My Winter Garden (pics taken 12/31/10)

alamo5000 · January 9, 2011

Here are some photos of my winter greenhouse garden. All the photos were taken 12/31/10.

Since these photos were taken I have taken out the partition in my greenhouse and have installed another plug so I can run a second heater.

recruiterg · January 9, 2011

Great pics. Is the greenhouse a store bought unit, or did you make it yourself out of PVC pipe?

alamo5000 · January 9, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by recruiterg

Great pics. Is the greenhouse a store bought unit, or did you make it yourself out of PVC pipe?

Completely home made. For under 300 bucks. More like 250.

Total is 12 foot wide by 30 feet long.

barefootgardener · January 9, 2011

Very nice pics! Great job on the GH! I love seeing the live greenery this time of year when I have below 0 temps and lots of snow!

Chara · January 9, 2011

Nice hoop house, alamo5000!
Did you use a green house plastic for covering?
I made something similar, but used a construction type of plastic from HD and now wondering for how long it will last.
Do you use any kind of heater?

alamo5000 · January 9, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chara

Nice hoop house, alamo5000!
Did you use a green house plastic for covering?
I made something similar, but used a construction type of plastic from HD and now wondering for how long it will last.
Do you use any kind of heater?

I used a 'clear' tarp bought online at a company called 'tarpaflex'...google the name...

The material is actually a very loose mesh of strings sandwiched in between two layers of clear material. Its actually a 'tarp' so its very tough and its UV treated for outdoor use.

A 20 foot by 30 foot piece of the material was $85. If you make a smaller greenhouse its much cheaper. It also comes with brass grommets every so many feet/inches just like any other tarp.

Yes, of course I use a heater. I have a small 1500 watt electric fan forced heater, actually now I have two that are in use. Before I had only one spare electric plug so I could only use one heater. Recently we ran some more wires to the barn and now I have a second plug and hence a second heater.

That black plastic you see in the back was my partition... when I was able to add a second heater I took that partition down within the last couple of days.

I am staying between 15 and 20 degrees warmer than the outdoors temps when both heaters are running and no partition. (Its 39 degrees outside right now and I can monitor both temps remotely). 12 foot by 30 foot and I am staying plus 15-20 degrees up.

What you see in the pics is actually only about half of the greenhouse. The other half was completely empty until recently.

alamo5000 · January 9, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chara

Nice hoop house, alamo5000!
Did you use a green house plastic for covering?
I made something similar, but used a construction type of plastic from HD and now wondering for how long it will last.
Do you use any kind of heater?

Regarding the greenhouse I did quite a bit of thinking on it...and experimenation....

Ultimately I used gray conduit...I did so because it is designed for outdoors use and is UV treated. Regular white PVC isn't treated and will break down and become brittle after a while.

None the less for 3/4 inch conduit it was 1.09 for each piece.

I glued two pieces together and realized quickly that 10 feet wide will place far too much stress on the glued pipe joint. 12 foot or more is the best. They are secured to the ground by driving rebar stakes in the ground and putting the pipe over it.

I have lots of tricks if anyone is interested. I secured the tarp to landscape timbers with nails and fender washers through each grommet. So far its lasted through 35 mph wind gusts.

akgardengirl · January 10, 2011

How many plants were you able to get in there? Nice set up, kinda like the covering I have on my put up and take down gh.
Sue B.

alamo5000 · January 10, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by akgardengirl

How many plants were you able to get in there? Nice set up, kinda like the covering I have on my put up and take down gh.
Sue B.

Grand total I have something like 45 tomato plants. I also have two zucchini plants, an eggplant, and several large houseplants that belong to a family member...

Farmer Matt · January 11, 2011

Does the tarp let in the sun light like a 6mill plastic would

alamo5000 · January 11, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farmer Matt

Does the tarp let in the sun light like a 6mill plastic would

Some of the 3mil plastic is really clear...kind of like saran wrap from your kitchen.

The 6 mil plastic seems kinda 'cloudy' to me.

My tarp is at least as good as 6 mil. Of course there is still a bit of a 'shade effect' that I have noticed but nothing is ever gonna be perfect.

Farmer Matt · January 13, 2011

Here is the link to the greenhouse that I am going to build.

www.albertahomegardening.com/how-to-build-an-inexpensive-hoop-style-greenhouse

Mark0820 · January 13, 2011

That's a nice greenhouse. It must be nice to have tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant all year round. Are those 5 gal. buckets from HD (orange)? Do you just put holes in the bottom for drainage?

cloz · January 13, 2011

Don't ever let temperatures get too hot in the greenhouse or the pvc pipes will wilt like a soft spaghetti noodle then re-harden into whatever shape it wilted into when the temp drops. I used 1/2" and 1 1/2" grey (electricians) pvc for a structure to cover my boat (hasn't seen water in a couple of years). I covered that with a green tarp and the pipes (including the 1 1/2") wilted. The only thing holding up the tarp now are the wood supports I put in to carry the snow load. You can also form the pipes into any shape you like by heating them till they get soft and then bending them. When they cool they will hold the new shape. I use a paint stripping heat gun to heat the area I want to bend.

alamo5000 · January 13, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark0820

That's a nice greenhouse. It must be nice to have tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant all year round. Are those 5 gal. buckets from HD (orange)? Do you just put holes in the bottom for drainage?

This is my first year trying to over winter the plants.

In all reality I have been pretty good about keeping the plants alive...that being said, December and January so far have both been really slow as for fruit. The plants are covered in flowers but setting fruit is not going on so much.

I am figuring out quickly that I have two seasons (really)...based on my observation I can get tomatoes (realistically) from February or especially March through July. July it gets so scalding hot things shut down.

If I do a second planting starting the seeds in controlled environments where I can transplant them into buckets around late August, I will get another batch of tomatoes all the way up to and through November.

Yes, they are Home Depot buckets. They work good. They are UV treated so they are not breaking down like some other buckets do.

I drilled 4 holes about the size of the tip of my pinky finger in the bottom side of the buckets. Do not put them in the direct bottom. Over time, this will greatly reduce the life of the bucket. The bottom of the bucket will break if you put the holes in the bottom. Sides are better...about an inch up from the ground.

January 9, 2011	#2
recruiterg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Edina, MN (Zone 4) Posts: 945	Great pics. Is the greenhouse a store bought unit, or did you make it yourself out of PVC pipe?

January 9, 2011	#4
barefootgardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Michigan Zone 4b Posts: 1,291	Very nice pics! Great job on the GH! I love seeing the live greenery this time of year when I have below 0 temps and lots of snow!

January 9, 2011	#5
Chara Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 46	Nice hoop house, alamo5000! Did you use a green house plastic for covering? I made something similar, but used a construction type of plastic from HD and now wondering for how long it will last. Do you use any kind of heater?

January 10, 2011	#8
akgardengirl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anchorage, AK zone 3/4 Posts: 1,410	How many plants were you able to get in there? Nice set up, kinda like the covering I have on my put up and take down gh. Sue B.

January 11, 2011	#10
Farmer Matt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Tracy, California Posts: 63	Does the tarp let in the sun light like a 6mill plastic would

January 13, 2011	#12
Farmer Matt Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Tracy, California Posts: 63	Here is the link to the greenhouse that I am going to build. www.albertahomegardening.com/how-to-build-an-inexpensive-hoop-style-greenhouse

January 13, 2011	#13
Mark0820 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 907	That's a nice greenhouse. It must be nice to have tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant all year round. Are those 5 gal. buckets from HD (orange)? Do you just put holes in the bottom for drainage?

January 13, 2011	#14
cloz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Southern Connecticut Posts: 435	Don't ever let temperatures get too hot in the greenhouse or the pvc pipes will wilt like a soft spaghetti noodle then re-harden into whatever shape it wilted into when the temp drops. I used 1/2" and 1 1/2" grey (electricians) pvc for a structure to cover my boat (hasn't seen water in a couple of years). I covered that with a green tarp and the pipes (including the 1 1/2") wilted. The only thing holding up the tarp now are the wood supports I put in to carry the snow load. You can also form the pipes into any shape you like by heating them till they get soft and then bending them. When they cool they will hold the new shape. I use a paint stripping heat gun to heat the area I want to bend.