Greenhouse advice needed

Hi all,
I need a little help deciding on a greenhouse. After a year and a half of research (and saving) I am ready to purchase. I have narrowed down the choice to two models. I have never owned a greenhouse before and am not sure which one is better for growing orchids. I have been growing in my basement for a while and believe that it was good practice for owning a greenhouse. I am concerned about two items in particular. One, the sidewall height, will I have to stoop in the greenhouse and will it really be a problem. I am only 5’ 10”. The other concern is the wall thickness, do I really need a 10mm thickness in the Midwest. I have included the dimensions of the models I am considering. Any and all help would be appreciated.

Model Juliana Premium 9.9 Halls Optimum 96
Height 7' 10" 8' 1"
Width 9' 1" 8' 2"
Length 12' 2" 12' 8"
Sidewalls 4' 9" 6' 3"
Covering 10 mm twin wall poly 6 mm twin wall poly

jwrmo, consider building hip walls, maybe just a foot high, to raise your GH so you can walk more upright. I have a concrete floor, so I am able to sit much of the time on an old rolling office chair that I can raise or lower as needed. I covered the bottom foot of my GH with insulating styrofoam to help retain heat (on 3 sides, on the north side I went up 3 feet), and like the look because it hides my clutter from outside view.

In St. Louis, you will need a heat source if you plan to use it year round. I use a small electric heater in my 8x8, plus water barrels to collect solar heat.

Cathy, also in St. Louis (I have a Rion)

Cathy thanks for the advice.
I went ahead and purchased a Juliana Compact Plus 9.9. It is not the one I wanted but it was the one I could keep within a budget. I have to say that overall buying a greenhouse is like buying a car, too many options. It will not be delivered until early March. Now I have to find a contractor to do the base. I have an electrician on ready. Cathy, what do you do for shelving?

jw, The Juliana looks great! i have concrete blocks and 16" wire closet shelving, I like to be able to change my layout at different times of the year. In the spring when I'm starting LOTS of plants, I have 4 rows on 3 walls and a roll-out cart, in the winter I have 2 rows on one wall (south) and tall plants and hanging plants on the others.

Here is a link to a discussion about shelving: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1055580/

Well these unusual temps for AZ are taking a toll on the greenhouse. I lost another coleus already, it is 38 degrees out there and 29 outside. It is supposed to get to 18 tonight, that means my greenhouse will be 28 degrees. I even put double xmas lights in it the larger white bulbs. The palms even look like the edges are getting brown, so I may not have much left tomorrow. Live and learn. I think I should have bought bubble wrap today or foam panels to line it. Hubby needs to double line the roof with an air space. I am shocked it is this cold and it will last for a few days. I sure don't want to move them into the garage after building this and hubby says a heater is too expensive. We have 1500 watt ceramic heaters in the house and a wood pellet stove. I am glad we don't have hundreds of dollars in it. The succulents seem to be surviving better as they have water in them already. Everything is watered so that should have helped. Any suggestions?

a heater may be your only choice with temps that low, sorry.

The Greenhouse arrived Tuesday. I am so excited. I made a change and purchased the Juliana Premium 9.9. Thicker panels. The company that I bought it from allowed me to upgrade from the compact to the premium without hassel. I had a contractor out this week to discuss the base, electric and plumbing. So far because of price I have had to nix plumbing (will do this in phases). Boy what a sticker shock this is turning out to be. I have been researcing this forever and it seems that I missed so much that I am feeling overwhelmed. Will post updates as this project progresses.

To jrwmo,

You will be VERY glad you changed your order to the thicker panels! Especially where you live. Check with several 'contractors' before choosing one. I needed a simple carport and had 'estimates' from contractors from $2,000 to $14,000 ! What a price span.

Have you considered using concrete blocks from Lowe's for the wall? If you use the ones with holes in the middle, you can set them in place then use quikcrete to pour in the holes.

I used to grow orchids under lights before building a small greenhouse, and had to do some experimenting with shade cloth in the winter to keep from burning the leaves on most of them. (I move all my orchids outside during the summer.)

Please forgive my butting in with these suggestions, but I've not had my greenhouse for all that long and I remember the issues that arose as I built it (with the help of a male friend) and filled it with plants.

Good luck!

Any advice is helpful. Talk about a price span. I have had 3 bids so far and only one seemed reasonable. I am glad that you mentioned the shade in winter for orchids. I have an orchid collection that I plan to move into the greenhouse later in the spring. I didn't think that I would need a shade cloth in winter. Now I know that I need one. Thank you for the information.

Well, I built a greenhouse this winter out of PVC Pipes, used the thick plastic, and had several heat lamps going. Guess I didn't do my homework enough. Even though the Greenhouse was sturdy and I thought warm, we had such frigid temperatures this winter (unlike any other winter), I think I have lost most of my plants that I have worked so hard over the years. Most of them were tropical (banana trees, palm trees, and others). I am about sick over it. I'll have to include some pictures of the before and after. I have always before brought them inside for a tropical paradise in the winter. Only this winter I really wanted to get the house painted. I payed for that one. I can only hope that a few will come back.

Oh that is just terrible!

How sad. The US had a crazy winter this year. Family in Florida lost palm trees in their yard.

This is a picture of the greenhouse before the winter hit it.

Here's another picture.

I really hate losing this guy.

I'm sick.....I lost it all.

So far none of my banana trees have come back. I bet I had about 25-30 plants before the winter.

I am so sorry to hear of your sad news.

any new growth yet?

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

bedwesl, that is heartbreaking! Normally, living in the north as I do, I tend to think something on the order of "good for those southerners for getting some cold weather" in the winter (especially as I'm snowblowing the driveway in minus-degree weather or some such thing)... but as a gardener, losing valued plants is a whole 'nother story. I am truly sorry that you and so many people in the south lost so much this past winter, and now with the oil spill in the Gulf -- well, it's all just really sickening.

The Michigan Upper Peninsula looks better to me all the time (at least we KNOW it's going to be really cold here). I just pray that the next time drilling under the Great Lakes comes up for discussion someone remembers the Gulf spill from 2010!

Sandy