i am building a greenhouse!

[orchids3]

Mine is 800 sq ft - seemed huge but was half what I need in two years time. Same goes for the equal size shade house.

[Tropic]

It is truly amazing how quickly an orchid house fills up with plants. Now I have to decide what to have and what would do best under my present growing conditions. So I have mainly limited myself to terrestrial species, hybrids and a host of mini-orchids that like the micro climates offered in this rather large and cool area. But I know I will have to expand the greenhouse in another two years and have already reserved the land for such an undertaking which will be only covered with 50% shade cloth.

[Tropic]

gixrj18 ... your greenhouse is sure looking good and should work fine in Florida. Here we are subject to strong dry season winds and so I have to use steel pipe for the structure. It is all still experimental and the fun really begins when the plants start adapting and I can see progress in their growth.

[gixrj18]

Well, mine is coming along , slowly but surely. It seems like whenever I've got the money to work on it, I don't have the time....and vise versa. Today, I integrated the new half with the old half. It's gonna be a couple weeks until I can spring for more aluminum (so I can tear down the old half and continue the new to the porch), so I'm using this time to build my shelving and benches on the inside....and trim out a few spots around the windows. Most importantly, I can start moving the 'chids in. Then, when it's done, lay down the river rocks for the floor. It's nothing like yours, Tropic, but it's a start....that's a nice GH, I'll be there one day, need bigger property! Here's some pics of my progress....still a ways to go, though.

[Mr.Green61]

i have 40 X 40 ft green shed on roof, its height is 15 ft and it is open 18 inches from from upper wall and 18 inches from down side after 4 ft concrete wall. is it necessary to have some open sides in green net.due to these open sides from all sides, i have less humidity. does i need more air circulation or i need more humidity

[gixrj18]

Both are important....maybe you can split the difference, and cover half of the holes. Leave opposite ends open so it circulates good. I made little plexi-glass windows in my vents, so I can slide them open in the summer, and close 'em up during the winter.

[Ray]

Cullen,

Go for polycarbonate instead of plexiglas (acrylic). It is stronger, lighter, and assuming you get the stuff treated with UV inhibitor, will last a lot longer. I imagine you're going to want to heat that thing in the winter, so multiwall polycarb will save you a bundle on energy, too.

Also, you need not use a transparent spacer in the roof. A small strut is not going to diminish the light level enough to worry about.

[bonsai1504]

Hopefully we finish before the cold sets in.

[Leisurely]

I have only one suggestion for you.

The structure that you are building will undoubtedly be around for a long while. If it is the size you think you will need then you should definitely add at least another fifty square feet or design it in such a manner that you can add on when you run out of room, which won't be very long. I have talked myself into liking miniatures only because I have run out of room.

[orchids3]

Jason is that the aluminum material commonly that most pool enclosuere are built out of here in Florida ?- Mine is built from that.