Greenhouse in New York

[Bobkap]

Can anyone suggest if it is possible to have a greenhouse in Long Island NY. I mean an all year one. Is it at all economical to have one. What would be an alternative way of growing orchids in the home. Currently I put them outside in the summer and the window sill in colder climates. It would be nice to leave them in one location all year. Any suggestions? I grow mostly Phal's

[james mickelso]

PVC pipes Can be put together like a Quonset hut wrapped in visqueen plastic sheeting and a small electric heater put inside. Or you can build one out of 2x4's with visqueen or corrugated plastic panels and put in a small electric heater. If you build it out of 2x4's I would wrap it in plastic visqueen on the inside and the outside to insulate it better. Depending on how many plants you have it might be cheaper than lights.

[jmmehler]

An alternative to the green house would be bringing them indoors, and keeping them under artificial lighting. I have re-bloomed in this manner, for the last 3 years. You can use work lights (with clamps) with timers, and 100W (27 actual) CFL bulbs which do not get hot. While this is how I started, my indoor setup has evolved into the following (times 4);

72” Chrome (steel) shelving with wheels, available at Costco, Home Depot, and Lowes. Costco’s cost $89.00 and include the wheels. I only use three of the six shelves and install them at the top bottom and middle.

4 ft 4 lamp 54 watt high output fluorescent lights with 2 grow and 2 bloom lamps, available at htgsupply.com or growershouse.com

1 – 1” single pulley; 1 1” double pulley; 3 – 1 ½” carabiners; paracord from Lowes. This provides me a method to raise and lower the light fixtures/

Additionally, I have an Oscillating fan, a humidifier in the room. I also use a grounded electrical timer for each of the lamp fixturess.

[Bobkap]

Wow that sounds elaborate but I guess after you get it set up and figure out the times for the lighting it probably isn't that hard. What do you do in the summer when you use the A/C. Do the temp swings effect the growing? What type of orchids do you grow I'm growing mostly Phalaenopsis. Thanks for the idea.

[dounoharm]

year round greenhouse growing is very expensive, my heating bills with propane in a 12x24 greenhouse was around $400 a month in nc in the winter months to keep it at 55 degrees....unless you have money to burn I would suggest an indoor light setup....I have one in okla, which holds a few paphs and phals and does well in the a/c and heat and lack of humidity....I use a large 2'x4' gravel tray and I water the whole shebam twice a week....good luck!

[jmmehler]

I have over 30 phals. I love cattleyas and have a few dozen of them. I have a couple of oncydiums, including a psycopsis.

Each reflective work light will cost about $8.50. The CFLs cost about $12.00 for a 4 pack. They use 27 watts each, and put off very little heat.

The CFLs are more than enough for the phals. While I get more light output from the more expensive flourescent lights, they are still not quite enough for the cattleyas.

I just added a steel bar across my covered back porch, and while I have since brought the cattleyas in for the winter, next spring, I intend to put them back out there where they will get more light.

As for the phals, I haven't brought them in yet. I have them against the wall in the covered porch, under cfls, and covered in plastic. I switched the timers to come on at night, and the very little heat they produce under the plastic keeps the temperature from getting too cold. The intent here is to expose them to the cooler temperatures during the day time to encourage them to spike.

[james mickelso]

Good idea.