Tuesday, April 14, 2009

What type of Greenhouse for Zone 5?

What type of Hobby Greenhouse for Zone 5?


I would like to either buy or have built (by a family member) a 6%26#039; x 8%26#039; hobby greenhouse that could be heated year round. Or, maybe it doesn%26#039;t need to be heated year round. I am totally new at this. I mostly want it to grow flowers from seed. (Like geraniums have to be started early.) Lexan panels made this size greenhouse kind of expensive. I think that just for the materials, Lexan and the new kind of treated lumber, the materials cost was around $1,700. (It%26#039;s expensive to have Lexan shipped.Lexan is the expensive part.) The purchased kits seem to only have 4 mm polycarbonate. Or, would using a greenhouse with film be a better way to go? (Where can you buy the double greenhouse film that you can pump air between for better insulation?) What is the best way to get a quality small greenhouse that is heating efficient? Or, if you have a purchased greenhouse kit you recommend, please specify why you like it and the brand. Thanks.

What type of Greenhouse for Zone 5?
don%26#039;t use lexan, it is way overpriced. I priced it once and they wanted over $100 a sheet.





If you use plastic, I would recomend, the track and wiggle wire. You can clamp two laywers of plastic together and inflate them. The blower motors cost about $60 and the connection tubes are about $15.





For a small greenhouse the size you want; look into getting twinwall panels. They have a small r-value and are fairly durable. You don%26#039;t want to try to inflate plasic sheets on a greenhouse that small. I don%26#039;t think they have prices for twinwall on the link below but I have seen the prices and they are about half of lexan.
Reply:All the green houses that I saw were over $900. I decided that was just too much and built my own 6x8 A frame for $480. I utilized lumber sales, sanded all the pieces and used %26quot;uh oh%26quot; paint from the paint store that was on sale for very cheap. I utilized clear %26quot;suntuf%26quot; corrugated panels for the roof and thick mil plastic inside and out. Between the outside and inside sheets I placed inflated bag packaging material that I got from a packaging store. Corrugated panels all around would be far easier than plastic as the plastic was difficult to put up by myself. Twinwall is expensive, but much more insulated.


I heated with nothing more than a small electric heater from K-mart. It worked well and with the suntuf panels I only had to heat during the evening hours from February to April. You do not need to heat year round unless you live in a zone that is cold year round. If your area heats up during the summer, having some way to circulate air will be important.


Benches were easy for me, two 2x4%26#039;s and 1x2%26#039;s cut into pieces painted with a good deck sealer worked well. I screwed metal L brackets along the inner sides of the greenhouse and 2x4%26#039;s to hold up the other edge.





Kits are easy to buy at home improvement centers if you can afford them and all you have to get is benches and a heater. They can be leaky though they will last for quite a while. Or if money is an issue, try it yourself, hunting down some extra lumber and some good sales.





If your area doesn%26#039;t get much wind, try a PVC hoop house. It%26#039;s easy and you can remove it in the summer if need be. They don%26#039;t last too long however http://www.pvcplans.com/





Thick mil plastic is available from any home improvement store (I used Home Depot)



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