My GH and how it works

[SlipperKing]

Some folks expressed interest in seeing the inside of my greenhouse so I snapped off a few shots. This isn't a flower photo shoot per say but more of an exchange of ideas for getting the job done. Some folks may get a few ideas they can use and some ideas may be given which I can use.

Outside view so you can see my environment in which the GH sets in. The GH is not positioned east/west, more of a northeast front with southwest back. Its in a prefect alignment with prevailing winds from the south(Gulf of Mexico side)

Front; door with three exhaust fans

The back showing the wet wall, 4ft by 10ft

Northwest side showing the large single oak tree on the south,southeast corner. This provides plenty of shade during the hottest part of the day. Back in the day of construction I had 60 trees in this yard I lost many to drought and pine beetles.

As raggie as it is, the shade cloth covers the two sides and only half of the roof (right side). Also, I have it suspended on wire cables,4 that run the lengh of the house to keep it off the plastic. Big cooling factor.

Inside:
Looking up I have 2 gas-fired space heaters for winter. Not that I need 2 but good as a backup. Their are synced to come at the same time. Notice the roof, this is white fiberglass and I discovered I really didn't need shade cloth over it.

Water source: 550 gal of rain plus A/C condensation. I missed uploading the the feed water inside the GH. I'll post later.

(To be continued)

 

[SlipperKing]

Ok back. The feed water is gravity fed into the GH and fills this tank. Any fertilizer gets mixed here and deliveried by a sump pump which plugs in to operate.
55gal

Next to the feed water is my super sophisticated control panel

A breaker box and a bank of thermostats! Each exhaust fan, heaters and wet wall are on individual thermostats six total. Notice also the fans are old 220V fans out of A/C units. I pick them up cheap, 30-50 bucks from air conditioning companies around town.
Another 55gal with part of the top cut off serves as the reservoir for the wet wall. Sump pumps kept burning out after a year so adopted this outside pump.

On the back side walls I have vents pointing inside used only in the winter. I cover the wet wall with plastic in the winter so to let fresh, cool air in when it heats up during the day, these vent provide that.

The benches are stacked to increase my growing area.

I suspend vinyl sheeting under the upper benches so all the run off goes to either end and to the floor. This is the same vinyl I originally install back in the late 90's Its indestructible!
Which you can see here

Looking down through the vinyl

I have walk ways down both sides so I can "walk up" and look down on my plants on the top benches

A shot down the center showing a PVC frame I hang plants on

Finally, if disaster looms I have forces at work with my two guardians Moe and Curly

 

[Justin]

Looks great rick can't wait to see more

 

[Gilda]

Thank you Rick for taking time to do this ! Awesome ideas ! What is the shade cloth suspended from ? Looking forward to the rest of the tour

 

[SlipperFan]

Awesome, indeed! So much thought and planning, all for the love of orchids!

I love the walk-way idea. How cool is that!

Do you ever have algae or other crud build-up in your rain-water tank? If yes, how do you deal with it?

 

[JAB]

Rick
That is great! Thank you for sharing! Are you a hobbyist, or is this one of those JOB things? Either way you have a great setup that seems to be made on a budget. Awesome inspiration. Now I just have to move somewhere out of Seattle so one can afford, well, anything!

Cheers
JAB

 

[troy]

Excellent greenhouse, looks like quite a bit of modification engineering comes in handy

 

[naoki]

Thank you for the tour, Rick! It is great to see the grow area of others.

 

[ehanes7612]

cool

 

[gego]

Thank you Rick. Very well thought out.
I would imagine you have a spot somewhere where you just sit and enjoy looking at your babies.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[MaryPientka]

I love the walkway, too! Thanks!

 

[Happypaphy7]

Thank you for showing around the details.

I'm so jealous of anyone who has a greenhouse or three! lol

What is that devil face doing there?
Scare off the bugs and diseases?

 

[SlipperFan]

I think those scare off the "No Bloom Goblin."

 

[abax]

SK, just an amazing amount of do-it-yourself innovations...good work.
We're DIY people and you can learn soooo much via successes and
failures. It's lot of work, but fun and rewarding.

 

[Bjorn]

Thanks a lot Rick, interesting to see how you deal with your challenges, here up north we have others- more connected to preserving heat than getting rid of it- ha ha, however with a greenhouse that preserves heat, high temperatures comes automatically. So, we get it both. Talking about solutions, two rules apply
1) Keep it simple (KISS)
and
2) If there is a chance of failure, then it will happen, - and when it happens its always when it suits the least. E.g. when you are away. So dealing with greenhouse automation I made the following rule "Its (almost) impossible to make it fool-proof; the fools are much to clever"
Good Luck with the summer heat

 

[paphioboy]

I find it interesting how shady the growing area is, especially for those Maudiae-type and primulinum in flower. Is that area much brighter in the heat of summer?

 

[JeanLux]

:clap::clap::clap: !!!! Jean

 

[SlipperKing]

Thank you Rick for taking time to do this ! Awesome ideas ! What is the shade cloth suspended from ? Looking forward to the rest of the tour

Gilda,
In the first pic, front of the GH you will see 4 galvanized rods bolted to the front projecting upwards. The back outside wall has the same. Four plastic coated cables run the lengh, tighten with turn buckles. Still, with the weight of the cloth it sags so look at one of the side shots of the GH you will see a tall pole going up near the center. There is a "V" shaped set of poles connected to the four cables above. The two vertical poles on either side of the GH are connected to this up-side-down "V" and when pushed up into position they lift the "V", the cables and cloth up off the roof removing the issue of sagging. Clear as mud right?

Awesome, indeed! So much thought and planning, all for the love of orchids!

I love the walk-way idea. How cool is that!

Do you ever have algae or other crud build-up in your rain-water tank? If yes, how do you deal with it?

The black tank, no. The 55 gal buried in the ground inside some times. I had it spray painted black to prevent algal growth but that has chipped away over the years.

Rick
That is great! Thank you for sharing! Are you a hobbyist, or is this one of those JOB things? Either way you have a great setup that seems to be made on a budget. Awesome inspiration. Now I just have to move somewhere out of Seattle so one can afford, well, anything!

Cheers
JAB

Hobbyist like you I assume.

 

[SlipperKing]

Thank you Rick. Very well thought out.
I would imagine you have a spot somewhere where you just sit and enjoy looking at your babies.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

How's this?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

 

[Gilda]

Gilda,
Clear as mud right?

For a senior , blonde ,technically challenged person ... sure :rollhappy:
Thanks for explaining anyways. :wink: