Please share your expertise with me!!!

My DH is building me a temporary GH (that will be taken down in early spring)to keep the frost off my tropicals and coleus and of course my brugs. I live in zone 9.

Why do you think these directions say not to use greenhouse plastic?
"20'x25' sheet of clear visqueen-type plastic (NOT greenhouse plastic)"
And where would I find this kind of plastic?

And do you think this GH will work???
THANKS

http://www.rainyside.com/resources/hoophouse.html

Hmmm...Looks to me like the only reason they said to NOT use GH plastic is to save money. This seems to be a temporary structure in that respect...only the sheeting tho. The rest of the structure (pvc) will last a good while. Standard plastic will last you thru a season, which is what you are looking for. Ghouse plastic will last 2 to 6 yrs (or more) but you won't need it year round.

The idea of the stakes in the ground are good. However, my head is a'thinking that if you used 2 X 6's along the bottom, and some conduit clamps to attach the pvc pipe to the 2 X 6's, you'd have a more versatile unit. This way the hoop house could more easily be moved about should you decide to use it in other areas of the garden during the season (perhaps by covering it w/shade cloth for a shade house). By doing it that way you wouldn't have to pull up the stakes (and thereby practically taking the whole gizmo apart in the process of moving it). However, should you use the 2 X 6 technique I'd still recommend anchoring it w/a couple stakes to keep the wind from picking up the whole apparatus.

Bud uses hoop houses on his farm. Perhaps he can bring forth some good info. I'll give him a holler, kell.

thanks alot! I donot know what I am doing. Will this platic be as insulating as greenhouse plastic? The GH will have to come down entirely in the spring, I have no room for it in my small yard. My husband is letting me use his precious grass to put this on and he is charging me rent!!! LOL

Kell, am no expert on the subject, but here are several url's i have on greenhouse. hope it help some...

back yard GH - http://www.i4at.org/surv/green.htm

GH plan - http://www.snapclamp.com/greenhouse.htm , http://www.moment.net/~wingnut/greenhousedrawing.gif

GH cover - http://www.northerngreenhouse.farmca.com./

pest control or GH care - http://www.intimategardener.com/masterindex.htm

thanks Ma vie............. I will have to read it all tomorrow when I am not so tired.

hope those sites help Kell.

Kell, for temp houses we go to Home Depot and get clear plastic, much cheaper than GH plastic, but only lasts one winter. By spring it's usually shattering.(quite messy if you don't get it before it completely shatters)We just replaced our plastic on one gh, still didn't shatter, and it's been on there 5 years. Only the top layer was starting to tear, so we used the bottom layer to cover a smaller gh(my Jungle House, lol) with 2 layers.
I like Shoe's idea of the clamps, looks like it would be easier to move. My first Ghses were PVC pipe.

kell, see if you can find a copy of the Greenhouse Gardener's Companion book at your library or bookstore. And/or a copy of the "12 Month Gardener" - both are full of wonderful ideas for constructing and maintaining all kinds of greenhouses.

And given your warm climate (to be in zone 9, ahhhh), I would think that a temporary shelter with 4 (or better yet) 6 mil plastic sheeting will do fine for the short time you'll need to have it erected. You can find it at Lowe's and Home Depot, as Cala mentioned.

thanks all.......I can't wait now to build it. Suddenly as I look around my yard I have tons of things that could go in. And what is even more dangerous is I am now looking at nursery offerings with a whole new eye of I WANT! AND I can NOW have!! Cala, it will be the western jungle house................ you have shown me what can be!!!

and she's doing this in zone 9 - that's zone 9B. You lucky duck. Tell me again why you need this??? It's just to keep Tom busy and out of your hair, right??

reallly liz, last year one of my brugs froze to the ground and another lost all its leaves. I was thinking I could just build one over my brug garden.........LOL. I am paranoid that on one freezing night, I will lose all my new babies.
I was hoping you would send me your worker men to helpp build this!

I'm sure each and every one would love to come build you a GH - you do supply food don't you??? LOL
Are you going to light this thing and water?

What do you mean? put in electricity and running water?? LOL, dream on Liz.............. this is the cheapo deepo of GHs.....it takes an hour to assemble....... will be taken down in february or march............. look at my hyperlink above.

well mine last year went up in November and came down in March. I still needed light and heat. The plants might not have minded the dark but the gardener would have been really grumpy.

so what zone are you in Liz? 8? Don't you think my zone only will need the plastic and no heat??? If I go to all this trouble and my plants still freeze I will be so unhappy!
LOL.............I will use a flashlight and a jacket............... maybe if I blow hard........... I am full of it you know

Be sure to hang a fan up, have it going 24 hours, plants must have air circulation. Have one on the ground. Norma

I'm 8b - but a wet PNW 8b. The soil is totally saturated from November to May- so if it freezes it's ice soil. But if you plan on working out there with cuttings and stuff you'll need light.

kell, that gh will keep frost off your plants. Should you have a nice hard freeze that is of any length of time it will not protect your plants. However, get this...in your zone a freeze may only come in the wee hrs of the morning and not last long (plus you only have a 3 day chance of freezing, remember?). Should that hard freeze come about I'm sure you'll be watching the weather forecast...and perhaps on that nite you can stick a kerosene heater or the like out that that nite.

Could I use a space heater meant for inside? Maybe I should get that insulation plastic that Monika showed. I do have an outlet outside, I could run an extension cord and plug in with a heater and fan and a light for when Liz comes and wants to work on my plants in the middle of the night. I just do not want to burn my yard down.

The bubble wrap is probably overkill for where you are.

Kell - you poor, poor dear. I don't know how you've done it all these years in ZONE-9 without a green house. How could you stand it for so long?!!!

Poor Kell, so deprived not having a greenhouse!!! And 3 days of freezing weather, so terrible!!
Kell, my Jungle House has vents I open in the winter and a small gas heater. If you have things that need to be a little warmer, you can get a heat mat made for greenhouses(so you don't burn your yard down and end up on National News cause you set all of No. Cal on fire!!)

This cracks me up!! 3-days of freezing weather - LOL!!

kell, now that you have us all GREEN with envy (grin), here's another tip that I read: on those really cold nights (hey, it's all relative), you can probably protect your plants by putting row cover or blankets over them - inside the GH. Just be sure to remove the covering when the sun starts hitting the GH in the morning. And don't let your foliage touch the plastic walls, especially when cold weather is imminent.

GoVols, I know all about leaves touching the sides of a frozen greenhouse!! They look like brugmansia popcicles!!

I live here in Zone 9.. I still need greenhouse for my tropical plants.. boston fern etc.. I talked my DH about build me temp. Greenhouse for my plants.. He agreed to do it for me.. :o) All I need is clear plastic, clamp, maybe few woods for the roof then cover the plastic and clamp it.. Last year I did same thing but I use rope to tie between two trees and throw plastic cover and put all plants under the like (tent).. then I put light in middle, hanging from the rope. I clamp on the outside to sealed it to keep cold air go in.. It worked! When I open, the warm and wet air come out.. It keep the plants warm and mositures. None of them died.. But now I need BIG greenhouse.. for new brug cuttings...

Me too, Mini. What kind of clamp did you use? Did you need the light to keep it warm?

Kell, a light bulb will sometimes give off enough heat to keep things from freezing. Regular light bulbs aren't very efficient, they give off more heat than light.

I can just tell I am going to end up with a permanent GH with glass windows and full plumbing and electricity that is bigger than my house!! LOL

Kell, might as well, you'd be out there all winter anyway.

Adn I truly would be Cala, my DH would lock me out of the house!

Well you live in eco-friendly California Kell, tell him it's not a good thing to have grass. Grass-bad - tropicals-good. You're doing your part to protect the environment (don't let him see you spray)

He would love to have some designated plant free space.

So you want to put a regular light in the GH so it gives off heat? But don't they want some total darkness?

If you do decide to use bubblewrap, though I don't see why you would, try some of the packaging companies in your area. I mean the companies that actually make boxes and such for businesses. I got a 4'x125' roll for $31. A whole lot cheaper than HD or Lowes.

greenhouse suppliers ... http://agardenplace.homestead.com/files/greenhousesuppliers.html

Kell.. I use the plastic clamp that I bought one bag with all different size clamp at Walmart..for only $4.00... I find them in paint dept. Yes I use the lights to keep them warm when it is freeze or if the temp do down to 30's.. I use the heavyduty plastic..

Another list o'links to GH suppliers: http://gardenwatchdog.com/vbc/60/

green_leaf, that's a great price for your bubblewrap. I've been looking for online/mail-order sources, and a 2' x 125' roll usually goes for what you paid for the 4' wide roll (and that's from the so-called discounters and eBay sellers - some of these folks want 2-3 times that amount. Yikes!) I'll have to check around locally, too.