my green house topic #1

Discussion in 'Cacti and Succulents' started by Kuroc, Oct 10, 2007.

  1. Kuroc

    Kuroc Active Member

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    Location:
    Texarkana,AR(zone 8A)
    I'm going to try to build a green house next year.

    The size will be 8 by 10 foot. It's going to made of PVC and plastic sheeting(possibly reinforced with rebar depending on cost of said rebar).

    Here is one idea I have for the greenhouse.
    I'm going to put about 12 55 gallon drums(filled with water) in it.
    Half of the drums are going to be buried most of the way underground. With the other half on top of them. With stageing on top of the drums.
    So what do you think?

    Should the drums be made out of plastic or metal?

    What thickness should the plastic sheeting be?

    My goal is to have a green house that will remain about 50 deg Fahrenheit during winter.

    More questions will come in later posts.
     
  2. Kuroc

    Kuroc Active Member

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    Uh I don't know why this topic was moved. It was about me building a greenhouse for cacti and succulents.
     
  3. edleigh7

    edleigh7 Well-Known Member

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    Good Luck

    Ed
     
  4. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    It didn't say anywhere that it was specifically for cacti and succulents. With all the threads that get moved, I will mess up once in a while.
     
  5. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    My question is why all the 55 gallon drums with water? If this is for cactus why are you trying to keep the humidity so high? I have a 2500 gallon pond in the center of my tropical atrium and the humidity never drops below 80%. Works great for tropical plants but I don't quite understand the relationship with all the water and cactus. And have you figured out how much space 12 large drums will take up? If you figure the square footage there will be hardly any room to walk. A quick guess would say those would take up at least 50% of your total space.
     
  6. Kuroc

    Kuroc Active Member

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    The drums are sealed not open. There supposed to act like passive heat radiators.
    But I decided to drop them out of the design because i want more space in the green house.
     
  7. Kuroc

    Kuroc Active Member

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    Well my bro has a friend that is in the construction business. He knows how to build PVC greenhouses and other types of greenhouses.

    He had an idea for heating the greenhouse during the winter. Get a 100 gallon butane tank and attach it to a heating system with a thermostat. And get the tank refilled every 2 or 3 years.

    So what do you think?

    Also he knows where to get 10mm plastic sheeting in town. He uses it on construction jobs in or near town.
     
  8. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Do some research first. On the Aroid l discussion group last winter there was a great deal of discussion regarding using "gas" heat. I use natural gas in my atrium which is quite large. it works great. But many who had tried butane and propane noted a lot of problems with plants due to gas bi-products. Plants often wilted, yellowed and died. Having never used anything but natural gas, I can't comment. But many did have major problems. You can probably find this discussion on Hort.net: http://www.hort.net/lists/aroid-l/

    As for the water in drums, it is much harder to keep water warm than air. Ever try to heat a swimming pool in winter? Once the water in those drums cools you'll expend all sorts of energy trying to keep it warm.
     
  9. Kuroc

    Kuroc Active Member

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    Location:
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    Does about 7200 btu sound about right to keep a 10*12 green house at about 30-40deg during the winter in zone 8A?(for succulents)

    What kind of heater would be best for that?
     
  10. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    The BTU rating on my heater is long gone. I'm about 200 miles north of you and it gets much colder up here than in Texarkana. My greenhouse is built of Lexan Thermoclear which is a very efficient double walled thermal material. So the answer to your question would have to come from someone who knows how to figure all the variables into their final figures. When I called the GE people about Lexan I told them I wanted to maintain a temp of no lower than 55 degrees F in the middle of winter. They asked how big the building would be and what kind of heat I would use and then told me how big a heater to buy. Mine is natural gas and has three burners that are staged on and off by a thermostat. It never goes below 55 degrees even if it gets down to 8 degrees F outside.

    You might find some of the information I posted on how we built this thing helpful. But the best thing to do is ask a heating contractor that knows how to figure all the variables. Sheet plastic is going to loose heat much faster than a thermal material such as Lexan. Your building will be much smaller than mine, (mine is also 17 feet tall) but mine costs about $100 per month to heat in the coldest part of winter each month.

    http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Build your own tropical rainforest.html
     
  11. alabama

    alabama Active Member

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    I have just finished framing a 8x16x8ft. cold frame. I am really cheap so I built mine out of 1x4s and 4mil plastic sheeting. I used 10x25ft plastic and wrapped the walls first. The major problem with plastic and wood is attaching the plastic to the wood. As the plastic moves the plastic tears at the nail holes. I solved this problem by wrapping the structure in plastic and attaching the plastic on top of the walls. the bottom is placed under wall and the wall sits on it. it is folded on one corner and attached with sheetrock screws and finishing washers (upside down so it wont cut the plastic). Then I placed the roof framing on top of that and taped the roof plastic to the walls overlapping about a foot on each side. No nails are on the outside excpt the sheetrock screws and finishing washers at the corner and around the door.It swells up like a balloon and only looses air at the door. The winters here in northern Alabama are not very severe so I am going to use a small electric heater on cold nights and weatherstrip the door. I built a small frame last year and it worked real well. My biggest problem is overheating during the day so I put in a small mister and have the wife keep an eye on it while I am at work. It would be ideal for cacti without the mist system.
    I tried using pvc and had all kinds of problems with it. First you need a door. pvc is hard to bend and it is very light. The wind may blow it away. If you use fittings to put it together it gets expensive. The you have the problem of attaching the plastic.
    You also need staging. With wood you can nail it to your stucture.
    Maybe I am showing my ignorance here but I find that wood works so much better. I treat it with copper napathate.
    I don'want to be a smart alec or rude in any way. I just wanted to give you an idea of what works for me.
    Good luck and happy gardening.
     

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