Our DIY greenhouse is easy to build, long lasting and low cost.
Greenhouse
is a house for you to experience your practical indoor organic
gardening projects.
Imagine, when the burning hot sun is approaching your plants, they
will be growing happier if you provide a shed to them. When the winter
season is long, you can start seedlings a little earlier if you have a
green house.
When you have a little place, you may wish to build a
greenhouse to fit exactly to your own garden measurements. We called it
as "Measure and make"!
Above image 1 is our first green house in the year 2003.
Before building, you have to decide which types of plants are sitting in the house with which types of growing temperature.
How to build a greenhouse with some low cost, protective, long lasting; and durable greenhouse materials?
Our
'Photo Frame' green house concept is as simple as our backyard goldfish
pond design. It is a supper flexible green house plan, which you can
easily build it, extend it or converting it into any kind of garden
houses any time you wish with the easy mounting wooden frames.
Our 2009 second garden greenhouse is running north and south, at a sunny corner. A
fair roomy structure, with a 15° low angle roof. We cannot build a
higher roof as there are housing rules to follow. Otherwise; we would
have done it with a 45° angle.
The advantage of low roof is the plants can catch
the earliest rays of the morning sun in the early spring; when they are
placed near to the roof. The disadvantage for low angle is, it incurs a
liability to drip. But this is hardly a trouble for us.
Heavy roof is never our choice as we both cannot handle heavy stuffs.
Instead of installing all the expensive heating and cooling systems, we
decided to leave it as natural.
Our
close to nature fresh-air greenhouse consists of a semi-clear plastic
roof, wooden blocks (image 9) floor, and three open sides.
The North side is lean
to our neighbour's garden house. |
So only the East side is widely open and exposed to the full direct sunlight from the nature. And it is a perfect place for our grapevine.
Green House Materials (picture 11)
|
Helping Tools
|
We had tried plastic covering (picture 2) before and it was not to our satisfaction. Because our intention is to grow all kinds of plants all year round.
With the plastic covering, the greenhouse often heated up like a stove in the summer; even the door is widely opened. The plastic were easily damaged by the free running cats; they made holes into the plastic sheets when they climbed.
We were looking for a nearest to nature environment for our indoor organic plants all these while. We finally found a perfect greenhouse covering material 'Green Recyclable Polyethylene Screen (shade cloth)' last year.
Since the atmosphere of a small house is easily affected by changes of outdoor temperature. So, natural ventilation is definitely essential; especially in the hot summer weather.
This visible screen (picture 4) protects against wind, dust, and heavy rain. The most important is, it is environment friendly, tear and weather resistant, and UV stable. It is durable and inexpensive too.
There are two sizes of recyclable Polyethylene Screen (picture 5) in the shop. They are either 1 meter (W) x 15 meters (L) or 2 meter (W) x 15 meters (L). We had still left-over to make our indoor window screens.
With this fantastic material, you don't have to worry of the extreme power from the sun, the wind, the snow, and the rain. With the indoor rain barrel, you don't have to worry of the humidity in the air.
You don't have to worry for the light and the natural heat. This greenhouse can be used for both cold and warm weathers.
In the winter season you just do the normal winter protections for the plants as though they are living outdoor. We discovered that, those home used aluminum foils and microwave pricked plastic sheets work best for the extreme winter temperatures; if you are on very low budget.
The greatest benefit is the plants are sheltered from most of the insects and butterflies; and they can grow happily without most of the garden pests.
Let the house be wide enough in the first instance. You may increase its length to any extent when space and budget allows.
This completed greenhouse's measurement (below image 10) is 225 cm (H) x 420 cm (W) x 240 cm (D).
Do
1. Mark out the four corners, set your long posts one at each end, stretch the lines one near the top and the other at the base.
The wood lumbers are 240 cm in length. Except the front and back center
piece are 225 cm above ground to make the point of the top roof into the
15° angle. |
2. Insert the rust-proof iron plates sharp end into the ground to the depth of about 30 cm. Make them straight and secured.
3.
When the posts and the outer frames are completed, screw all the anchor
blocks together. Layout 6 pieces of 3.5 x 7 cm wood west and east and
join them to the center piece of 7x7 cm bar.
4.
Layout your 5 pieces of wood lumbers from 300 (L) x 15 (W) x 2 (D) cm
across the front and back top bars to complete the frame construction.
5. Fix them to the posts firmly. Thereafter, start with your roof
covers. Lay the plastic sheets (image 12) piece by piece overlapping each other and
balance them with the Level ruler. When they sit good, fix them to the
wood and screw the wood strips above them.
6. Fix the screens last with the 3 cm width thin wood strips and fasten them on the screen sheets.
7.
Make a door with a green screen with an inner (picture 7&8) and outer locks, if you wish. And the door should never be built at the same sides of the house which the wind
comes.
A DIY greenhouse is ready for your worry free indoor organic garden!
Back to Organic Garden Home from Diy Greenhouse
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A simple step by step building instruction with pictures for your DIY greenhouse.