I am getting ready to have a shade/green house built. I have been using our carport. But between all the cuttings I bought this year and the problem with the squirrels I need a new set up. I am interested in what y'all use.
Can we see the set ups or explain what you use and why. If you use shade cloth, what thickness do you use.
Thank you
(I once had a green house but when my DB built it he put a wooden floor in it, to say I was pissed is a understatement, it only lasted a few years)
Shade/green houses
Wren, I have a screenroom that has screen on two sides and connected to our house on two sides off our patio. It has a solid roof on it and gets slanted sunlight.
Since this will be my first year here and I am a little south of you, I wanted to ask you if it is safe to leave epis or cactus etc in that screened room? Exactly how cold does it get here? I am a little confused because some zones say we are a 9a and some say a 8b. I live in a 10a before lol and could just leave everything out.
I am also interested in seeing other people's setups.
~Lenette
It can freeze, and as you are on the west side of the river you would get colder than I would. I did have a epi oxy that was left out all winter and it get down into the 30's and not only did it come through ok but even bloomed.
What side of the house is the room? How may epis do you have?
I throw a plastic cover over my shelves on the freezing days and long as water does not condense on the walls and drip onto the epis they where ok. I did put a light inside the plastic for a litte heat.
Right now I just have shelves with shade cloth over them. I am trying to design a shade/green house.
Part of it faces south and the other side faces west. The plastic cover over your shelving is a good idea!
Maybe I could line the screen part with some heavy plastic for the winter. I could put a space heater in there on really cold nights and there is a reversible ceiling fan in there too to pull the heat back down. I could also put some plants in the garage there are a few windows in there. How often does it freeze where you are at?
I don't have hardly any epis yet, I also have a selenicereus grandiflora and another night blooming cactus Harrisia 'Jusbertii' which is a larger sprawling cactus that blooms several times in summer and fall and smells awesome. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/102474/
I mostly grow brugmansia and other tropicals and a few other kinds of cactus and succulents.
Epies are a new obsession for me and I got it bad LOL!
I joined the epiforms website in December but mostly been reading about them.
Will they continue to grow in the winter or can they go dormant?
~Lenette
If you check a website called Epies By Pat, you can get a lot of good info for your zone. She is in SoCal, but the same zone, I think. I've never bought anything from her, but it is a great website. Mine stay out under the lemon tree all year. Pat recomends feeding them bloom food starting in Nov. to build buds for spring.
Carol
Lenette is across the river and a little south of my place. We are on the dividing line
between 8B and 9A but because of the large river(1/2 to 1 mile across) between us and the ocean east of us, and the number of creeks and marshes around my place our weather is a little different. She will be colder that I am in winter.
Sandy
Carol, I found that website , it is a good one too!
wren,
back to your original question lol...... I think you would probably need a sturdy shadehouse because of the squirrel troubles. What about building a wood frame and then using sheets of lattice on the sides and roof? You could screen behind the lattice on the sides and use a shadecloth over the roof if you think you need more shade but a screen might work okay too.
I guess you could also make your own lattice with the slats really small to keep out the squirrels better but you might want to screen it anyways to keep out the bugs.
Good ideas. I was looking at the heavy shade cloth and chicken wire. We are problem going to use PVC pipe. Wood rots realy fast down here with all our rain and humidity. And with the PVC pipe we can take it apart and move it and add on easier. Once we get all the sewer piping done I can build a larger one in the side yard and there is much more shade there. (Beside when My dingbat DB built my last greenhouse he put a wooden floor in it. it only lasted 3 years)
Sandy
Chicken wire is a great idea for keeping those rascals out, I hadn't thought of that!
I used shade cloth when I lived in the desert, we had to keep most all the tropicals in 50 % afternoon shade, there was no humidity there and the sun was very intense.
I got it from Lowe's they sold it on the roll and charged by the foot. I think it was a little cheaper that way than the pre-pakaged kind. They may have some on sale somewhere now that its fall.
I think I will need 60 or 70% shade cloth. May go with metal pipes looking in to that.
Just get back dentist down in Gainesville. To tired to think
later