And it begins!

jeffrey6115 · Post by **jeffrey6115** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:33 pm

12 ft. x 16 ft. I love it too.

dustin0352 · Post by **dustin0352** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:41 pm

Dang thats exactly double mine! oohhh I would love it too!!!

jeffrey6115 · Post by **jeffrey6115** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:43 pm

I've had it about 4 years now. Believe me it fills way too quickly. But I love every minute I spend out there in the winter.

Post by **daiv** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:05 pm

So Jeff, it sounds like you heat that thing all winter. Any stats on that? Like what temp do you keep it at, what is the outside temp in winter, what type of heater, etc. etc.

jeffrey6115 · Post by **jeffrey6115** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:46 pm

I have an Orbis vented gas heater. Vented to keep the ethylene gas from destroying the orchid flowers. I like to keep it about 55 at night for the comfort of the orchids. The only time I add an extra heater is when it's below zero which doesn't happen too often. The heater just had it first repair in 4 years. No more than 80 degrees during the day. The sun takes care of that quickly. Solar vent openers on the roof vents were a great investment. The big exhaust vent comes on when it's about 82 degrees.

Post by **daiv** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:06 pm

Great info. Man, what a luxury to be able to leave your plants to grow all year like that!

jeffrey6115 · Post by **jeffrey6115** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:59 pm

That year round sun sure helps bring on the flowers. They get little to no water all winter unless they look stressed. I start misting in early spring when I see signs of flowers. There are a couple mamms. that let me know when. I try to get them out on the porch as soon as the weather will allow.

iann · Post by **iann** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:07 pm

You could do it too, Daiv, with a big enough heater and maybe a second mortgage

Post by **daiv** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:31 pm

iann wrote:You could do it too, Daiv, with a big enough heater and maybe a second mortgage

Ha ha! Right! It was still under 40F outside at around 11:00am. I thought I'd check the inside temp of the greenhouse for kicks. It was about 55F. One thing I noticed is that now with the Sun lower in the sky, the greehouse is actually shaded considerably more than in summer. So aside from a big heater, I'd have to move it to a sunnier spot.

That line of trees that shade it in winter are not a problem in summer and more importantly, they block strong south winds from pummeling the greenhouse.

iann · Post by **iann** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:51 pm

Yeah, the sun is so low now that the greenhouse gets shaded when next door's lawn grows too long

Post by **daiv** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:59 pm

And to think, we've well over a month to go before it starts going back up!

dustin0352 · Post by **dustin0352** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:42 pm

The top shelf is getting FULL!!!

Post by **daiv** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:53 pm

Looks great Dustin!

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 6:30 pm

Excellent!

jennifer215 · Post by **jennifer215** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:44 pm

So lovely!