New Greenhouse

And off we go.


Today is Day 1 of the construction of BT's first Greenhouse. All of our growing to date has been in community beds, and on ground cloth, so I'm pretty excited to get a little better control of environmental challenges.

Our carpenter that's constructing is a New York licensed and trained Union carpenter, and has done several projects for us personally, but nothing within the nursery industry. Very meticulous, and talented, with a sharp head on his shoulders. I gave him some ideas, and the next thing you know he's running things by me like he's been building greenhouses his whole life.

we're spreading this out over a 2 month time frame to defray costs a bit, but hope to have plants in it by the end of November.

Greenhouse size 20' x 40'

1st Stage materials:
27 - 4x4x12 PT Lumber
27 - 8" Concrete forms
40 - 60lb bags of concrete
1 - 2 Man Post Hole Digger with 10" bit.

Day 1: Today was spent digging 27 holes where the main supports will go in. The holes were dug using a 2 man, 10" auger, and dug to a depth of 48 inches. A couple of the concrete forms made it into the holes to day, and the rest will go in tomorrow, along with the 4x4x12 posts.

Not much to see in the pic, but I wanted to document it as it went along. Pardon the mess. It's a construction zone now.

:-)

Chris


This message was edited Sep 15, 2008 5:28 PM

20' x 40' !!!! very nice.. I will check in from time to time for updates and new pics

Oh yes, i want to see pictures as well and read about all the stages.:o)

Today they finished hand digging the remaining holes down to a depth of 4'. The 4' auger, would only remove about 3' of dirt. They also managed to take out one of my main irrigation lines in the process, but assure me that it will be repaired tomorrow. Hand watering takes a LOT of time.

Also installed are the 4 corner posts. These will set tonight, and tomorrow they'll run string, and line up the remaining posts. They look tall now, but will be cut to a height of 7'. The rafters will add another 3'. I'm trying to keep it on the low side.

Chris

All of the main posts are now up, and just need to be trimmed level. To give a lower profile, I'm having them cut to 78". The roof will add another 3', bringing the total to just over 10'.

This will most likely be the last update for a couple of weeks, before we start phase 2.

Chris

Chris, that is looking great! Looking forward to the updates!
dawn

Yes Chris, I came across this thread, and grew too courious to stop.Keep up the good work.Oh, where did you get your idea for this green house?Mike

Curiosity got the best of me too, Chris! I'm thrilled to be able to watch your progress. Please post if you have major changes in your material list. Love the pics.

Growing up in the industry I've seen a LOT of different greenhouses. This is a mixture of various ones I've seen taking parts I like from some, and combining it with parts I like from others.

I didn't want to go with a hoop structure, as it's in our back yard and viewable from the pool area. It had to be pleasing on the eye, as well as functional, and affordable.

We're doing it in stages, and it can be easily expanded going forward. Stages help us to spread the cost out a bit, which we couldn't have done with a kit. It will be fully functional with heat, irrigation, and electric, for under 5k, but I expect it to be closer to 6. A lot of money, but less than what we lost in last years freeze.

We're covering it in rolled plastic for the first couple of years, but it's been designed to eventually take the polycarbonate panels. Those add almost 3500 to the cost, so we're waiting on that.

The bottom 4' of the structure will have hinged panels that can open all the way up and latch into place. That should really help ventilation in the summer. There will be 5 eight ft panels per side. Nothing too gangly that 1 person can't handle.

On the sides will be 3' wide tables that run the entire length with a 6' table in the center. Four ft aisles leave me room to get my cart up and down. We're still tweaking the table layout and design. I really like the layout of these benches to maximize space. http://www.a-vinternational.com/assets/stationary/stationarybenches.jpg

Irrigation will also be easily modified to change some zones to drip in the future. There will be 8 irrigation zones inside so that we're never watering empty benches.

The floor will be concrete aggregate, which I'm getting for free, so that helped reduce costs as well.

Chris

wow chris how exciting!!!

Every inch of a GH counts. My benches are 4' by 4' and then goes in to 2' by 2' then back to 4' by 4' all the way down each side. I am female and not tall. I would not be able to reach back to 4' but getting in the 2', I can get in and move trays around.

Also all my trays that I use accomodate every inch. Even the 2 feet. Then again it accomodates the size tray I use.

You have been around GH's alot I am sure you know what direction to take.

Very impressive, and what a great idea to do it in stages. I love the idea of the hinged panels - I wish I could adapt my gh to have those. I'm looking forward to your next update!

awsome it looks great. Wish mine would be that big. Yours looks great can't wait to see it finished.

Lavina

Phase two then three commence on Monday. Not a minute too soon with this freaky weather. Mid-forties in October for this area is unheard of.

Chris

Chris
Mine was finished yesterdsay now I gotta get shelfs fixed and move plants in. Good luck on yours as I( sure plan to enjoy mine.

Lavina

Lavina,

Do you have pictures?

Chris

Yes and Vista Windows which want work with pictures.GRRRRRR
I can e-mail them to you if you d-mail me but can't post them .
Have someone scheduled to come out and take a look at the ting as I never had a problem with windows XP

Lavina

Congrats on the new GH. You will love it when it's done.

Phase 2 is now complete, and phase 3 has begun. Today, the trusses are being made.

This is a side view before the fold down top half was installed.

the front view after the doors were made. The openings for the 40" vents in front and 24" fans in back are framed out.

Here is another side view after the fold down panes are installed. These open along the entire side, and will remain open for most of the summer months.

That is wonderful! You will really get the use out of that! Terriffic!

Not sure if I should bring this up at this point, seeing as how you are well on the way in construction here, but normally, the fan is always twice as big as the shutters(vents)-i.e-a 48" fan (one) uses two 24" shutters. I have never seen it the opposite way as I don't think a 24" fan can pull the air thru a 40" vent as well. Also, if you open the side panels in the summer, the fans will not draw air thru the grhouse very well.
I thought maybe its better to say something now, then when you get the plastic on and find out that way.

The end fans and vents will only be used during the tweener months. In between spring and summer, as well as fall and winter. The months where the day temps can still get high, but the night temps get down into the 40's and 50's

During the hotter months, the fans won't be used at all, as the sides will be down 24/7. The sides down provides plenty of air circulation, and is a common practice in FL. I'm giving a bit of a hand to mother nature by having oscillating fans inside as well.

The fans and vents chosen were based on the CFM exchange needed for the greenhouse. Both the24" fan and 40" vent are rated for 6300 CFM. Did I figure this incorrectly?

Chris

Here's where I got it from:

3. Reference the above table. Select the appropriate combination of fan(s) to achieve the necessary CFM rating. Be sure to match the total CFM output for your exhaust fan(s) to the CFM ratings for your Inlet Shutters.

VRSG40A Double Panel Motorized Shutter 6300 40.5" x 40.5"
VFT141133 24" Twister Ventilation Fan 6125 25-1/4"

This is why I chose the 24" fan and 40" vent. They're the closest match to the CFM needed

I don't know if you have already bought the fans/shutters, but if not, then you might go check out a few grhouses to see the size ratio of shutters to fans. Its been a long time since I have had to do CFM outputs, but I think what you did was get the total air movement and reverse the sizes of the fans and shutters. One 24" fan would probably have done the trick for you, maybe a 36" with two 20" shutters (one on either side of the door), esp since you are not going to use it in the heat of the summer. I also would not have put the money in motorized shutters. If you have a large enough fan-believe me, it will pull those shutters open when it comes on. Shutters opening by themselves first before the fan comes on will not do much to cool that grhouse, you need the fan to do any good. Which brings me to the concern (and I don't know anything about grhouses in Fla-although I know it gets as hot as here in Raleigh-95-100 degrees and very humid) that just opening side vents will cool down your grhouse enough in the summer, even with some small fans blowing. That plastic will form a very hot humid place (fungus haven) and unless you have a stiff breeze constantly blowing, that will move the air through, I don't think it will be enough. I guess it might depend some on what you will have in there. You could just take the plastic off for the summer-you would save in the electricity it would take to cool it down. They sell one year treated plastic-or you might even be able to carefully take it off and reuse it-40 ft is not that long/large for the plastic.
These are just thoughts/concerns that I have from having large grhouses . I empty mine come May-its just too hot in there and the risk of fungus is very prevalent in the summer. All my tropicals do better in full sun outside in the heat of the summer. At the least, you might consider shade cloth for the summer.

The plastic needs to remain on the roof, to control moisture during the summer. Our daily summer rains wreak havoc on Adenium. It's primarily going to be used for Adenium and Euphorbia ONLY during the summer. During the winter, it will overwinter all things tender. So the too primary needs of the greenhouse is to protect against frost in the winter, and prevent mother nature from over watering in the summer. It's the in between months that things like the fans and shutters are needed.

Inside a greenhouse during the summer, it can get as high as 130.

Having been around Florida nurseries for the better part of 30 years. I've picked up bits and pieces of what works here and what doesn't. This is a hybrid between what I want and can afford.

Chris

I didn't mean to imply that you hadn't been around grhouses when I said to go look at them, sorry if you thought that. Just coming off the end of a crop and I am tired, so I don't express myself that well right now :), but what I meant was to go look specifically at the size of their fans compared to the size of the shutters and I think that you will see that all the fans are twice the size of one of the shutters, and that it is that way for a reason. that it draws the air through better and more efficiently. Even in the winter when the sun comes out, it gets really hot in a grhouse your size, so the need for good air movement is there. Good luck!

BT do you have any new pics. I love the drop down windows and will have to think about something like that. Last year I was wishing I had no sides just the top for shade by early summer. Still too cool to move stuff out and too hot from 11am to 4pm.

Looking forward to more pictures of your progress.

Peggy

BT, what is the flooring in your GH. Mike

We're going with concrete aggregate for now.

I'll have new pics up today, once it gets light out. The trusses are up, and the plastic arrives on Monday. After much discussion with the supply house, we'll be using wiggle wire to secure the roof, and battening tape to scure the side and end walls. Allen, at J.R. Johnson supply has been a wealth of informat

Though the guy that built the frame wants desperately to do the irrigation, we'll be using a local landscape and irrigation company for that. If things continue on schedule, we'll begin moving plants in next week,

Chris

A little update, as I've missed a few steps along the way.

Outside with the plastic up.

Front with the doors open.

View of the irrigation routing. It has 6 zones with ball cocks to adjust pressure to reduce over spray and water waste.

Standing in the front door, looking right. The benches are 3' wide around the perimeter, with a 6' bench down the center. The tops are chain link fence, pulled super tight. The heavy specimen sized Adenium in 10-12" pots, are the heaviest load they'll see, and though a little tipping, are holding up fine.

Inside door, looking left.

The entire perimeter has angled leg reinforcements, and the center is candlelevered to provide ample room for my 4x4 turn cart to maneuver, while reducing space lost.

Looking at the south wall, with the center windows up and sealed.

Center windows now in the down position, that they'll stay in for most of the hot months.

Irrigation will be finished on Monday. Electrical is already run, with 10 outlets inside to accomodate oscillating fans, heaters, etc.

Fan and exhaust system will most likely go in around the end of March.

Next image will be next week with the irrigation system running.

Chris