Greenhouse, second season

Do-it-yourself projects such as greenhouse or shadehouse builds and related topics.
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Ralf
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Re: Greenhouse, second season

Post by Ralf »

Nothing to thanks for, fanaticactus! All greenhouse growers have the same major problem, how to get colder fresh air into the greenhouse during the hottest time of the year.
The only way for solutions is to get inspirations by others. The more technical way is owed in my occupation and if other benefite of that it's a pleasure for me.

If you don't have any problems, I wanna leave a short note for tiggy.

@Tiggy
Yes it is a "Monkey Tail" Hildewintera (Cleistocatus) colademononis. I've bought it some years ago at Kakteen-Haage.
There are some offers in their Shop. For your interest, they also ship worldwide. :wink:

Hildewintera colademononis
Only when the last tree has died, the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we cannot eat money.
(Wisdom of the Cree Indians)

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Tiggy
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Location: Inland from Imperia 800msl Italy

Re: Greenhouse, second season

Post by Tiggy »

Thank you Ralf. I have been on that site before and find it very good especially for information. I am in Italy so no problem for postage. They are good prices too. :thumbleft:

Susi
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greenknight
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Re: Greenhouse, second season

Post by greenknight »

I bought seed of Hildewintera (Cleistocatus) colademononis from SuccSeed, so that's another option.
Spence :mrgreen:
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Tiggy
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Re: Greenhouse, second season

Post by Tiggy »

Growing from seed is something that I have not yet tried, I don't have the space or the facilities at the moment. I would have had a go but our temps. can fluctuate at any time being so high up, so without some sort of back-up I can't see it an option. When I get a bigger gh. maybe I will have a go. I agree with you though seeds are much more freely available..

Susi
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iann
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Re: Greenhouse, second season

Post by iann »

I think you'll have to judge the fan controls for your own circumstances. An air temperature of 32C is of course nothing to a cactus, but in strong sun the plants themselves may already be scorching in the sun by the time the air warms to that level. Or on an overcast day, it can be 40C and no danger at all. Or if the fan sensor is in the sun then it might be reading 50C in the sun when the plants are barely warming up.

Also depends on your plants, and critically on the amount of shading. I grow with no shading and lots of ventilation. Good for Lithops and many hardy cacti, not so great for the more tropical ones. Even Ariocarpus don't do so great because they can't get hot enough.
--ian
fanaticactus
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Re: Greenhouse, second season

Post by fanaticactus »

iann wrote:I think you'll have to judge the fan controls for your own circumstances. An air temperature of 32C is of course nothing to a cactus, but in strong sun the plants themselves may already be scorching in the sun by the time the air warms to that level. Or on an overcast day, it can be 40C and no danger at all. Or if the fan sensor is in the sun then it might be reading 50C in the sun when the plants are barely warming up.

Also depends on your plants, and critically on the amount of shading. I grow with no shading and lots of ventilation. Good for Lithops and many hardy cacti, not so great for the more tropical ones. Even Ariocarpus don't do so great because they can't get hot enough.
Your advice is well taken, Ian. I had thought a greenhouse would be the solution to everything, but I'm finding it's really a lot more work--that is, at least until I have it set up just right for a year. I've started to add a double layer of shade cloth in some strategic areas, and I've set the fan thermostat at a lower temperature so that recently the usual high temperature is 86-89F (30-32C). The sensor is out of direct sun (it hangs below a shelf) and is placed midway between the bench level and the upper shelf, so I'm hoping for an average temperature to prevail. The greenhouse gets full, unabated sun all day from sunup to sundown (when it decides to shine!), without so much as a leaf casting any shadow on it. I just now checked the temp and was quite surprised to see it at 96F (36C)--I don't want it that hot in there, so I guess some more fine tuning is in order. Despite the heat, the Gymnos, Rebutias, some Echinocereus and Echinopsis/Lobivia hybrids are doing very well.
Catch a falling star--but don't try it with a cactus!
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greenknight
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Re: Greenhouse, second season

Post by greenknight »

You shouldn't be too surprised that it's getting hot in the greenhouse - the sun is at its most intense right now.
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fanaticactus
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Re: Greenhouse, second season

Post by fanaticactus »

greenknight wrote:You shouldn't be too surprised that it's getting hot in the greenhouse - the sun is at its most intense right now.
Definitely a major contributing factor! I know we tend to think mid-July to mid-August are the worst (at least in these latitudes), but that's only because of the weather patterns bringing in more humidity and heat (probably only because the earth--planet and the ground itself) has warmed up over the months. But, yes, the sun does not rise quite as high in the sky as we get on past the solstice and, therefore, is less direct and intense. I hope I'm thinking this through correctly...
Catch a falling star--but don't try it with a cactus!
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