Greenhouse Move and Expansion

[majcka]

Movie stars (and others) have houses with multiple bedrooms. Daiv's cacti have greenhouse with several bedrooms. Is there any similarity?

[daiv]

Here is an interior pic from this morning. I had to get out there and check it out while it was raining. All my "rain collection" buckets are full now!

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By the way, it is true that expanding to have more greenhouse space is pretty easy for me and I've got more or less unlimited room to expand.

However, all those plants have to come inside in the winter and that is where I am really limited!

I envision digging into a hillside and making a cinder block "bunker" with a door on one side. Heavily insulated with some sort of minimal heating system to keep it from freezing, but that for sure isn't going to happen anytime soon!

[majcka]

However, all those plants have to come inside in the winter and that is where I am really limited!

How come? I thought you live in AMERICA. Here (Europe) we consider this as "A land of unlimited possibilities".
One would think you have cacti that move inside by themselves.

[Tony]

Taking a second look, Your side additions dont look like they will shed snow very well.
Do you think that will be a problem?

[daiv]

Tony,
I know that isn't a very steep angle on the sides, however I don't think it will be an issue. Unlike other roof materials, this plastic is smooth and slippery. So the snow slides off very easily. A little sun to warm up the underside and it really slides off. The other thing is that we simply don't get that much snow here. I mean we can get a heavy 10-12 inch wet snow in March usually, but that stuff really slides off. The colder snow like late December/January is much lighter and 12 inches of that should be no problem.

[daiv]

Here are a couple pics from today.

Check out this awesome water tank I got for $50. Holds 250 gallons. It was used to hold Diesel Exhaust Fluid (aka urea) - so essentially it has fertilizer residue already in it.

Anyway, in the picture you can see the old water collection method. I'm going to run a gutter along under the eave and pipe it into the new jug. I have to keep the top of the jug lower than the eave, but want to get it as high as I can. So after measuring, I will build a platform that stands 2 1/2 feet off the ground and set it up on that. Then I plan to run a hose directly into the greenhouse. Presto! Running (rain)water in the greenhouse for my watering needs!

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Here is an interior view from the new East side. Still got junk piled everywhere, but I'll get that cleaned up eventually.

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[Tiggy]

So much space! How long do you think it will take you to fill it I like the water system, I also collect rain water, in buckets, old paint buckets, whatever I can lay my hands on, but have run out at the moment as it hasn't rained for such a long time.
Susi

[daiv]

Yes, the buckets work, but only hold so much so I run out too. I think with this 250 gallon tank I would even have enough this year to keep going.

Here it is now on the stand - 2 1/2 feet high. Of course if the tank was full to the top, that would give me pressure in a hose up to that level. So once I get it plumbed, I should be able to water all my plants with a hose on all the benches.

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Looks a little crooked and it is just slightly lower on the spout side - for obvious reasons.

[Ralf]

Great job, Daiv! Now you are on the way to be a small nursery.
Don't you have fear that algae grow inside this tank? It's a translucent material and I guess after a while there will be algae inside.

[daiv]

Hey Ralf,
Yes, well it sure grows in my buckets. I was thinking about covering the tank - it is a bit ugly after all. Not sure how exactly to do it yet. I think it will help to have the top covered except for the small opening for the gutter to drain into.

I will have to drain it in the fall too, of course so it doesn't break from freezing - especially the valve.

[Ralf]

Daiv you can handle it like the Rolling Stones - "Paint it black".
After that you have two advantages.
A; No light will come inside the tank and so you prevent the algae growth.
B; Because of the black surface of the tank the sun will warm up the water.

I've two rain barrels made of green plastic. I don't have had any algae inside it.

[daiv]

OK this is more or less the "final phase" of the greenhouse project. I've got the rain gutters and spouts added. Still need to do some other things like paint the plywood, cover the tank, and build some more shelves for the interior.

Here you can see the new rain gutter. My friend had the two pieces of white gutter just laying behind a shed and so he gave them to me to use. The brown connector and short piece, I had to purchase. (the side of the greenhouse isn't broken, I have it set like that to increase ventilation.)

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A view from the back showing the transverse piece.

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I found an old piece of coarse wire screen that I mangled into shape and put in the opening to keep any major debris out.

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Here you can see the spout I used with a splitter for outside filling or a hose into the greenhouse. I found that with a small amount of water in the tank, the pressure is too low to use the hose. I think with a full tank, however, it should come out of there pretty well.

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Here is a close up of my reducer setup. Had to get it from the 2inch outlet on the tank down to a garden hose attachment. Took 5 pieces.

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The half of roof space is around 15 feet from peak to the gutter and 14 feet wide. By my calculations, I should actually only need less than 2 inches of rain to fill the 250 gallon tank.

Just add water!

[daiv]

More improvements at the greenhouse.

If you remember from this earlier photo - the ground around the greenhouse is primarily bare dirt because of scraping it level. The dry summer really slowed the return of the grass.

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This past Friday, I ended up getting about 100 rolls of fresh sod that were leftover from a job. Here is what I did with it:

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Of course, I've got to water it a lot until it gets established. Thankfully, the 250 gallon tank and rainwater collection is in place.

So I added this 2.8 GPM 12V on-demand pump which I power off a deep cycle RV/Marine battery. It works great for watering the sod, but once that is established, I will only need it for in the greenhouse. Makes watering the cactus about 100 times faster!

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Mounted it to the wall, and it is hidden behind my E. spachiana.

[majcka]

east_wing.jpg

Should there be an attachment????

[Tony]

Nice! Looks like you put it in a beautiful spot.
I seem to remember you were having hard water issues. Have you been able to use rain water exclusively this year dispite the fact you are just getting this new rain water storage system set up now?