and deleting a bunch...I found these photos of my first greenhouse....4 years ago. Of course, we hadn't a clue what we were going to do...but these are some shelves DH made for me out of old pieces of gutter. They really worked...and still do except Bob has that Greenhouse now for his orchids.... Thought they might give some ideas....
Here is our version of the Big Lots Greenhouses! No big lots around here....so just covered a frame of a box with plastic and folded the ends like wrapping a box. I rooted a lot of hard to root plants in here....not hoyas but Mucuna benettii and some others.
Carol, I luv the shelves your DH made. So do you sit the containers in the gutters?
:) Donna
Thanks Carol, this is so cool....I just learned all about seabeans and drifting seeds, etc. I had never heard of Mucuna bennettii so of course I was curious and had to look it up and voila....seabean.com. That's what I love about the internet...you never know what you're going to stumble onto. Now I'm curious to know if any tropical seeds ever find their way up to my part of the coast.
Using the gutters to make the shelves in the greenhouse is a great idea. It looks like a good way to maximize the amount of light that each of the plants can get and would work great for orchids. We have our orchids on regular shelves and it's amazing how much wasted space you get at the back.
Sandy
Yes...the pots sit in the gutters, which are tilted just a smidge so the water runs to one side. I had some hoyas hanging in the back, some in the front. Saved a lot of space.
I think it is an awesome idea! Whose was it.....yours or DH?
:) Donna
Alas...el profesor's idea...he is clever and recycles evrything. Along the length of the GH a long gutter was hung...which used that dead space in the arch of a hoop house....worked great. I filled 'em faster than he could put them up!
Boy oh boy....when I stare at that gutter plant stand the wheels just start going around in my head. I am already invisioning the kind I am going to make & trying to figure out where I am going to locate it. Ha. Thanks for the ideas, Carol
Marcy
Thank you for posting these pics Carol.....we just had new gutters put on the house this summer. I'm pretty sure we salvaged a few of the old ones that were taken down. :)
Thanks Carol, that gives me some ideas for the summer. Could you just use a canopy over the top to provide shade? That greenhouse definitely seems more optional than buying an expensive one. Not sure optional is the word I'm looking for! LOL! Hey it's my Saturday today, the brain is resting!!
Heather
I think as an 'outdoor playhouse for hoyas' it would be perfect. The canopy should not let too much light in...Put it under a tree. You could put wheels on it too and store it in the garage in the winter!!! Mine were perfect for 4" square pots...anything more was unstable.
Love the way everyone's minds works....!!
So Carol....if this is what you started with....WHAT DO YOU HAVE NOW?? I'm just curious.
Here is a link to see what it started out looking like before...
http://www.bigislandgrowers.com/ghp/AH.php
Soon the shade cloth went on the outside and I put those plastic stacking shelves all along the backs of the benches, doubling capacity and I will have those up again soon!!! The GH is 12'X80'. Reason for the greenhouse is to control the environment for the plants so that I can be certified by Hawaiian Ag. as 'passing sanitary/horticultur standards'. Just had inspection today (every 6 months)...they take random samples of roots to test for nematods, look for pests and disease... Even the water has to pass certain standards...I think we are the only state in the Union that has to do this....
