I have been reading and we have just finished putting up my greenhouse and right now I am using a really big fan to move air threw..The peak of the greenhouse is 12 feet,Hubby installed those vents that open when it gets hot..I have 80 percent shade cloth and at the hottest part of the day it's not bad in there..My question is beings I have 4 vents that open when hot should I make another escape for the air at the back of the greenhouse? We are going to install attic fans on the east side..Everytime I hear about hoya's I am alway hearing air movement is most important..Just trying to get it right on first go round...And can there be too much air movement? I would really love to here from the greenhouse pro's..Don't want major kill this year... Thanks!
Dianne
ventilation in greenhouses
Good question Diane, I am staying tuned.
Dianne I do have an open window in the back of my greenhouse, it helps with the circulation of the evaporative cooler I use during the summer months. I would think that unless the hoyas are holding on to each other for dear life, there probably isn't too much air circulation:-). Just my 2 cents worth.
Blessings,
Awanda
Dianne...I can't think that too much breeze can be a factor. Will there be a way to vary the intensity of the wind? They all reall thrive in a good air circulation situation....that is why, I think, they thrive outdoors in the summer!!!
Send photos!!!!
Carol
Dianne, my hoya house is 14W x 10H x 26L it has a built in opening (3 x 3) built into the back wall tah pushes outward to allow for air flow from front to back.
It also has a 24" exhaust fan built into the front wall about midways down and an automatic louvre on the back that opens when the fan comes on. There are 4 roof vents (6ft L x 18" W) that push up to allow for fresh air movement .
And aside from all of that I have two 18" circulation fans positioned in the rafters. One on a back corner and the other being in the opposite front corner. These fans keep the air moving from front to back.
And to top it all off I have a 30" high velocity air mover that literally gets things swinging in there!!!
I dont really have all of this stuff going in there just to get air movement. It gets very hot here during the sumemr and i'd rather not have all of my hoyas cooked to death so the big fan is more just to help keep it a bit cool in there during the hot months. And with all of these fans going and vents open it still gets into i'd say the low 90's inside.
I have plans to build a slat house over the winter so I can bring all of the hoyas outside next spring. I kept them in the gh all spring and summer and they grew extremely well but I think if they could get outside where they could get some fresh air moving all around them they would really put on a show.
dmichael
Dianne, would love to see a photo of your new greenhouse! We are cleaning ours out today as it's been the "catch all" storage shed for the summer. Big job but we have tons of rain coming tomorrow and I don't want "the girls" to get totally saturated. The storms are supposed to be heavy.
I use a regular box fan hung from the celing on hooks. My biggest problem is heating it in the winter as DH insisted on a really high ceiling. I am going to try to add some kind of a false ceiling in mine this winter to remove some of the air space. I still haven't figured out how to do it.
How about those lightweight corregated plastic pannels? That is what I used on the side of the house to keep rain off some plants that don't want wet in winter. They look like the fiberglass ones, only they come in smokey or clear plastic. You can overlap them too. The smokey ones act great as a shade screen also. My plants LOVE it under those and never burn altho it is very bright.
Marcy
dmichael I was hoping you would answer Thanks, Oh and DH said,Dude gotta serious hurricane going on in his greenhouse!!
Thanks so much for everyones input,We were looking at the CFM rating on those fans which greenhouse fans are about 1100 highest one we looked at was 1400,So we went to lowes,he is installing gable fans with rating of cfm at 1650 and louvers,greenhouse fans would cost a couple hundred bucks per fan and the two we bought at lowes are 61.00 a peice,he is installing them on the back wall as exhaust fans....He is also setting them automatic which they will not run at 65 degress..
Susan we use a propane heater ..We bought it at lowes last year and it uses a bottle a night and it keeps it at 80 at night,looks pretty neat the shade house was glowing and that was the first winter I didn't hardy have any dead lost,We run it low and put a fan running high over it on low and it moves the heat really well...
I have been moving plants and repotting plants and I came across a red button, several years ago when Carol couldn't mail to Louisiana so a dear friend got this plant for me and he took a cut of it and sent it to me,this little plant was so small,I found it on the ground the hanger broke and it had rooted to the ground.Well when I started pulling on it, it just kept coming and coming it has trains that are 15 feet,a lot broke because they are well rooted in the ground..it's amazing how these plants are...... it made it threw the hurricane and all it's one tough cookie...
Pictures will be posted tomorrow,I also will have a really big bunch of cuttings if anyone wants any...I also have plants to mail,I haven't forgot anyone I just have been very busy with things going on around here....
Thanks to everyone who has showed me kindness and helped my family and I get back on our feet!!!!
Dianne
I would hate to know that i had to keep all 3 of these gh's heated to 80. I would definately have to start selling crack or something to cover the heating bill alone!!!
I also heat with vent free propane heaters set on the very lowest setting and it usually between 40-50F in them and all of my plants do very well at those temps. I have had tropical hibiscus blooming in the gh at those low temps and have never lost a plant becasue of it being too cold.
Dianne tell your Dh that the serious hurricane became a quiet storm last night. I'mnot sure jsut how cold it got but I didnt turn the heat on inside my house and woke up feelinglike a popsickle this morning. By 9am it was already warm enough to reopen all the gh's but they'll be closed again tongiht as it's supposed to be cold again.
Oh before I forget to mention it. My large gh came with 2 18" circulation fans--way too small for the size gh I have so I use those fans in my hoya house.
The high velocity air movers are by Lakewood Fans and I bought them at Sams club for $39 each and trust me they DO move some air. I cant run them on the highest setting or they blow things around too much!!
My cactus house is ventillated with an attick fan for up to 1000sq ft with an automatic louvre
purchased from lowes.
dmichael
Do you need to have a fan running when the temps are cool? Say at night or in the winter when it is cool in the gh?
I've always been told that good air circulation helps to cut down on insects and disease. This will be my second winter maintaining 3gh's and I plan to keep my circulation fans going on at least medium all winter. It'll also help circulate the heat.
I run my fans 7/24/365
Blessings,
Awanda
Thanks,