what do u suggest???

[biothanasis]

Hi all,

There is also and idea of making a misting system. But I have no idea how the misting heads are called, so that I could find them and search for prices etc.

I am thinking of creating a small gh with selves or whatever.... do you have any suggestion of what materials to use (for skeleton, cover etc)? It will be put on a balcony. Let's say the size will be 1.5x1.5x2.5 m (widthxlengthxheight).

Perhaps the plants will be on shelves and then put inside during winter, unless I find something convenient to heat the gh.

Any tip/idea will be appeciated!!! Thank you for your help...!

Thanasis

 

[NYEric]

There is a small plastic enclosed g/h system already sold, I'll look for a link.
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/minigreenhouse.html
Also search 'Gardman R687' or 'Gardman R688'

 

[likespaphs]

go to: http://griffins.com/home/catalog.asp
click on "netafim" pages 205-217
how's that?

 

[gonewild]

Look at these...

http://www.orbitonline.com/products/Kits/04/04/
they don't cost much and they are easy to install.

Or for more advanced system....
http://www.mistking.com/home.php?cat=249

 

[biothanasis]

Eric very nice suggestion and it looks convenient. But I think i'l need something more steady, as on 5th floor winds will be quite harsh, so will it be steady?

Likespaphs, yes something like those on pages 207-208 I guess.

Lance, I think the first ones you suggest are pretty easy to install and use, but what could their prices be? Also, compared to the advanced ones you posted below, do they just lack the device for programming / setting options?

Thank you all very much for replying...

 

[Rick]

I went through a progression from misters to fogger to wet wall (swamp cooler).

With maintenance of relative humidity being the goal, I found that misters are the least efficient (putting more water on the plants and ground, rather than the air), and the wet wall is the most efficient.

Fogging was in the middle.

In fact I almost floated my house off its foundations with the misters trying to achieve the same thing (humidity wise) a 2X4 wet pad could do in my 8X14 gh with 5 gallons per day of water.

If you use misters, then probably should time their use (rather than use a humidistat), or have floor drains with an efficient drainage system.

 

[gonewild]

Lance, I think the first ones you suggest are pretty easy to install and use, but what could their prices be? Also, compared to the advanced ones you posted below, do they just lack the device for programming / setting options?

They sell these kits at our local hardware store for prices starting at $15 for the simple kit. A package of 5 nozzles is also about $15. You can make your own system with pvc pipe and simply drill and thread holes for the nozzles where you want them. The kits they sell a simple and basicall you just roll the tubing around like you would with lights on a Christmas tree.

The MistKing systems are more elaborate and designed for use in vivariums. Their nozzles are designed so the can be adjusted to point in different directions, and yes they are more expensive because they have the controllers included.

In my plant room I have the foggers set above the plants that come on with a timmer. Start a little after "lights on" fogs for 1 minute every 15 minutes until mid afternoon. Then off until the next day. This keeps the plants "wet" all day. if I want the plants to not be wet i shorten the fog duration and or spread out the time between fogs.

At certain times of the year when the humidity is low I want the fog to come on at night also, but I don't want the plants to be wet at night. So solve this problem i installed a set of the cheap foggers on the flex tubing on the edge of the bench so they fog below the plants towards the floor. This is on a timmer that comes on for 1 minute every few hours. So the humidity stays higher at night without wetting the plants. My floor is cement so i don't care if it gets wet, in fact if it is wet then it is making humidity.
This below bench system cost about $35 with the battery powered timer and took about 10 minutes to install.

As Rick said the wet wall is probably the most efficient but It requires more air movement and thus more energy consumed. Also the wet wall will cool the growing area more, maybe that is good and maybe not for what you want.

 

[biothanasis]

Thank you very much for the explanations and suggestions!! They are very helpful!!! Maybe I could combine the two types...for different seasons....!!!
Rick do you have any pics of a wet wall for growing areas?? I did a little search and did not find anything...! Is it a porous material that comes out in tiles?? Is it light/heavy???

 

[Rick]

Thank you very much for the explanations and suggestions!! They are very helpful!!! Maybe I could combine the two types...for different seasons....!!!
Rick do you have any pics of a wet wall for growing areas?? I did a little search and did not find anything...! Is it a porous material that comes out in tiles?? Is it light/heavy???

How big is your growing space, and how sealed up will it be? Wet walls are also called swamp coolers or wet pad humidifiers. We recently had a thread going on cool mist versus wet pad humidifiers for a small indoor space.

The basic premise is simple, you have a very porous material (the big commercial ones use a block of corrugated and coated cardboard (the pad). You spray or trickle water over it using a pump in a sump tank below the pad. A fan mounted in a frame in front of the dripping wet pad pulls air through the pad where the air gets cooled and humidified (anytime you evaporate water you get cooling.

I posted a thread on building my own for my old GH a few years ago. But if your space is fairly small, there are lots of store made units. Our lab uses them in our test rooms which are about 8X8. I went though a bunch of little units that cost about $30 at a drug store, but finally we bought a "consul" type portable unit that does the work of about 4 of the drug store units. We purchased ours from WW Grainger, but I've seen them for sale at big hardware stores like Lowes and HomeDepot (not sure what's available in Greece). I'll see if I can find a link.

http://www.drillspot.com/products/48321/Air_King_9940_Portable_Console_Humidifier

In this add it says it's not available any more, but I think Air King got bought by someone (maybe Honeywell). So someone else makes a similar product. From the front it looks like a piece of furniture. The replaceable pads fit into a frame in the back of the unit. There is a big tray (sump) at the bottom also accessed from the back for refilling. I think an autofill valve is available for continuous filling if you have a water source available.

 

[biothanasis]

Really cool idea...and thank you very much for the info!!! I am not sure I can find such a device here though, but I could built something of similar operation....!! My area, as I am thinking of it, would be approximatelly 1-1,5m x 1-1,5m x 2-2,3m, lets say like a big wardrobe / cabinet. I am thinking of using aluminium skeleton for the structure and coat it with polycarbonate panels/sheets like these

http://www.hotfrog.in/Uploads/PressReleases/Mr-Wilson-Polycarbonate-Sheet-150169_image.jpg

I will get some block of selves inside of it to put the plants/pots on..!! I am also thining of creating a door and a window that open, so that I can use it for winter too (otherwise I could make them like openings in the stucture.)

 

[Rick]

Really cool idea...and thank you very much for the info!!! I am not sure I can find such a device here though, but I could built something of similar operation....!! My area, as I am thinking of it, would be approximatelly 1-1,5m x 1-1,5m x 2-2,3m, lets say like a big wardrobe / cabinet. I am thinking of using aluminium skeleton for the structure and coat it with polycarbonate panels/sheets like these

http://www.hotfrog.in/Uploads/PressReleases/Mr-Wilson-Polycarbonate-Sheet-150169_image.jpg

I will get some block of selves inside of it to put the plants/pots on..!! I am also thining of creating a door and a window that open, so that I can use it for winter too (otherwise I could make them like openings in the stucture.)

For something that small you could get away with units less than 1/2 as big as the one I linked too. What I refer to as the "drug store" units. Or maybe just use a tall stack of bricks or other semi porous material to make a tall trickling fountain structure along the back wall. Let all the drippings fall back into a sump tank and recirculate with a small fountain pump. A couple of fans and your done!!

 

[biothanasis]

Thank you very very much Rick...!!!!