From doug@conch.aa.msen.com Tue Jul 30 21:33:21 1996
To: Aaron Hicks <ahicks@nmt.edu>
Subject: Re: Doug!
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Here is the first one

>From doug@msen.com Wed Jul 24 15:47:24 EDT 1996
Article: 9502 of rec.gardens.orchids
Path: pravda.aa.msen.com!conch.aa.msen.com!not-for-mail
From: doug@msen.com (Doug Houseman)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens.orchids
Subject: Building a Greenhouse for orchids - lessons learned
Date: 24 Jul 1996 11:02:03 -0400
Organization: Msen, Inc. -- Ann Arbor, MI.
Lines: 91
Message-ID: <4t5dtb$fcs@conch.aa.msen.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: conch.aa.msen.com

I posted asking for help on a new cool growing greenhouse and offering
my lessons learned from my first greenhouse. I had over 75 pieces of mail
asking for my lessons learned. I can not reply to that many people
individually, so I am going to post my lessons in pieces. If anyone
objects, I will stop.

I propose to do it this way:
- This message -- site prep
- Next message -- framing
- ventilation
- heating
- cooling
- watering
- shading

I am open to suggestions.

History -- 5 years ago I recieved my first orchid. Since then I have
aquired and killed several hundred seedlings. First in a window sill,
where I learned about scale first hand. Secondly under High Pressure
lights in the basement, where I learned about temperature and humidity
issues. Finally over last winter in a new double poly inflatable
greenhouse where I learned about first, heating with portable kerosene
heaters and the gases they put out, then about freezing and finally about
too much sun. In each case I lost several orchids. Today my collection is
healthy and growing again, but I still have a lot to learn (poor orchids)!

My greenhouse is a double poly inflated greenhouse on a earthen floor. It
is 40 x 20 and is divided into a heated and an unheated bay. I use a
50,000 BTU Acme  heater with natural gas, I have fans, louvers and
controls. I am installing a 6 zone watering system. In short it is a
techy's hobbie house.

Site Prep --

I did not do any at all, I drilled holes thru the existing sod with a post
hole digger and started framing. Once the framing was done, I then rolled
out 12 wide ground cloth.

What I learned from this:

- I should have run a boards at least 12 inches into the ground to prevent
the moles from living under the floor, the yard was fairly level with a
slight slope to one corner. Now I have a dozen sunken spots in the floor
from mole tunnels. I am going to have to empty the greenhouse and pull up
the ground cloth, to fix this.

- I did run 2 x 12s around the house at ground level and I did bank earth
on the outside, what I did not do was bank enough earth on the outside,
the first major rains pushed the earth I banked down enough that the cold
air (November) got in under the boards around the outside. Now everytime I
add dirt to the outside I use the hose to wet it as a put it in place and
I have 4 inches of cedar mulch over the top of the dirt.

- I have a bad problem with weeds around the inside of the greenhouse
walls. I did not securely fasten the ground cover to the walls. Next time
I will wrap the ground cover around a 1 x 2 and screw that to the 2 x 12s.

- My frames are not level. Even though I installed the frames and leveled
them. They did not stay that way. In sandy soil the bottoms of the pipes
moved down in the ground. Next time I will throw a 6 inch square of board
in the bottom to give the pipe a place to rest.

- I have a water pooling problem, with the moles and the only slight slope
to the ground the water that I use to water the plants pools in several
places on the floor. Normally in the most used paths. Next time I will
ensure that I have a tractor make the ground slope enough (1 to 2 inches
per running foot) so the water will run to one end. This is about 3 times
the slope that is recommended, but I used 1/2 inch per foot and I did not
get the water where it needed to go.

- Water and electricity are provided by hose and extension cord. This was
intended to be a one to two year structure. Both run accross the top of
the ground. This makes mowing the area a pain. If I had it to do again. I
would have run the electricty from the soffett around the house, to the
top of the endwall of the greenhouse using a coated steel cable for
support and then taped the extension cord to in with slack between the
tape points.

Thats all for now. I will post the next message in a couple of days,
unless there is an objection.

cheers

--=doug=--


--
Some day even muddling gets to be hard. Never volunteer to help out, that
is the fastest way to get in trouble. Try to focus on the good stuff, it
might help.


Ban Di-hydrogen-monoxide!