I have had to scale back my repair plans because I only have a couple of hours a week to work on my whole allotment now, but really happy with the progress!
I’m not sure how easy it is to tell, but I’ve cut down three hazel coppice around the greenhouse to let in more light, but it still gets a little afternoon shade which seems to work.
Any ideas on what’s good to grow in a greenhouse in the UK over winter?
Hey folks, shared a comment about my little Toronto, Canada based automated greenhouse in another thread, and got some interest to see more, so thought I’d create a dedicated post for it.
I recently visited the Hortus Botanicus in Delft, The Netherlands and was inspired by their automated greenhouses. No where near the level of sophistication they have, but overall super happy with how it has turned out so far!
Here are all the various components:
* temp/humidity sensor
* intake and exhaust fans powered through a smart outdoor plug that turn on automatically when it reaches a certain temp.
* solar panel that charges a large 12V battery
* pump that pulls water from a rain barrel, which collects water off the greenhouse/shed roof (powered by the battery, using a Shelly 1 for wifi control)
* solenoid valves controlling the pump outflow to two different pipes (powered by the battery, using a Shelly 1 for wifi control)
* one pipe goes to dripline irrigation system hooked up throughout
* the other goes to a series of misting nozzles near the roof to control humidity and temp (through evaporative cooling)
* roof vent that automatically opens and closes by temp (using a wax cylinder, totally mechanical)
It is all hooked up to Home Assistant, and I have multiple automations that control the fans, watering, misting, etc all based off temp, humidity, and forecast (waters longer if it is going to be a hot sunny day, for example).
Next up I want to get some soil moisture sensors to feed into the watering algorithm, but haven’t gotten that hooked up yet. Also want to figure out a solution for my shade cloth - right now I have a 50% shade cloth on all the time because it gets too hot, but would love an automated awning or something like that with the shade cloth so I can retract it automatically on overcast days.
Happy to go into more detail on any parts if anyone is interested!
So proud what a day today was 🥰
Hello all, I live in Northen nj and we had what looks like a microburst or something similar in nj on Friday, lots of trees down and nearly everyone without power. Of course half of our Norway maple in front fell, very thankful it basically missed the house and fell in between my house and garage instead, but unfortunately that’s where my greenhouse is. And as you can see by the first photo it’s completely crushed and it’s worse inside, it’s obviously not repairable, I should mention this is a Palram 6x8 greenhouse. what should I do?? Should I hire someone to build me a custom one? Or just buy another one of those 6x8 greenhouse kits, and if so do you recommend any specific ones? Thanks!
Hi! First time working on a greenhouse and would like to make sure everything looks safe and see if anyone has good advice.
Beams are connected to the ground with 4 ft rebars in the middle of them. PVC is mounted on 2 ft rebars on each side and clamped to the beam. Top ridge is connected with U clamps.
Thanks!
I work at this local produce market in Tampa, FL with a dilapediated greenhouse in the back. I wanted to do something nice for the owners as they have been super good to me and rebuild the greenhouse. Small issue: I dont know squat about greenhouses.
I suspect that the first thing to do is get the temperature under control (the thermometer inside the structure regularly reads 110°F). There appears to be fans inside but they seem inadequate. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I'm somewhat new to reddit, so please forgive any crossed norms on post.
For context: I have many years experience in the construction/remolding/roofing area and live on the OH/IN line about an hour from Ciny. I have around 70 high quality double pane windows I purchased from someone taking down a professionally installed greenhouse from another house.
My plan:
Greenhouse addition with a footprint of 40x13'. The roof span will be 13' and need to (unfortunately) have a 2/12 pitch due to the height of the roof overhang on the house and the need for a useable door exiting the greenhouse. I'd rather have a 4/12, but I'd be crawling out of the greenhouse with that pitch.
I am collecting old barn wood to make the bulk of the framing for both looks and (hopefully) less swelling due to humidity.
My two questions:
1: Will 80+ year old oak be resistant "enough" to the humidity cycle of a greenhouse? I'd rather not go the treated lumber route if possible and Cypress would cost too much, Cedar to fragile for framing (in my experience).
2: I want to use these panels on the roof as well. I have a way to reasonable water seal the panels left to right, sitting in/on the rafters (barn oak). My question is to the experts here: how best should I seal the panels top to bottom? I suppose I could make them lay similar to clay roof tiles using chiseled notches in the rafters and silicone, but I would rather them all be on the same plane if possible. It doesn't feel right to just silicone them end to end, but putting in a cross piece of wood would make a lip for water to sit in.
I can't really find any good info online for this particular problem. All panel glass roofs I've seen are put in with specified metal frames and all wood rafter setups are using one continuous long piece of glass.
Thanks a ton for any help/suggestions. I imagine I will be asking more questions here in the coming year.
TLDR: Have you used it? Was it necessary?
If you haven't used it, do you wish you did?
~~~
I'll soon be installing the poly panels on my new greenhouse build and am wondering how crucial the anti-dust tape is for sealing up the ends.
One of my main concerns is how poorly the tape will look on all of the finished edges, as I assume it will be nearly impossible to apply perfectly straight and flat. I also worry about the longevity of the adhesive. I live in the high desert where the sun will be absolutely cooking this greenhouse.
As far as keeping things out of the panels, we have VERY low humidity (sitting at 8% as I type this) and very little precipitation.
The poly company (Amerilux) recommends blowing out the flutes with air prior to installing the tape, but couldn't I just blow the flutes out annually/semi-annually to clean them out?
I don't plan on using any U-profiles on either the top or bottom, as the poly will all be mounted to wooden framework.
The tape would cost about $75-100 for my application.
Is it worth it? Is it necessary? Any other tips? All advice is appreciated!
Im kind of nervous it will blow away. I calculated the maximum possible lift it could generate at 100kph wind at around 600kg across the whole structure. All posts are buried 2' below ground level. Now that I've added the diagonal bracing it is very solid, but i think i will add more just because i can.
Hi guys
Looking at purchasing a clear polycarbonate greenhouse with aluminium frame 6x4 with a sliding door.
I have a small garden and will be using it mostly for herbs and propagation.
Thanks!
Hey fam
!. So i been looking everywhere but can't
seem to find a rack with lights that can be independently shut off or on. Not looking for any huge. Smaller end 4-5 tier rack. But everything I've found it's either the lights are on, on every tier or they're off. Can't have some off and some on at same time. I know and have seen bigger racks with on/off switches for every tier but do they make smaller ones with this option? Links would be extremely appreciated! TIA dad
Do you think it would be beneficial to line the perimetre of my greenhouse with bricks spaced similarly as in the photo? The frame would sit on it and it would lift the wood frame off the ground and maybe help with airflow?
As you can kind of see the base of the greenhouse is larger gravel… I plan to also build a little walkway through the middle of the greenhouse also made of brick. I’ll dig up the gravel and lay down some sand in that area,
Should I do sand around the boarder as well?
Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to share some pictures of my almost complete Greenhouse. It's a Palram Orangery purchased through Lowe's.
As the factory provided walls were extremely thin single layer poly I installed 8mm double wall on the inside to provide an additional layer of insulation. I still need to install shade cloth but want to figure out a way to make it retractable.
If anyone is interested I installed the below in this build.
- Power and Water run to each side of the GH
- Beds and irrigation are from Vego Garden controlled by a LinkTap 4 zone system
- Installed a 16" AC Infinity exhaust fan and a 16" intake vent w/ motor
- 4 AC Infinity 9" circulating fans
- AC Infinity Thermoforge S7 for heating
- Setup cooling with a Hessaire 3100 cfm swamp cooler
I have all the above excluding the irrigation automated by an AC Infinity Controller AI+.
We have came a long way.
On Jan 12th, 2026, I wrecked my truck and broke my back. Fractured L2, needed spinal fusion.
With the help of many friends and family, we have been able to still progress on this project.
Next up: finishing window installs
I’m new to having an amazing 80‘ x 20‘ hoop house. Any advice is appreciated. The biggest issues I’m already noticing is that even though it’s nearly summer I’m noticing mold near the locations that are being watered daily, including trees and tomatoes and peppers. The second issue I’m noticing is dust on the leaves of some plants. I do have fans going that are quite strong. I’m not sure of the total air replacement of them and I don’t have electricity set up just yet to circulate the air, but I do have fans on the ground big box fans they’re 36 inches in diameter that I’m hoping are taking care of those first two issues. I also put down some wood chips to prevent the dust formation and I’m cleaning off the dust with my fingers. I’m also wondering about trellising I want to have grapes trellis over the plants in the summer instead of using Shade cloth and I plan to put up some metal beams to replace the metal wires I have that are going to hold the plants up for trellising the tomatoes beans and grapes. I do have a 200,000 BTU propane heater them wondering how and who can help set this up. Should I hire just a regular HVAC person? Or is it safe to do it yourself? I have a propane tank 500 L or gallons about 20 feet away. I have a watering system with a lot of different fruit trees, including a Yuzu, Meyer, lemon, Australian lemonade, tree, lime, and some others. I live north of Seattle in the Pacific Northwest and I’m hoping to somehow coordinate growing tomatoes and other vegetables a year long but mostly sticking to greens that I can grow in the winter time but I also want to make sure I have cold temperatures for the figs, olives, and citrus trees in the greenhouse, which I think will be challenging to coordinate if anyone has any advice on this.
I bought this Lilybelle discovery 6x9 cedar greenhouse today from Sam's club for $450 off. I grow mainly cacti as a hobby. So this weekend the wife and I are going to start sealing all the wood. I'm curious of are some good budget friendly ideas for base or foundation? Has anyone installed one of these?
This is most likely an issue of me not knowing the proper terms to do a search, because when searching online I keep ending up with results not quite what I'm looking for.
I'm thinking of making a trench in my greenhouse to fill with water so that it'll drain slowly (within an hour, not mosquito-breeding-ground slowly) into the earth around the back area. But I keep finding ways to drain water away from the earth instead. Is this idea possible/does it have a proper name?
I have a rainwater cache besides the greenhouse and I thought it would be neat if I could just open the tap directly into the trench and fill it, then let it drain into the ground and water evenly.
I'm thinking I'd need some kind of gravel/pebbles and then something underneath, so the water doesn't immediately drain into the ground underneath the tap, but spread out evenly. But what do I search for to find out how to actually build this? It would be around 3,5 m long, so I should probably look at the slope too.
Soil is contaminated for the foreseeable future, don’t get sloppy with irrigation or drainage and end up like me
This is the green house I have in mind. I live on the navajo reservation in arizona its dry, windy, freezing in the winter mostly in low 20s and sometimes in low teens but always windy
We just finished assembling our greenhouse (Backyard Discovery “Poppy” 9x6) Wife want to hang some pots from the front rail of the pergola, upper left of photo. Have considered simple hooks but she’s says she’ll want to deadhead the flowers sometimes and not have to climb a ladder.
Best approach? Hang some pulleys up there, add cleats to the front of the greenhouse to hold the line?
EDIT TO ADD: Found "Retractable Plant Pulleys" on Amazon. Such a simple and obvious thing, but I didn't know they existed or even the right name.