Posted by General Schvantzkoph on March 7, 2010, 3:13 pm
On Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:51:41 -0500, The Cook wrote:
> tinyurl
That one is starting to be real money, the problem with even thinking
about spending several thousand is that the next step is to start
thinking about spending 5 to 10 times that much and getting a really
nice one. This year I want to keep it down to a few hundred dollars,
maybe as much as $650, something like this
(Amazon.com product link shortened)
67987863&sr=8-10
One of the other reasons that I'm thinking about this is to protect some
tomato plants from blight. Last year I nearly lost everything to early
blight. I read somewhere that protecting plants from wind and rain reduces
the transmission of blight, can someone comment on this?
Posted by The Cook on March 8, 2010, 1:37 pm
On 7 Mar 2010 20:13:03 GMT, General Schvantzkoph
I am not sure that a greenhouse is going to keep late blight away. The
spores travel through the air and you cannot keep a greenhouse closed
during the summer. Today I checked the temperature in the greenhouse
and it was 134°. The outdoor temperature is about 60°. Check this
site on late blight.
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/lateblight/late.htm
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a
Posted by David Hare-Scott on March 7, 2010, 4:55 pm
General Schvantzkoph wrote:
> I'm thinking about getting a greenhouse this year to extend my season
> (I live in Massachusetts). Last fall someone on this group suggested
> I try a popup greenhouse because they are very cheap (under $150,
> some as low as $50), rather then make any kind of major investment.
> Does any one have any experience with them? There also seems to be a
> class of greenhouses that are a step up, around $600-$700. The cheap
> ones are basically plastic tents, the mid priced ones are aluminum
> and polycarbonate. I'd like your opinions on both types. In my heart
> of hearts I've always wanted a proper glass Victorian greenhouse, but
> that's real money so I want to see if a greenhouse is helpful to me
> before I make that kind of investment.
My experience is limited to a small cheap portable one that would probably
be called a cold frame more than a greenhouse but it has all the problems
that you will face with a bigger version.
- Too hot when the sun shines on it and high humidity encourages fungi, I
have to open up flaps to allow it to cool on warm days.
- Blows away in strong wind, I move it to shelter and/or tie it down.
- Loses heat quickly at night, I move it under shelter.
- Limited lifetime, even "UV stabilised" plastic will only last a few
years.
David
Posted by Pavel314 on March 8, 2010, 11:35 am
wrote:
> I'm thinking about getting a greenhouse this year to extend my season (I
> live in Massachusetts). Last fall someone on this group suggested I try a
> popup greenhouse because they are very cheap (under $150, some as low as
> $50), rather then make any kind of major investment. Does any one have
> any experience with them? There also seems to be a class of greenhouses
> that are a step up, around $600-$700. The cheap ones are basically
> plastic tents, the mid priced ones are aluminum and polycarbonate. I'd
> like your opinions on both types. In my heart of hearts I've always
> wanted a proper glass Victorian greenhouse, but that's real money so I
> want to see if a greenhouse is helpful to me before I make that kind of
> investment.
We're in Maryland, a bit north of Baltimore. We bought a $700, 10' x
12' greenhouse kit from Harbor Freight a few years ago and put it up
on the south side of the house. It heated well with a 220 volt heater
but wouldn't stand up to the wind. The first windstorm sent about a
third of the panels all over the property. I tried to add extra clips
and adhesive but the next windstorm still took off a few panels. The
structure was too flexible, allowing the doors to open and the wind to
get in. I tried adding cross-members inside to strenghten it but it
was pretty much gone by that point.
The next year, I built a wood-framed greenhouse against the south side
of the house. I recycled most of the panels and windows from the
original greenhouse for the walls of the new one and put heavy-duty
double-wall polycarbonate panels on the roof. Everything held against
the winds for two years and against over four feet of snow on the roof
this winter.
Paul
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