Greenhouse Style

[Alan Sailer]

I am thinking about building/buying a small greenhouse and am having trouble deciding on what style. The two types I am looking at are wood lattice or "classic" plastic glassed greenhouse. Small means big enough for a few dozen plants.

The location is Southern California with my chief worry being the hot dry Santa Anna conditions.

The advantage of the greenhouse would be the ability to do temperature control. I would hope a evap cooler could help weather the Santa Anas. And a small heater could
help with the very rare freeze.

The advantage of the wood lattice would be easier to build, prettier and good ventilation.

Is there anything I am missing or other advice?

Cheers.

[Jmbaum]

Hello,

I'm in southern California as well. Not sure what wood lattice greenhouse is...
In general I think it all depends on which orchids you are looking to grow, your zone/ microclimate. I'd favor a south eastern exposure, emphasizing the East.

If I were building one today I'd choose to do so out of steel post... the ones used for chainlink, using corrugated polycarbonate as sheathing material. Because of the climate 100% seal isn't necessary and a little passive ventilation is actually helpful. you have the right idea with using evaporated cooler linked to thermostat. interior circulation is also important to keep plants healthy, an omi oscillation fan should do the trick. Also you'll likely want to use a bit of shade cloth if its unprotected, or can dilute white paint for paint wash. Also would recommend a little RO system to have some pure water stored under the bench.

[Shadeflower]

I think a wood lattice is like a roofed enclosure to provide shade with wooden slats as protection whereas a plastic greenhouse is a ready-made thing that heats up lots in the sun.
I can't advise I'm afraid.

[DirtyCoconuts]

lath house?

[Roberta]

Alan,
If you just want shelter from rain (in case we ever get any) you can build an easy structure out of conduit (fittings can come from swap meet or online, the sort of thing used to build a carport), put some clear polycarbonate over the top, and some Aluminet shade cloth. you can wrap in plastic if you want to heat it (barely). If you have warm-growers like Phals, you would want to get something a little more robust, with twin-wall polycarbonate walls so that you could heat it. (Those flimsy greenhouses from Harbor Freight do not stand up very well to Santa Ana winds, panels blow away, friend had that happen) As Jmbaum noted, it depends on what you are growing.

If you want to add any sort of heating and cooling (I use a fogger for cooling in mine, it works quite well since humidity is reasonably low) you get into some more complex logistics. Electricity and water do not play nicely together, so the wiring needs to be done properly (Not extension cords! I have known several people who have had greenhouse fires...)

[Alan Sailer]

Thank you for all the replies.

Yes a lath house would be a house built using all wood the shade provided by property spaced wood strips (lathe).

It seems like people really like the more classic greenhouse. So I'll look into that.

The orchid types I want to grow inside the structure are catteya, cymbidium,oncidium, zygopetalum and miltoiopsis. If there are any issues with this all in one place please let me know. I would plan to do some location/shade juggling inside to deal wit the variable light requirements of these plants.

Another question would be if anyone can point me to a relatively detailed construction plan for a small glazed greenhouse. I could use some starting ideas.

Cheers,

[Roberta]

Where you live, an unheated lath house should be fine - the only one that might or might not be an issue is the Miltoniopsis, if really cold you could bring that one in. You could just get a sheet of clear polycarbonate (the corrugated stuff that is used for patio covers... Home Depot) if you wanted to protect from rain. I use that over my Catt area, put the shade cloth over it, which holds it down in wind (something that you do need to be concerned about) Actually, the Cym should just be outside unless the sun is really intense - they need more light than the other things.

[DirtyCoconuts]

check out this thread

Lath House (It Rhymes with Math Mouse)


i have like four different zones in there and have brassavolas, cattleyas, zygotes, paphs, some bubos, encyclias, pleurothallids and assorted others.

[Alan Sailer]

DC,

Thanks. Looks like a great thread. I'll check it out in detail.

Roberta,

Also thank you. Your home set-up looks great. I'll have to see if I can do something similar.

Cheers.

[DirtyCoconuts]

here is a pic of the lath house as it stands today.

outside the left (East ) wall is bright, the front is 10% more shaded or so- inside the front wall is maybe 15% shadier and then the space inside grades down to a bright shade at approx 40-50% of the outside light (phals grow happily here)

so with a little planning you can get a lot of different areas in one space


Untitled by J Solo, on Flickr