After saving for about a year and slowly compiling a long list of components for our small wood-frame greenhouse, we finally finished. Here is an inside shot from west to east. We are collecting a few species orchids and protecting our tender mango tree (Manila) in here at the moment. The propagation bench is heated with cables in sand with a two inch layer of vermiculite on the surface.
Thats a fancy greenhouse-----looks like great atmosphere for orchids. Good luck with them.
so your just gonna raise orchids?
Yes, species orchids from the New World was our goal when we were planning this thing. It seemed to take forever to build. The propagation bench is where we germinate our veggie and flower seeds for moving out into the garden. We don't have enough space for a big house, or the $ for that matter..lol. I come from a farming family (veggies, tomatoes and some fruit). I envy those of you that do winter toms. It just gets too cold here to afford heating a big greenhouse. It was enough of a battle to convince the wife this one was economically do-able. Here's a shot of our propagation bench. Our tomato crop this year will include Brandywine, Black Crim, Mr. Stripey, Lemon Boy, Jellybean, and Better Boy... Got any suggestions for a good Cherry?
Don
We live in a climate with very dry and hot summers, so I have to manage humidity very closely. This gizmo is a Mist-O-Matic, it is the most simple humidity controller I could find. When the water on the screen evaporates it teeters up and a mercury switch activates automatic irrigation valves that run the mist system. It's very old technology, the greenhouse at my high school in the 70's had one. I'm just not very good with those high-tech humidity/CO2/irrigation/pasta makers that Hydro Farm and the "Grow Room" folks like to use.
drdon, that's a beautiful greenhouse. I hadn't thought about the need for humidity (living in the steamy south, we don't need to manufacture any, lolol.)
A near-tom size tomato I like is Reisentraube. I also like the grape-types (Sweet Olive was pretty good.)
If you want super-sweet, there are several good OPs and hybrids - 'Isis Candy', 'Sun Sugar', 'Sun Baby', 'Tommy Toe', and many others: http://davesgarden.com/pf/advanced.php?nn%5B1%5D=0&nn%5B2%5D=0&nn%5B4%5D=0&nn%5B5%5D=0&nn%5B12%5D=0&nn%5B17%5D=0&nn%5B13%5D=0&nn%5B14%5D=1&nn%5B18%5D=0&nn%5B15%5D=0&nn%5B19%5D=0&nn%5B21%5D=0&nn%5B22%5D=0&nn%5B24%5D=0&sname=Tomatoes&Search.x=30&Search.y=8
My only "thumbs-down" is for 'Minnie Pearl' which sounded cute, but it yielded very small tomatoes, and was a sprawling space hog ;-(
I dont blame ya Don. I dont like all that high tech stuff either. I probly would like it if i could aford it ---then learned how to use it. But since i cant aford it and dont know how to use it---i just aint interested. Plus the cost of runnin all that high tech makes expenses go up. So here I sit doing everything manually. I better hush---never say never--i may be so big one of these days that I have to have all that high tech stuff to keep up with it all.
I do need one of those humidity gages though. Gotta find one.
Thank you Terry,
Yes our average humidity in the summer is less than 40%, way too dry for orchids and many of the sub-tropical fruits we love to eat.
The image below is of the reverse osmosis water filter (orchids hate southern california water...can't blame em), the thermostat for the propagation bench cables and the fertilizer injector complete with the brown ooze of our organic fertilizer. We make it here from seaweed extract (Maxicrop) and earthworm compost tea, with some alfalfa sun tea made from horse feed, which we have a lot of with 24 horses.
lol cricketstomato,
I purchased the Mist-O-Matic from Morton's Greenhouse Supply. www.mortonproducts.com... sorry I haven't figured out the hyperlink protocols on this site yet. I hope you have great success in your tomato operation.
Here's a working link to drdon's above post: http://www.mortonproducts.com/
Nice looking greenhouse! Love it!
Although I'm in the South, humidity abounds, I sometimes wish I had a swamp cooler or mister to cool the greenhouse, not so much to add humidity. Thanks for the link to Morton's!
Best of luck and success with your orchids! Hope to see pics when you can post them!
Haven't see you here much, drdon....so from me to you, WELCOME TO DG!
Thanks for the wishes horseshoe. My wife and I officially subscribed just a few days ago. This place is awesome! I have learned more about my gardens in just a few days than I could have with months, maybe years of personal research. I'm very impressed.
A view of my desk/ workbench in the greenhouse.
This site is the best! You'll love it here!
Many thanks for sharing a part of your life w/us.
Your desk!...looks like some redwood? cedar? Very nice looking! Heck, you're whole greenhouse looks great to me!
Great job! Hope you enjoy it and appreciate your success!
keep smiling!
I second what Shoe says. Very impressive.
Hi horseshoe,
Thank you for your kind words. The cabinetry for the desk is constructed of some scrap wood I previously used doing some of my somewhat futile woodworking projects...lol. The banding around the desk is indeed recycled redwood. The upper cabinet door is constructed of cherry, both blond and heart along with some mahogany. The handle is a Mexican rosewood species called cocobolo (Dalbergia sp.). The lower cabinets are framed in bird's eye maple with the bands being mahogany, bubinga and tata juba. The handles/pulls are of the same cocobolo wood. I can take closer pics if you would like to see the figure/grain of the woods and a better look at the colors. I am including a pic of the "controls", or thermostat cover. The banding is snakewood, the cover is black walnut and the handle is mahogany and curly maple. Once again thank you for your kind words.
Don
another view of the control box
Your greenhouse is beautiful! I would say it was well worth the wait!
