How many orchids per square foot in a greenhouse
 

I am in the process of planning a free standing hobbyist greenhouse for orchids. Is there a rule of thumb or fornmula for how many orchids you can reasonably fit in a greenhouse based on its square feet? I have a small back yard so the green house will have to be between 150 and 170 square feet. I realize that the size of the benches and the size of the plants will influence the number of plans allowable, but experienced forum members must have an idea. One can probably never have enough room however as I said I am limited by space. I plan on using the greenhouse all year. It is most important in the winter. I live in central Florida and I am am getting real tired of bringing in a 120 plants continually because of one cold front after another. I also don't want to be limited to those 120 plants. Thanks in advance.

It all depends on how big the individual plants are. If you are growing most things in 8" pots, figure one of those per square bench foot. For 4" pots, I think that you might get 5 or so per sq foot. Of course 150 sq feet isn't 150sq feet of growing space, you will have some benches and some walking space. You may have multiple levels (two shelf benches) which will increase your growing space. And of course you can hang a lot of plants, which also increases your growing space.

I think you'll be surprised at how many plants you can fit into your space. But it is never enough, of course. You will probably end up building odd shaped shelves, multiple level benches, and who knows what other thing you'll think of to increase your growing space. Do try not to crowd your plants too much, but of course nobody succeeds in that.

No matter what the size, you'll find, as so many of us with GH's have found, that there just is never enough space and so we learn to be content with what we have. I have a Sun Glo 8 x 15 and I wish I had a larger house! I agree with littlefrog that we all modify what we have after the fact to accommodate all that we want. It seems up here in the northern climates, we collect all kinds of plant stuff that is outside and must have a home comes winter....and sadly sometimes there just isn't the space.....and while we'd all like to do the right thing and not crowd our chids, we do and we deal with all the attendant watering problems that comes with overcrowding etc, etc, etc. So just build as large as your budget and space will allow and enjoy the hobby....Oh, don't forget to send all of us some pictures...we all like pictures!

Nice tidy GH,and lots of orchids to tend, do you have any problems with the shelving being above one and another when watering as this sometimes causes the spread of any deseases if any that may occur above them.I placed a strip of heavy grade plastic film below each shelf to divert the water run off from splashing the lower shelves, seemed to work.

did the same but not for all the upper shelves but so far no problems....and I spray at least monthly with RD-20

lHey Howard - Very nice looking G/H. Oh, I wish I would have gone larger. Mine is 10 X 11 and houses about 160plus orchids. At present I only have single shelving 24" wide but like the idea of dual shelving. How do you atch. plastic under shelf and where or how does water run off. I always try not to water foilage especially when flowering. I've never had a disease or fungal problem. Thanks.

Hey, Don, Don't we all wish we could have gone larger! Anyway, last year I had a problem with condensation on the inside of the GH and it was dripping onto the crowns of the plants. I put up some 6mil clear plastic on the inner ceiling walls to direct the water elsewhere ~ ugly looking!!! This year I installed .06" acrylic to the ceiling so it would be flat and aesthetic looking and somewhat permenant. There was some left-over pieces of this plastic that I just lay on the top of the upper shelves. My intention wasn't to prevent water from dripping through but to make it more stable for small pots...wire racks don't provide the most stable surface for 3" or 4" pots. The wire racks are available at Home Depot along with the attaching hardware and just cut to length.

i have been in cut flower production greenhouses where the pots are jammed right up next to each other...i like leaving a few inches between pots, and giving the plants as much room as i can. it seems there really never is enuf room....why cant i stop adding orchids to my collection?!!

Hi BikerDoc5968,

Just out of curriosity, I noticed that you have wood as bottom for your greenhouse. How do you avoid not having any mold problems? Is the greenhouse seating on a deck if so...how do you prevent the cold from getting in the greenhouse?