greenhouse basics 101

[littlefrog]

Where are you in indiana? I only ask because I have an extra greenhouse in pieces in my yard...

[smweaver]

I live in Fishers, which is a suburb on the north side of Indianapolis.

[mojomick]

Check out COSTCO. They carry SunGlo greenhouses and the prices are very reasonable. Also their kits include a lot of incisde extras, like benches, lights, etc. I purchased one in Feb. and am thrilled with the results. The directions were easy to follow and I am now enjoying the fruits of my labor with lots of orchids in bloom.

[smweaver]

Yes, I'll definitely check them out. Thanks for the tip!

[dounoharm]

well you didnt mention your price range, but here is a link to the kit i bought and put together. i think its pretty and it didnt kill me to build it, tho i pulled some hair out occasionally, lol......and help seemed to come at opportune moments to get me over the humps....Backyard Pro Greenhouse - FarmTek
i found farmtek to be very helpful and the instructions were good. the freight was to be picked up out of the truck but they warned me and i was ready with help. there were a few two man boxes to move. farmtek also sold the equipment kits, heater fans vents etc. and i was pleased with what i got from them. i had a plumber run the water into the greenhouse, which i put on a leveled gravel base, and i had an electrician wire for me as i wanted lots of plugs for fans etc. all in all it was well worth the time and work. i dont know how to put an image in here but i will put one in my gallery for those interested.

[Ranchnanny]

Hi Steve I will give you my regarding greenhouses. When I lived on the Oregon Coast I purchased a Sunglo greenhouse from the manufacturer and it was constructed on an old large concrete side porch that was in the 70's. I loved it it had everything I needed as I was growing Orchid Cactus. Water, elec. and heat were all there at the side of the house. We left there in 1984 and it is still there.. I now live in Central Oregon north of Bend, Oregon and plan on buying another Sunglo to house my Orchid collection and it will be a leanto just like the first one. However this one won't have direct access from the house as my other one did. You can go to the manufacturers website and order a catalog or just call them and talk to them. There were no problems with water leaking during the rainy season that's why we moved east to the high desert. Here its the heat in summer and the very cold winters so the Sunglo will be wonderful with its dual wall covering. Good Luck

Sheridan

[stonedragonfarms]

Hello Steve, I live in the upper Mid-west (Northern half of the lower peninsula) and built my current greenhouse from a kit, though I ordered from a couple of different companies and customized my structure (plus it was actually cheaper to order my glazing and some of the other assorted equipment by going this route)...that being said, I'll take a whack at your questions as best I can...
1) Is there such a thing as an all-inclusive kit, or do most of them just contain the basics for constructing the physical structure itself? As per the other posts, there is such a thing, but most that I have encountered are quite small; unless you show great restraint or are growing something super specialized (maybe pleurothallids only lets say...), you will probably want to get the largest structure that you can reasonably maintain (sort of like buying an aquarium): a. you will have more room to grow in to, b. a large space is much more stable in terms of temperature changes, c. you have the ability to create more microclimates...just to name a few reasons
2) Do most of you who own a greenhouse have a water source plumbed inside of it, or do you simply run the hose from the spigot on the back of your house into the greenhouse? I do not have my gh plumbed inside, in the warmer months (May-November) I have a hose that is attached to a spigot right outside the gh door. In the winter I carry water from the house, though I only water the majority of my collection once every ten days or so during this time, so it's no big hassel.
3) Is it a good idea to have a cement slab poured in advance to accomodate the structure, or is it advisable to simply have the greenhouse sit on a bed of gravel, brick patio, wooden deck, etc.? I poured/mixed (by hand) the footings for the gh after the frame arrived; I'd say it took me about 3 days to dig out the holes and lay out the forms for the footings, as well as to fill them. They were set/cured enough to work with about 72 hrs. later. The floor of my gh is 10" of pea gravel over 2" of foam insulation (the type that basements are wrapped with before they backfill with earth)
4) How do you run electricity from the house to the greenhouse to power the misting system, heater, vents and fans? I trenched from my Dad's workshop to the gh, and laid down the wiring. There is a board in the gh for the systems within it, and it pulls from a master board in the workshop.
5) How easy/hard, on a scale of 1 to 10, is it to build a greenhouse from a kit? It was quite easy to build the gh that I purchased, though it took quite a bit longer than I had planned--if myself and a helper would have had 4-5 days of doing nothing but greenhouse construction, I think we could have had it up in a week; as it was, we started around thanksgiving and finished about 5 months later...there just was not the time in the fall...and we had early snow, so things got pushed back until we could find the frame
The size of greenhouse I'd like to get is somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 to 115 square feet. Thank you in advance to anyone who cares to respond.
I bought the majority of my structure from Cropking (www.cropking.com); the glazing, fans, vents and miscellaneous other items I bought from International Greenhouse Supply (www.greenhousemegastore.com). The furnace I bought locally; I decided that I would rather invest in an item that I knew could be serviced here...so I called up a local supplier that installs heating in barns & garages and let them do some legwork for me. The unit that I decided on was priced less than those at any of the supply firms that I bought supplies from, and I did not have to pay for shipping (plus the dealer came to check that it was properly installed at no fee) My gh is 18x20, and is double inflated poly over a steel frame. This will be my third winter in it, I have little problem with snow accumulation or winds, it is relatively light on the heating expense (though I grow mostly cymbidiums, pleione & dend. moniliforme, so it's a balmy 43-46F at night)--in retrospect, I wish that I would have built a house about twice again the length...but there's always next summer...

Hope that this helps,
Adam