tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100763971751820295.post1018808885876268725..comments2023-11-13T10:25:27.255-08:00Comments on Permaculture Beginnings: Greenhouse Design2permieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12459545261402977414noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100763971751820295.post-14230663751855882492014-03-26T12:11:05.142-07:002014-03-26T12:11:05.142-07:00This is great, I love this design. So I was wonder...This is great, I love this design. So I was wondering if you could explain in some more detail on how you made this and what you used. So I just started working on a ranch about an hour south of LA and was also wondering how well this design would work in the climate here. We are looking into greenhouse designs and just trying to find the most sustainable and cheapest way to build one. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06288239129179515700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100763971751820295.post-12584513196093550302014-02-26T06:05:11.368-08:002014-02-26T06:05:11.368-08:00Hello, sorry to have left replying to your comment...Hello, sorry to have left replying to your comment so late. Time just flew by!<br />When we planned this greenhouse, it was supposed to be a short-term (3-5 years) test of principles. We wanted to make sure that we got the placing and the sun angles right before we made it a permanent structure. Then there's the fact that, in the winter, maintaining high enough temperatures for high humidity would be quite energy-intensive (-20C plus severe wind chill) and in those months we would have been concentrating on things like kale and other winter crops that do not want high humidity anyway. With these considerations, we were prepared to go with a more short-term and cheaper material for the few months that excessive moisture would be a problem. In the end it was a good thing, because we should have set it about 10 feet further to the West. That would have been really frustrating if we had poured a concrete base....<br />With your climate requirements, plywood would definitely not be a good option as you clearly know. Besides the concrete and gravel option, there is also the rammed earth option. There have been people who have used these floors in their greenhouses (dammit, cant find the links now. Will post when I do, promise.) in various climates with mixed results. If you have the earth available, or can dig down as part of your greenhouse installation, then the majority of the cost is the machinery rental (Pneumatic Earth Sand Rammer, loads of different kinds of brands, check your local tool rental facilities.) Or, there is the manual tool that amazon sells for about 20 quid here. It depends on your physical and time constraints and how often you would actually need it. <br />Using a concrete or a tamped earth floor also gives you the option of placing heating pipes under your floor that are attached to a stove or a rocket mass heater so you can moderate your winter temperatures. But since you say 'overall greenhouses stay quite warm', then this may not need to be a serious consideration for you.<br />By the way, if water conservation is as much an issue for you as it is in other parts of Australiia, you could put a French drain-type set-up into a gravel floor. The outlet can be designed to run into a bucket that you can retrieve periodically and re-use the water. A small hole under the outlet (to sit the bucket into) and a twistable pipe elbow (to get it out of the way when you want the bucket) should work. I don't know if you have the room, or the necessity, but it's an idea I just had so if it works for you, let me know how it goes. If not, meh! ;-)<br />I would check out if there are examples of tamped/rammed earth greenhouses in your region and if anyone has run into difficulties with the material/humidity combination. It may suit your needs (and your pocket!) just as well as the others, and (I think) makes it much more aesthatically pleasing. <br />I hope this (belated!) ramble helped you out. Thanks for reading!<br />Have a great day,<br />Afton <br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03061516872021926893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7100763971751820295.post-53409368935168931902014-01-25T03:15:57.845-08:002014-01-25T03:15:57.845-08:00Wonderful, welldone! I love it. Just curious thou...Wonderful, welldone! I love it. Just curious though, about the plywood floor. Is not this a high maintenance, soon to be renewed material with moisture etc? I'm in southern Australia where although we get winters commonly down to freezing, overall greenhouses stay quite warm, hence the watering, and used often for propagation, hence humidity. We would make a concrete floor (to capture and recycle water, also thermal mass,) or gravel (drainage, thermal mass, cheaper). How does your situation and climate affect your choice of materials? : ), A.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com