More Realistic Greenhouse Setup
I love to think outside the box. I’ve gone thru 80′ wide hoophouse ideas, to warehouse-type greenhouse ideas (we have lotsa those around here) to even connected dome style greenhouses. In a period where my income takes a sharp upturn, any one of these ideas are actually workable. However, even if they’re not, they all still have benefits and until I have a structure built on this property, I’ll continue to dream wildly and plan things out for any one of the dreams. However, it pays to put feet back to earth one and a while.
A friend of mine on the Taro and Ti Yahoogroup showed me inspirational pictures of his greenhouse. It’s not that different from some of the thoughts I’ve had over the years - proving there’s no such thing as original thought, but also demonstrating that I’m not always whistling Dixie - it works for him and works pretty well. He basically framed a studded wall 80′ long and 30′ wide, and put a hoop-house on top of that. It is very simple, and not all that expensive - but most importantly it’s very elegant and effective. Tall enough to grow modest trees - even coconut trees up to a point.
Side-by-Side Hoophouses up on stud-framed risers.
I’ve expanded on this idea - 30′ isn’t wide enough for me. However, making a single wider structure is very expensive too. The compromise is - making more than one of these greenhouses side-by-side - with adjoining walls removed so that you essentially have one big greenhouse, but multiple hoop-houses. I’ve allowed for a 2′ cat-walk between the hoops so you can get up there and apply the glazing, plus one on the outer walls so that you don’t need to teeter on a ladder or scaffold to manage the plastic on that side. Since glazing typically comes in 110′ rolls, I think 100′ would be good for me. On the South side, I envision a glazed wall. North, West and East walls will be covered and insulated. And… that’s about it. It’s expandable - I can start off with 2 rows, then expand with more rolls until I’ve filled up the property. Very simple. However, enough volume to maintain warmth overnight with minimal heating requirements - if any. Not a pit greenhouse, but an amicable alternative.
And still the ideas flow. I’ll have my jungle greenhouse. How it manifests is yet to be solidly determined - but at least there’s an inexpensive solution to still cover a quarter acre of land without going broke. Now, back to dreaming wildly…
Stumble it!