input from other greenhouse owners

[vmax3000]

Ramon, so sorry about the back....may your surgery be effective and your recovery swift!

I built my own greenhouse. It's on a slab that used to have a shed for yard supplies. The shed was pretty rickety when we bought the property, so my spouse and I knocked it on down and built a greenhouse on it. Anything that sits on or down in the Earth will always maintain something around 72F or 23 C. The most important insulating factor would be from the cold, north wind. For that, I have double walls and ceiling panels. I add an extra layer of plastic for the biting cold. The concrete is porous enough that when I water, the gh stays nice and humid. In fact, in winter, I have to watch that I don't end up moisturizing my collection to death! The summers are another story altogether and I now have a home-made humidifier fan for that purpose. It's currently sealed up in the attic until spring. I attached a picture of my structure, just in case it gives you any ideas.

[DelawareJim]

Eric

Something you may want to consider is only having bare ground under your benches as Ramon suggested.

I grew up in the greenhouse/nursery business and most of the old greenhouses had bare ground under the benches.

The rationale was no cost for materials, it drains freely, and the owners almost always grew terrestrial orchids, houseplants, or ground covers like saxifrage (strawberry begonia) or Baby's Tears (Helxine soleiroli) under them.

Cheers.
Jim

[Brooke]

I loved the idea of using terrestrials under the tables but I had a friend who discovered why she could never get rid of her mealy bug problem

My g/h has crushed limestone as the flooring. Crushed limestone compacts like concrete so never a problem walking on it, excellent drainage and very helpful with the humidity.

I do have to put on knee pads when I pull unwanted weeds from under the tables. I don't like free ferns or the tiny pesky clover that occasionally accompanies a new purchase.

Brooke

[Masdyman]

I don't think you can beat a hard surface to walk on then gravel or whatever under the benches for drainage.
Everywhere in my greenhouse is a hard surface apart from the centre staging. I don't see the point in paying for hard surfacing when it is not going to get foot traffic.
I do let the odd fern grow but anything else goes, the gravel is about 4 inches deep so only get the odd shallow rooted weed, nothing from the soil below.

[shadytrake]

My house came with a huge slab housing an aluminum storage building which I promptly pulled down (it made a huge racket during any wind storm).

Here is the link to our project.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...e-project.html

Nothing beats concrete for keeping clean and free of bugs however it is hell on my back. I'm thinking of putting in a rubber mat.

[Gin]

Rubber mats work really well. I bought some that lock together like a jig saw puzzle .. Gin