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Built a greenhouse just about a year ago. Look at all the "kits" and honestly didn't like most of them for one reason or another. Place an hour and a half from here is known for good quality commercial type greenhouses but they are stupid expensive.
We built a 12x24 greenhouse of wood, engineered trusses and polycarbonate panels. Have about $3500. IIRC in the structure.
Put in 4x4's 12 feet long set 3 foot in the ground in concrete, spacing was 4 foot on center. For the top band on which we put the trusses, we went with 2x10s and double banded them. The trusses were put 2' on center since there really was no load bearing on them- lightweight clear roofing panels. Across the top of the trusses I put 2x6s every 18 inches to attach the roofing to.
For structure on the walls, I did 2x6's every 24 inches. This gave a lot of rigidity to the structure as well as attachment surface for the 4X8 polycarbonate sheeting. I was able to get these off of Amazon, biding my time and waiting till I could get them in 8 packs for $299. We started with the plastic H strips to connect them, which are a major PITA by the way. When we ran short we found the metal ones which aren't much more and are a lot tougher looking AND much easier to use. The polycarbonate was attached to the 2x6s with fat head screws like used for screwing down metal roofing.
Gutters were placed on both long sides of the greenhouse. They terminate into a 500 gallon water tank we got on clearance at Lowes a few months before starting the project- always keep your eyes open for deals!
Inside the greenhouse I ran overhead sprinklers and later also ground level stick in the ground sprinklers based off of drip tubing.
The greenhouse is tied into our normal water grid, but can also be run off the rainwater catchment for the building itself. This is done via a 12v "on demand" RV water pump which is powered from a 12v battery connected to a spare Trace C40 controller I had and a 120 watt panel on the roof of the greenhouse
C40 charge controller on wall to small 12v battery in black box. On demand pump seen to the right of the black box. The "table" here was made with 4X4s for legs, 2x4s for support and pieces of excess and salvaged wire doubled up for the top. This allows excess water to drain through when we are hand watering starts when they are small.
This gives us two options for water in the greenhouse- 1. Our standard water grid on the homestead. 2. A stand alone water system for the greenhouse consisting of a 500 gallon tank and a 300 gallon IBC tote used as overflow from the 500 gallon tank connected to the on demand pump for power.
This system has worked great for the most part, it will push good pressure to run 6 overhead sprinklers inside the greenhouse or the ground sprinklers with no problem. The only issue I've had is human error. Usually I "turn on" the greenhouse when we start our animal and garden chores in the morning. One day I forgot and left it running when it was running water from the catchment tank. Needless to say the next day I go out and it did it's job well- 500 gallons of irrigation into the greenhouse that day!! I will add a timer once I find one that works worth a damn. And I added an overflow tank as additional backup. Seems like when we get rain it's very heavy, then when we don't, we often don't have it for a while. So 800 gallons gives a little more buffer to water as need be.
In addition when running the piping in the greenhouse I took a 50 foot'ish section of black flexible irrigation pipe used for supplying drip irrigation and I ran it in the rafters of the trusses. Back and forth in the rafters and terminated it at a ballvalve hanging down on a center 4x4 support. The water in this section of black pipe heats up considerably even in the winter and can be used for warm/hot showers in the greenhouse if need be. We always try to plan our projects to get every possible use we can out of something.
Ventilation was down on the gable ends via standard metal gable vents and 12v 80w radiator fans. These are tied directly to 130 watt flexible panels on the roof. For dead of winter I installed simple shut off switches for these, but most of the year they run from sunup to sun down. The door is left open during the hotter parts of the year.
So a year in now, how did it do?
Well I expected that this would be a lot more useful for us in the fall/winter then the summer months and so far that's been proven out. Great yields the first year in there but mainly from November through around May-
Pic here is from early in the first season, early Feb of this year-
Garden peas growing up the middle bed that we placed a piece of fencing left over from the post hurricane rebuild of the garden area in.
Arugula, onions, garlic and carrots, along with starts of brocolli on the raised shelf. On that back wall we have since added two section of used gutter hung on a slight downward angle. These were filled with soil and strawberries planted in them. Drip irrigation from the ground watering system was run into the top section, which drains also in the bottom section of gutter and then down into the beds on the backwall.
Table for starting starts and holding supplies, the power and water system, etc. We started all of our plants for the main garden as well as 90% of the herbs in our herb garden this year in the greenhouse. This saved us a ton of money versus buying dozens and dozens of tomato and pepper plants, eggplant, etc. etc. We watched our local walmarts near the end of the season and caught a lot of seed starting soil mixes on clearance at 80% off as well as additional seeds, a mat heater for starts, etc. So we have materials to start seedlings for transplants for several years now built up.
Most of the first season we primarily used rabbit manure, some chicken manure, wood ashes as the main amendments in the greenhouse. Extra coffee was poured into empty jugs and brought in once a week as well as urine. I drive a lot for training and keep an empty jug :) In short, very little amendments from outside the homestead was used this first season in the greenhouse.
We were able to keep carrots in the ground producing till early JUNE which I thought was excellent considering our heat here and the fact that in the summer the greenhouse was averaging 110-120 each day! I had been thinning the carrots slowly over the season and around early June something got in the greenhouse and ate the last of them.
Tomatoes, peppers and beans were planted for summer usage in the greenhouse. Despite fans running constantly, the door open, being watered several times a day, etc. I think the heat was too much for all but the peppers. The tomatoes went very leggy and produced just about nothing despite getting huge. The beans grew and then died out altogether. The peppers did well and are still producing in there.
So as I expected, the summer time usage of the greenhouse may be limited. I'll experiment more with other crops next summer in there. We did get a lot of limes from a couple lime trees in there but overall the summer sucked in there. But we are in a climate where it's very hard to keep anything growing from around mid july through often mid September due to the heat.
It's a nice plan to go in the dead of winter and find things growing, green and lush. We ate a lot more fresh vegetables this last winter/early spring then we normally would.
With all the crap being added into food, the weekly "do not eat this" food recalls, etc. this is an important part of staying healthy as well as for survival.
We built a 12x24 greenhouse of wood, engineered trusses and polycarbonate panels. Have about $3500. IIRC in the structure.
Put in 4x4's 12 feet long set 3 foot in the ground in concrete, spacing was 4 foot on center. For the top band on which we put the trusses, we went with 2x10s and double banded them. The trusses were put 2' on center since there really was no load bearing on them- lightweight clear roofing panels. Across the top of the trusses I put 2x6s every 18 inches to attach the roofing to.
For structure on the walls, I did 2x6's every 24 inches. This gave a lot of rigidity to the structure as well as attachment surface for the 4X8 polycarbonate sheeting. I was able to get these off of Amazon, biding my time and waiting till I could get them in 8 packs for $299. We started with the plastic H strips to connect them, which are a major PITA by the way. When we ran short we found the metal ones which aren't much more and are a lot tougher looking AND much easier to use. The polycarbonate was attached to the 2x6s with fat head screws like used for screwing down metal roofing.
Gutters were placed on both long sides of the greenhouse. They terminate into a 500 gallon water tank we got on clearance at Lowes a few months before starting the project- always keep your eyes open for deals!
Inside the greenhouse I ran overhead sprinklers and later also ground level stick in the ground sprinklers based off of drip tubing.
The greenhouse is tied into our normal water grid, but can also be run off the rainwater catchment for the building itself. This is done via a 12v "on demand" RV water pump which is powered from a 12v battery connected to a spare Trace C40 controller I had and a 120 watt panel on the roof of the greenhouse
C40 charge controller on wall to small 12v battery in black box. On demand pump seen to the right of the black box. The "table" here was made with 4X4s for legs, 2x4s for support and pieces of excess and salvaged wire doubled up for the top. This allows excess water to drain through when we are hand watering starts when they are small.
This gives us two options for water in the greenhouse- 1. Our standard water grid on the homestead. 2. A stand alone water system for the greenhouse consisting of a 500 gallon tank and a 300 gallon IBC tote used as overflow from the 500 gallon tank connected to the on demand pump for power.
This system has worked great for the most part, it will push good pressure to run 6 overhead sprinklers inside the greenhouse or the ground sprinklers with no problem. The only issue I've had is human error. Usually I "turn on" the greenhouse when we start our animal and garden chores in the morning. One day I forgot and left it running when it was running water from the catchment tank. Needless to say the next day I go out and it did it's job well- 500 gallons of irrigation into the greenhouse that day!! I will add a timer once I find one that works worth a damn. And I added an overflow tank as additional backup. Seems like when we get rain it's very heavy, then when we don't, we often don't have it for a while. So 800 gallons gives a little more buffer to water as need be.
In addition when running the piping in the greenhouse I took a 50 foot'ish section of black flexible irrigation pipe used for supplying drip irrigation and I ran it in the rafters of the trusses. Back and forth in the rafters and terminated it at a ballvalve hanging down on a center 4x4 support. The water in this section of black pipe heats up considerably even in the winter and can be used for warm/hot showers in the greenhouse if need be. We always try to plan our projects to get every possible use we can out of something.
Ventilation was down on the gable ends via standard metal gable vents and 12v 80w radiator fans. These are tied directly to 130 watt flexible panels on the roof. For dead of winter I installed simple shut off switches for these, but most of the year they run from sunup to sun down. The door is left open during the hotter parts of the year.
So a year in now, how did it do?
Well I expected that this would be a lot more useful for us in the fall/winter then the summer months and so far that's been proven out. Great yields the first year in there but mainly from November through around May-
Pic here is from early in the first season, early Feb of this year-
Garden peas growing up the middle bed that we placed a piece of fencing left over from the post hurricane rebuild of the garden area in.
Arugula, onions, garlic and carrots, along with starts of brocolli on the raised shelf. On that back wall we have since added two section of used gutter hung on a slight downward angle. These were filled with soil and strawberries planted in them. Drip irrigation from the ground watering system was run into the top section, which drains also in the bottom section of gutter and then down into the beds on the backwall.
Table for starting starts and holding supplies, the power and water system, etc. We started all of our plants for the main garden as well as 90% of the herbs in our herb garden this year in the greenhouse. This saved us a ton of money versus buying dozens and dozens of tomato and pepper plants, eggplant, etc. etc. We watched our local walmarts near the end of the season and caught a lot of seed starting soil mixes on clearance at 80% off as well as additional seeds, a mat heater for starts, etc. So we have materials to start seedlings for transplants for several years now built up.
Most of the first season we primarily used rabbit manure, some chicken manure, wood ashes as the main amendments in the greenhouse. Extra coffee was poured into empty jugs and brought in once a week as well as urine. I drive a lot for training and keep an empty jug :) In short, very little amendments from outside the homestead was used this first season in the greenhouse.
We were able to keep carrots in the ground producing till early JUNE which I thought was excellent considering our heat here and the fact that in the summer the greenhouse was averaging 110-120 each day! I had been thinning the carrots slowly over the season and around early June something got in the greenhouse and ate the last of them.
Tomatoes, peppers and beans were planted for summer usage in the greenhouse. Despite fans running constantly, the door open, being watered several times a day, etc. I think the heat was too much for all but the peppers. The tomatoes went very leggy and produced just about nothing despite getting huge. The beans grew and then died out altogether. The peppers did well and are still producing in there.
So as I expected, the summer time usage of the greenhouse may be limited. I'll experiment more with other crops next summer in there. We did get a lot of limes from a couple lime trees in there but overall the summer sucked in there. But we are in a climate where it's very hard to keep anything growing from around mid july through often mid September due to the heat.
It's a nice plan to go in the dead of winter and find things growing, green and lush. We ate a lot more fresh vegetables this last winter/early spring then we normally would.
With all the crap being added into food, the weekly "do not eat this" food recalls, etc. this is an important part of staying healthy as well as for survival.
Attached Files