Garden shed greenhouse project

[dave1949]

Do a google search on "Elliot Coleman" and "Barbara Damrosch". They are the gurus of hoop tunnels. We made one out of lenghts of galvanized electrical conduit bent into a U and covered with plastic to grow peppers and tomatoes and cucumbers. It was 2x10ft pieces joined together so each arch was 20 feet total. That way I could stand inside of it. The ends were stuck into the ground but they were inside other larger sleeves of steel conduit so I could remove them. It worked amazing but man was it ugly. Ha ha ha. I lived in a subdivision then.

I want to do mini hoop rows out of cinder block ties with platic over them next year. Our growing season would be like yours and it's frustrating to say the least. For cool weather crops though the hoop tunnels work good at getting an early or extended crop and for the heat loving crops they seemed to be good. A bonus was less Vwilt and Fwilt on the tomato plants when we mulched them and soker hose watered them.

We love our fresh produce and the satisfaction of growing it. I can't wait to use this hot house to full advantage next year. I'm getting hungry just thinking of it.

Thanks JimmyJ.
The 20' hoop length sounds like a good place to start. Especially the being able to stand up part Besides, if I put one up, we will have beautiful growing weather. Ha. Ha. Do you think the green house films are worth the cost, or just get visqueen at the lumber yard?

Of all the years, I tried to grow ornamental dipper and bird house gourds last summer. They have a 125 day maturity. I started seeds indoors, babied them on a heat mat in a south window. Hardened off and transplanted and watched them do NOTHING for about 4 weeks. I picked one decent sized gourd, very green of course, before the frost. I have been trying to dry it out ever since. The rest were all little tiny things.

Thanks again.
Dave.

 

[jimmyj]

I don't bother with greenhouse plastic. I get plain old vapor barrier (it is called "super 6" up here and made by Duchesne). It lasts me at least 6 years every time so I'm happy with that for the price.

By coincidence we grew some odd dipper gourds for the first time this year. We got 4 monsters in the new greenhouse. We put a paving stone floor in the middle of the greenhouse but have "beds" along the outside edges filled with really good compost, aged manure and Miracle Gro soil. No fooling around here (except the stupid cat thinks it is a litter box). The vines took over the place, it was like the little shop of horrors.

We sent pictures to the company we ordered the seeds from. The variety were called Maranka.

For the structire, I tied the top of the hoops together by taking a 2x3 board and drilling a hole through it every 4 feet for the hoops to run through. That kept the hoops equal distance at the top ridge and gave me a surface to attach the plastic to. I stapled the plastic to a piece of lathe strapping along the bottom edges and attached them to the ground (can't remember how but it could be unhooked and rolled up). Along the top ridge, I used another piece of lathe as the plastic rolls were only long enough to cover half the hoop. I stapled them to the lathe and then screwed the lathe into the 2x3 with the lathe on the outside. It held up fine.

 

[dave1949]

Thanks JimmyJ.

That sounds like a very good method of building the hoops. It's filed away
These tips are precious. If you buy this stuff from a catalog, it gets ridiculously expensive quickly - as you know.

I had lots of gourde vines too and a gazillion blossoms. I had no idea they were that viney. Not every blossom set a gourde, I don't know how they could have, there were so many. I had never tried them before. Maybe I over did the fertilizer to have produced that much vine and blossom.

Dave.

 

[lakngulf]

JimmyJ, I am glad you renewed this thread with a visit to the greenhouse. Lots of great thoughts on growing the good stuff. I plan to check out some of the references, and read more carefully some of the suggestions. We have plenty of sun here in central Alabama, but we always like to get a head start and extend the growing season.

Your greenhouse, wood stove and all, turned out to be an inviting showplace. Good job

 

[jinman]

Of all the years, I tried to grow ornamental dipper and bird house gourds last summer. They have a 125 day maturity. I started seeds indoors, babied them on a heat mat in a south window. Hardened off and transplanted and watched them do NOTHING for about 4 weeks. I picked one decent sized gourd, very green of course, before the frost. I have been trying to dry it out ever since. The rest were all little tiny things.

Dave, were these the type of gourds you were trying to grow. In 2007, I planted them for the first time and had more than I ever would have a use for. I think I still have 8 or 10 stored away, but most of them I never used for anything. This picture was taken in September and I think I planted them in April or early May. They do take a long growing season.

 

[jimmyj]

Jim, those are awesome. Could you make bird houses out of them?

Here the pics of the weird ones we grew. To the point of the blossoms, yes, there were tons of them and lots of little fruits but only a few got big.

 

[jinman]

Jim, those are awesome. Could you make bird houses out of them?

Here the pics of the weird ones we grew. To the point of the blossoms, yes, there were tons of them and lots of little fruits but only a few got big.

Yes, Jim, I think could is the operative word here. We could and probably will make bird houses out of several when I get my garden spot finished. Having birds for insect control is somethng we like to promote.

I think your gourds probably suffered from a lack of sunlight. In our very long and hot summers with direct sunlight, the gourds seemed to really thrive. They need similar conditions to watermelons in my opinion. We had hundreds of the little decorative gourds too. We grew them without any plans on what we'd do if we had a bumper crop. When we had that bumper crop, we just kinda scratched our heads and left them laying in the field.

 

[dave1949]

Dave, were these the type of gourds you were trying to grow. In 2007, I planted them for the first time and had more than I ever would have a use for. I think I still have 8 or 10 stored away, but most of them I never used for anything. This picture was taken in September and I think I planted them in April or early May. They do take a long growing season.

Yes Jim, some would have grown into that general hour glass shape. The only one of mine that reached a normal size is bulbous at one end, a bit smaller than a soccer ball, and has a curling top about 10" long.

I don't know how the birdhouses are made from them, it must involve cutting some of the pithy insides out, or perhaps if they are ripe, that dries and shrinks on it's own? Beyond that, I guess matching the diameter of the hole to the preference of the bird you are aiming at having around would be needed.

A plant with a 125 days to maturity is really asking for a lot of luck here and requires indoors starts and/or the use of a greenhouse or tunnel. I usually stick to maturities of 90 days or less for regular outdoor planting - and then hope for 90 good days We generally have fewer than six 90* days in a summer. Last summer there were none, zip, nada.
Dave.

 

[randy41]

Is important for gourds, like pumpkins, to get pollinated by insects. I've grown those big gourds (cavemans club, speckled swan, etc.) and sold them at the farmers market. they mostly get a lot of comments but not much in the way of sales.