indoors greenhouse for winter
 

I had plans to build a greenhouse this summer, but to heat the greenhouse is going to be pretty expensive. So, I decided to make a 6'h x 5'l x 2'd shelving system with 2 shelves, 3 (175 watts) MH lights, fan and humidity trays. Since it's going to be inside the house, I won't have any problems regulating the temp.I'm thinking about keeping the orchids 2-3 ft away from the lights. The 2nd shelf will hold less light demanding orchids and I'll use fluorescent lights
I'm debating wether to use all 3 MH or just 2 MH. What do you think I should do?

The question on how many MH's will depend on your ability to cool the inside. I have a 6.5' x 6.5' x 6.5' grow tent in my basement. Temperatures outside the tent are 60-65 right now, and inside the tent with no cooling it would easily reach 80-85F. I am only using about 600W of HOT5 bulbs. I cool it by blowing air into the tent through vents when it reaches a set temperature. I personally would start with less and get more if needed.

The open window there has a plastic covering so no humidity/heat is lost.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...1/be82bbb5.jpg

This is really cool to see! I was thinking about doing something very similar to your design!

I have no idea how hot MH lights get. I have a similar setup in my basement with 2- 4 light T5's and a 4 light T8 and my temps with the lights on gets to 74-78F in the winter. I would think the MH lights run hotter, so you will need to somehow cool it like 31drew said.


Bill

I'll be using this system during winter, so the lights will help to keep the temp warmer. I will also have a fan blowing across the orchids. The lights will hang 2 feet above the top of the plants, except a couple dendrobiums that are pretty tall but will still have about have about 1 foot of clearance. The lights have a glass under each light and the hood has vents at the top to allow the heat to escape it.
I used this lights for a saltwater tank with corals and they work great.

Posting a pic of my indoor greenhouse as well. There are a lot of advantages to growing inside and it's been fun over this winter.

MH lights are to strong to use being only 1 to 2 feet from your orchids. These lights usually need to be 4+ feet away. You'll burn your plants.

Bio wheel, is that an orchidarium and then a greenhouse tent that's portable? The tent greenhouse is a great idea!

and BioWheel are you really in Bermuda ? How do you cool the set-up down if its used all year round ?

Yes - I purchased the Orchidarium on eBay. This is my first winter season with it.

I bought the tent (see on Amazon) to keep temps and humidity up in my unheated shed. I had planned on trying to grow outdoors with it but heating would have been too much. In my shed it only gets about 50f so I can get by with a small heater in a pinch.

I was going to buy one of those black grow huts until I found this. The clear tent is better imo. It's possible I'll bring it outside this Spring.

Thanks for asking.

---------- Post added at 08:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 PM ----------

No - I don't live in Bermuda. Think I just put that in there as a kind of 'wish' when I signed up for the forum. Actually I'm located in NC US.

In regards to using it in the summer - well, that's a good question. With all the gardening I do outside it's probably not necessary. And the shed probably gets near 100f in July/Aug and even hotter with lights on. It would have to have AC.

Gardening with no bugs in a controlled environment year-round is intriguing though.

Regards, bio