1, 2009

Very nice job!!!

I have been wanting to build one for along time.....Yours has helped me decide on the way i want to go with it, but i need to cut about 6 big trees.

Thanks for sharing

Taylortractornut · Jun 1, 2009

Toy Im uploading a few pics of the frame and how I notched the middle hoops pockets to take a solid fence top rail. the pocktes wont let a 1 3/4 hole saw in so I took it to a friends exhaust shop and he expanded them a hair and I used a 1 3/4 hole saw and lots of oil to cut through the hoop. I made 2 inter mediate braces out of cane poles but they snapped in a storm a few weeks ago. well the front one did but the arches and the poly held up the water till I siphoned it off into the greenhouse to fill a water tank. I filled 2 55 gallon drums full plus a 5 gallon bucket. Made me a belivers a 8.5 pounds per gallon. I started over 450 plants in here right now. I plan on making a larger house when I tear down the white house in the background. I may also use part of it as a high tunnel.

jimmyj · Jun 2, 2009

Hey Jinman. I do remember glass greehouses. There are still lots of them down in the south part of Ontario but around here many many have been let go into disrepair. It's just like the old pioneer barns. They're just falling down. Shame really.

jinman · Jun 2, 2009

jimmyj said:
Hey Jinman. I do remember glass greehouses. There are still lots of them down in the south part of Ontario but around here many many have been let go into disrepair. It's just like the old pioneer barns. They're just falling down. Shame really.

Well, through the magic of Google Earth, I can bring you down to front-row center to look at the old greenhouses. The Selby family still owns these greenhouses. They are not what they once were, but they are still in use today. The Selby family moved to Denton, Tx in the late 1890's and set up their nursery business. Their old victorian house has been moved from a location near the greenhouses into town and is a historical museum.

In the first picture, you can see the main three greenhouses. Although the paint is faded, it is still a slightly green tint. The big clear-glass greenhouse was added when I was in high school. It doesn't seem to be holding up as well as the original greenhouses.

As a kid, this greenhouse opened my eyes to the wide variety of plants and flowers available. I still remember the first caladiums I ever saw there and how fascinated I was with that plant. They are still one of my favorite plants.

Okay, enough of this hijack down memory lane.