pictures of my greenhouse

[salix]

Joe, that is a thing of beauty and will be a joy forever. Hope you and Max enjoy many pleasant and productive hours in there! Those benches are just the cat's pyjamas.

[clkeiper]

You did a splendid job. All the words were necessary, don't apologize. We are actually all envious of your ingenuity. Anyone who can build something, literally for nothing, out of everyone elses trash, is an EXPERT to me. My greenhouses cost me a bit more than that, although most of them are recycled and put back up here at home. It still is quite a bit more than your expense though.

[kath]

Joe, I loved reading about all the details and am even more impressed with your totally green greenhouse...amazing and inspiring!

[OtterJon]

Awesome Job Joe! You took your time, and did it right. I love the design, and it's an inspiration to us all Enjoy that snow downstate, I am up in Elk Rapids,MI I haven't checked the forecast yet.. Take care!

Jon

[casino]

One little thing about building something out of nothing there must be a need. It takes time, thought, patience, possibilities and a willingness to trash one idea when a better design presents itself. It’s funny, there must be angels. There have been times when I said Oh crap, now what am I going to do, I should have thought of this before starting on that and then help arrives. An answer, a resource or sometimes a 65 degree day in November or 4 days of rain so I can gather my thoughts. Or just walk away, take the dog for a walk and come back refreshed. It’s all good.

At first people only knew that I wanted to build a greenhouse. Then when the construction began and the idea begins to take shape people around me suddenly become experts. They make suggestions and expect that their ideas be used in the design. Some suggestions are a disaster waiting to happen and some suggestions are received in a timely manner and I say thank-you. Like how to bend conduit when I never done it before. It’s heartwarming when someone explains to me how to solve a problem and when they see the finished product they crack a smile and say see ... that was my idea and Joe did a good job. Every suggestion is hand picked to complement the finished design and I try not hurting anyone's feelings when their suggestions are not used. Now that the greenhouse is finished I have time to reflect on how all this came together. I may never know how it ALL came together but I am glad it did.


This greenhouse is starting to become a lot of fun. In my vegetable garden I grew 2 different varieties of rosemary. Dug them up and put them into pots before they were touched by any killing frost. Put them in the greenhouse for a month and OMG, so blue green, so fragrant. I put them in the house because it is going to get very cold tonight. My sister loves rosemary and for Xmas she will get one of my rosemary trees with balls and LED lights to put on her fireplace. She had one years ago, loved it. I will keep one for myself and surprise her with one of her own.

[mdvpc]

Love the rosemary story! Thats what its all about!

[saltmarsh]

Joe, if you want to insulate your wall sections, you can do it for free. Any store that sells refrigerators or freezers has 2' x 4' rigid foam panels going into the trash from the packing in the box. It varies from 1/2" to 1" in thickness depending on the manufacturer. Most places will save them for you if you ask. Remember them with vegetables when yours come in. You can't have too many friends. There isn't a McDonalds in town (too small), so a group of friends 88 miles from here save their large McDonalds coffee cups for me. I use them to grow my tomatoes in. It's called Cups for Claud.

[Medbury Gardens]

Very very nicely done casino

So the plastic on the roof is it to give a double glazing/insulation effect??

[Medbury Gardens]

Originally Posted by saltmarsh

It's called Cups for Claud.

[saltmarsh]

Medbury G
The seeds were planted at the same time and grown under the same conditions, but one has twice the root system. Claud

[casino]

The plastic on the roof does a good job stopping any air leakage from the sliding glass but the plastic on the roof is for this reason.

On my greenhouse the roof is made of aluminum storm window frames that open up for ventilation and I like them because they will not rust or rot (BUT) storm windows are designed to be hung vertically so when it rains water is directed away from the house.

On the greenhouse the storm windows are set at a 45 degree angle and the lower ½ of the window (the part that slides up) does not have a water tight seal. The design (on these windows) is a little loose so when it rains the windows leak (drip, drip, drip) inside leaving puddles of water on the greenhouse floor, not good. So I use a large sheet of plastic to cover the roof, and this stops the rain from dripping in.

The plastic is stretched in such a way that it does not touch the glass and that leaves an air gap large enough so I can still open the windows (from the inside) to get ventilation. Ventilation is important because if the plastic cover is too tight then I have a humidity problem. For now, Over the winter it’s going to be a tight fit so I can brush the snow off the roof easily but come next spring I will loosen up the plastic and hang the plastic sheet (stapled to a 2x4x16) so I can LIFT the sheet of plastic ½ way up the glass allowing me to fully open the storm windows for greater (flow through) ventilation. Next year I will install some louvers and a fan with an auto timer to take care of any high humidity problems.

The McDonalds coffee cups are excellent to re-use. Nice and rigid, perfect size and the plants like it. I have used the standard white Styrofoam cups but the plants no not like those cups at all, not sure why but for me the plants do not like those cups. I have had great success using paper water cups. By the time the plants are ready to be put into the ground the paper cups are starting to fall apart. I do sell some plants from my house and I use clear plastic cups for the public. Punch some drainage holes in the cups and I can see the roots. The public like the fact that they can see the roots.

The rigid foam sheets for insulation is an interesting thought but I think I will pass using that material. It’s the formaldehyde used in the rigid foam and the odor may build up in an enclosed structure. But that would give a good insulating R factor.

[nicky]

Gorgeous job! I love it! Conrats

[O.P. Mater]

Great greenhouse!

[amideutch]

Casino, trash digging is alive and well in Southfield, Michigan. I don't think I can add to all the adjetives used in the previous posts describing your greenhouse. I think Worth would be envious of your material collecting and building skills and that is saying something. Ami

[Shane]

WOW nice green house i wish i had on like that.

S