Building the Rion greenhouse (my way) LOL

Okay, SoCal, this is for you. Not real impressive but I figure for two weeks in a brand new greenhouse, I am not doing so bad. LOL I didn't start anything in the house this year.

Tropicals dragged from the garage and resurrected. LOL

More tropicals...

Plants rooting, seeds starting, tropicals coming back...

What we bought hubby last month. :) Poor guy waited ten years for a new car and drove the hand me down Mazda I bought new in 94. It goes to charity as soon as he cleans it out.

Oh yeah, back to me! This is the whole tropical mess that was in the garage.

Badseed, how wonderful your setup in the GH, I bet you are having a great time in your Happy Place.

JoAnn

Only when I can get out there! LOL I have tracked in MORE mud, neglected my kids often yet cleaned up a bunch of the yard, etc. I hope to have tons of stuff to trade at the get together next month!

Chele, I'm proud of you, it looks good!

Thank you Melissa! You will have to hit me up for plants soon. Better yet, come help transplant! LOL

I lost all my brugs, so I'll definitely take you up on that! I'll help you transplant if you help me!! LOL

Help you transplant or give you brugs? LOL

LOL At least his might fit in the garage physically. That does not mean there is or will ever be room. :) My sub won't go in there no way, no how!

BOTH!! LOL

WOW!
Nice vehicle.
Well now I know where the idiot that cut us off on Beechmont Saturday lives!!! LOL

Seriously nice job on the GH.
Any ideas on flooring yet?
I may have a cheap fix if you're interested.

Ric

That is so cool looking Michele. Your seeds look so neat and their growing already. I have tried my hand at growing a few again this year and it's not as pretty as yours is. I will have to take a pic of my little set up to show you.
I really like the nice white shelves you have too. Nice and neat, ready for lots more plants.

Donna

Thank you so much Donna! You know me. I love a challenge. I love growing from seed. I garden for sanity! LOL Those shelves were the bones from my little cheap 50 greenhouse I bought last year. :) When I first got them up, the whole setup looked a little to sanitary or dairy like. hahaha

OK.. I started reading this thread because I am dreaming of a greenhouse. I really like the looks of those rions! And to whoever it was asking they are supposed to withstand 80mph winds and 1100 lbs of snow.
But it's funny because the Goshen caught my eye..I am originally from Indiana and have family there.. and there is a Milford Indiana very close to Goshen Indiana. Who knew that there were towns named this in Ohio and that they also were close together..
Ok.. Back to Greenhouse talk.. :)

ohhhh wow I want one even more now...but will make do with my "greenroom" in the house.lol

Karen

Wow! This is great thread about ur greenhouse! LOL.. I still can't figured how you can manage all the work. You are supermom! No greenhouse here! Last winter is the first time I left most of my plants outside and they survived and everything grow back!

T'care!
Tricia

Oh but I am the envious one Tricia! What I would give to live in zone 9!!

Clele,
How did the GH fare in Saturday's big blow?
The roof hoophouse was really dancing! lol

Ric

She never even budged! I prayed all the way home from Jungle Jim's, that no big trees came down in my yard. A few big branches fell but they were a couple of feet away. I have been working so hard on the back yard. I had the chipper, chainsaw, etc all sitting in back. I'm about ready to go get the dingo/bobcat whatever. I'll just get the walk behind again.

I am thiinking about a greenhouse. I really like how you put down the railroad ties first. Where did you get them? Did you just stack them , or did you have to secure them to each other? Do you secure the frame of the greenhouse to the railroad ties? Sorry to ask so many questions, but I think that is a great idea.

Hi Rylaff. Questions are good! I bought the railroad ties from a landscape company. Around here they come in three grades. The best grade is called relay quality and they still are not super nice and they are still dirty. LOL They cost about $16. I don't know if you would bother with the grades under that because these were not what I would call great and you only save a couple of bucks per tie. I did mine this way for two reasons. The first reason is that mine is terraced into a hillside. The second reason is that by raising the greenhouse three timbers, I got about two feet more head room at the front. I used cinderblocks for steps inside and out.

For about $200 more, you can get a base with this make of greenhouse. It is sort of C shaped plastic as well. The round side goes out and the open side goes in. Once you set it up, you back fill the inside with sand or dirt to hold it in place and weigh down the greenhouse.

My ties are just stacked for now but I am going to hit them with the spade bit and secure them with ribar. I skipped that and finishing the floor on mine so I could get things started quicker. I figure it will be empty by May or June and I can do the finishing touches then. I was very eager to get planting and get my tropicals out of the garage and growing! LOL The greenhouse itself is held together with a serious of T's and other shapes and all are predrilled. I secured the T's to the ties with 3" steel screws. There is a T every 2 feet with a hole on each side of the upright.

I know this model is available through www.riongreenhouse.com as well as Target, Sams and someone recently said Home Depot has them.

If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them. :)

'chele what size did you buy? I was leaning toward the single-pane GH that looks like beveled glass, but after serious contemplation of the lack of energy efficiency info from that manufacturer, I'm back to looking at the smaller Rion (6x8).

I have the 8x12. You can start with an 8x8 and add to it. Each four foot section costs around $350-400. Since I got it from the distributor and the price was lower, I went ahead went went up a size. Of course ordering that way, I had to pay shipping. If there is a Sam's by you, you can go look at one (if your store set it up). I really could use a larger one but don't think I'll do it while we live here. I may cover mine with 6 mil plastic to make sure I can over winter my plants out there. Otherwise I will bring them all in AGAIN.

Argh,, isn't that the whole point of having the greenhouse.. to overwinter your plants? or start em early..

The biggest part for me was starting the plants all outside this year. The only somewhat safe place I have, with enough room is the basement. I have six kids, two dogs and a cat. I didn't want to deal with the mess inside. There are a few insulation issues with this model but I think I can fix them. I really and truly would love to leave my plants outside but don't want to risk losing them. It's a tough call. I know they will winter over in the basement or garage. Everything I put away properly came out fine with the exception of one brug, a couple of elephant ears and a couple of smaller plants. Considering my plants were stacked and took up an area about 20x4, those were minor losses. I don't want to blow the family fortune to heat the greenhouse. LOL

I want a greenhouse for starting seeds and for extending the season. and of course now that you fiends have gotten me started on brugmansia I want to overwinter those. I was looking at the rion greenhouse. you say you are having some insulation issues?

The worst issue is that the polycarb is only 4mm. There is a small gap between the doors. There are also small gaps with the roof meets the tops of the walls. I bought a roll of styrofoam insulation to do the roof/wall spot. I'm sure I can do something with the doors as well. But on the coldest of nights, I do not believe a 4mm wall is going to be enough. I ran a small space heater through the month of March and even a few times in April. With either that or the sun, the greenhouse stayed steadily 20 degrees warmer than outside. I am still considering going with propane, but only if I feel the greenhouse is sealed well enough. I don't want to heat the back yard. LOL Over the winter, especially if you have brugs, you don't want temps dropping below 40 for extended periods.

yep.. hmm that is diappointing.. I have been checking out some of Farmtec's greenhouses also.. lol.. anyone have 5 thou they aren't using?

Have you thought about getting the UV-rated bubble wrap to insulate? It's looking better by the year.

'chele, if it makes you feel any better, my 6 mm single-ply plastic GH (with....uh.....PLENTY of "fresh air exchange") requires about $100 a year in propane (I've got a 10 gal. tank I fill up 2-3 times, maybe 4 if we get a real cold spell.

A backup electric heater stays on alert just in case, with its thermostat set to turn on if the propane goes out (I always make sure I've got plenty to get through the night if the forecast is looking really cold. I also run the electric heater alone on the milder nights (temps between 30 and 35), and use the propane only if the temps are supposed to drop below 28.

I've overwintered brugs and other tropicals (if we seem due for an extended bitterly cold spell, the most tender stuff comes inside.) But I do have to admit even though we're both zone 6-ish, my "cold" nights are far fewer and further between than they would be in Ohio ;o)

It's in part due to this experience that I'm ready to take the plunge; I figure if my heating bill is this much with a flimsy GH, it shouldn't be any worse with a polycarb structure.

Woohoo - got the greenlight to order my new GH! After looking around I will probably order the 8.5 x 12.5 for $1598 through Sam's Club: http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_shopping.jsp?coe=0&oidPath=0%3a-23542%3a-43702%3a-43796%3a835181&mt=a&n=0&BV_SessionID=_SC_1658641163.1122667320_CS_&BV_EngineID=cccgaddfeimghllcfkfcfkjdgoodfkh.0
I figured that was about the best retail deal going - it includes shipping to my house, three vents, base and shade cloth (which I don't need since I have big honkin' box of it sitting here already, but oh well!)

That is, unless you care to share how you finnagled your way into getting it for under $1500 w/shipping through a distributor.... ;o)

Very cool Terry!! That is an awesome deal through Sams. You are giving me ideas..........lol!

Let us know when you get it and share photos!!!!

I did it - took the plunge and ordered it today. It should arrive in 2-3 weeks (the instant-gratification-junkie in me hopes that's a really conservative estimate, and it gets here sooner - next week, maybe? ;o)

I noticed that Sears.com has a different Rion GH model (the height is a little lower 6' 6" vs. 6' 10", but same h x w dimensions) AND they price match with a 10% discount. I suspect theirs is the other 8.5 x12.5 Rion GH that Sam's offers, so if anyone's willing to fool with their process for proving the lower price, you probably can save yourself ~$150 or so...

Also, Sam's now has online auctions - no greenhouses today, tho, - and I was too impatient to wait to see if any come up ;o)

LOL Terry!

Congrats! I hop eyou enjoy yours. I have thought about on to mine instead of buying a commercial one and I still have no idea which way I will go.

Terry my husband has asked me at lease 6 times today if I got the Green House ordered. I told him no not yet. Then he said you better get it ordered so we can get it up before it gets cold.

Now the one you ordered from Sam's has the base included, right. I am going to order the Automatic Roof Vent Openers. And I want the Shade Net Kit. Probably will have to get it from someplace else, didn't see it listed with Sam's.

Will since you have already ordered yours, I am going to do it and order Monday morning real early. But may do it tomorrow, I am so excited about getting one. I have been waiting for the OK from my DH.

Linda

You can also order accesories from www.riongreenhouse.com If I remember right, the same (or close to it) shade cloth costs less at www.wormsway.com I am close enough to pick up from them but shipping may make it close to the same for you.