Mini Greenhouse construction

[tropterrarium]

Here's a short intro to the mini greenhouse project I have going. I call it the greenhut (4x9'). So everything is wrong about this GH, too small, wrong orientation (SW facing). So I will turn that into an advantage by growing shade loving minis.

Here's what has been happening. The GH is adjacent to the house, still on the slab. Here in Southern California, there is no issue with frost, so I could pretty much ignore ground insulation. The ground was not 100% level, so I put a round of cinderblocks (8" tall, 6" wide) set in concrete, and meticulously leveled. Between the cinderblocks at the bottom, I put 1/2" sprinkler tubes, removed them once the concrete was half-set, so those are drainage holes in or out. In the middle of the GH is a pre-exising exterior drain.



In the right front corner there is a coil of rubberized electrical cord for use in the GH silicone sealed into the L-junction; 12 gauge solid wire is used in conduits. It is going through metal conduit to a dedicated 20 Amp breaker. Breaker was professionally installed, the rest I did myself. There will be 4 GFI outlets. There are a couple of larger tubes in the cement adjacent to the electrical conduit. Those will be used for RO water lines in/out of the GH. The open spaces of the cinderblocks were filled with styrofoam peanuts then concreted over. It reduces the amount of concrete used, gets rid of peanuts, and insulates. Win-win-win.



Water supply for the Mistking misters is from an external faucet, 3/4" pipe to 1/4" RO reduction fittings with ball valve to reduce pressure. It goest to a DI filter (RO wastes too much water, and water is precious commodity here in Southern California), stored temporarily in an old terrarium, insulated with styrofoam (see picture above on right). The old aquarium will have a float valve to limit the water level. Here the tap water can gas off anything that is left in the water after DI.



The GH is a kit from Santa Barbara Greenhouses, redwood and glass, the redwood sealed with a marine sealer and then twice coated with a gloss finish. That was hideously expensive (~400$ for paint!) but is worth while for the gorgeous look and the longer durability of the whole GH. Compare unfinished below and finished above.



On top of the cinderblocks there is a 2x4 frame, wood treated with marine sealer, attached to concreted in bolts, next to it you see assembled sections to be bolted together



So much for today. Will post more pictures as I get to it.

What I am still looking for are fans for internal air circulation. Any suggestions? Went to Frys today, but Fans are not "in season"! what a concept.
Also looking for large manzanita branches. Buymanzanita.com is not responding to e-mail, so not sure they are still in business. They charge about half of what the other two do, so would be preferred choice.

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[FairyInTheFlowers]

Very interesting.

[tropterrarium]

OK, a few more images. First, GH is up. Side vent side view.



Inside I put a small 6" wood sill to hold some orchid bark. It is used as landscaping fill for potted plants, plus a moisture reservoir/buffer. in the right angle corner, the black thing is the old exterior drain.



On the opposite end, there is a slanted "bench" at a 10 degree angle. It forms the internal roof for the electrical equipment to protect it from water. All gaps are sealed with silicone. The bases of all the internal glass windows are also silicone sealed so that water that is going to run down the glass is not pooling at the bottom and then the wood starts to rot.

As heater I got an electrical 5200 BTU element. According to the web calculators I should only need 4800 BTU for 30->50 F raise, and 30 F is already extremely rare in So Cal.



Underneath the internal roof you see two covered 2-port GFI outlets, and the large Mistking pump I just got today from Marty. Marty also provided a custom seven port manifold with 3/8 inlet (instead of 1/4). [Thanks Marty!]
The side vent is covered with a fine-mesh metal screen to keep out the vermin. It is stapled to the wood. Had some unpleasant surprises with my potting bench where I grow native cal. bulbs from seed.



Sorry for the rather poor images. Done with my cell phone. Wasn't in the mood of getting out the 5DmkII.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[sailortom2]

looking good...don't hink you'll need a heater in SoCal tho :-)

[tropterrarium]

Ran into a small problem. I installed a float valve on the aquarium holding tank to limit water level. However, the water pressure from the pipe is rather high, so that the float valve barely closes. I adjusted the floater so that it horizontal to maximize leverage force, but still not quite tight enough for my taste. So went to the hardware store to see whether there are pressure (not flow) reducers, but those only exist for the main municipal water pipe to the primary inlet to the house. So I will have to increase lift on the floater by attaching some secondary float/styrofoam to it. Not pretty, but will be hidden anyway.