I am interested in buying one of these patio green houses and I would like your opinions. If you own one please comment on the quality of this product.
Thanks Karl


http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/index.cfm?page=_productdetails&productid=1589

Karl,

The smaller sized greenhouses will have a lot of heat loss per unit usable area compared to a bigger one. We could not escape the laws of thermodynamics and Physics. Those sizes could protect, but not as great as you would expect compared to let us say a 6' x 8' greenhouse. It would act like a frost blanket, a lot better though.

Joe

Joe
I agree which brings up plan B. I was thinking of adding a thermostat with maybe three 100 watt light bulbs. It is constructed with double wall polycarbonate so maybe it would not need a lot of added heat. Sounds too simple so what am I overlooking with plan B?
Thanks Karl

Karl, my greenhouse has twin wall polycarbonate on both of the end walls and side walls. The roof is double air inflated poly. Twin wall polycarbonate is not going to offer you much in the way of insulation. Twin wall polycarbonate only has a "R" value of 1.6, which is about the same as inslated glass. For the greenhouse grower, the real value that twin wall polycarbonate provides, is not savings on the heat bill, but it is the added structural strength that polycarbonate provides. Especially, against situations such as hail. However, the biggest problem with small greenhouses, all small greenhouses, is not the heating, it is cooling. My personal feeling is that you will not be satisfied with it. My first greenhouse, years ago, was a lean-to greenhouse against my garage. It was 20 X 10 and I built it myself on two weekends. If you have the time and are able to construct your own you can get a lot bigger greenhouse, for less money. What ever you wind up doing, I wish you the best of luck. - Millet

Karl, like Millet said, if you have the place to build your own, you can do it better and cheaper on your own. I built a 16' x 8' with 4 used sliding glass doors just leaning against the frame-- it worked well for me until I replaced it with a dog kennel.

Guys
The grandkids saw me germinating the papaya trees in an old refrigerator that I had lying around. When these things started popping up they were really excited about growing a garden, so I promptly germinated every vegetable that I knew they and the family would eat. This was going great and my son in-law helped me build a small greenhouse out of visqueen and PVC pipe. We put in a small heater and to my surprise I had to repot some of the plants because they were growing like weeds. Then came the last cold front, which ripped a three foot long split into the side of the greenhouse. It got down to 28 degrees that night and the little heater could not keep up with that.
The look of disappointment on the grand kids faces, was disheartening since they were so excited about gardening. I am germinating more seeds but I don’t trust my makeshift green house anymore.
The only good news is that the papaya plants were in my shop under florescent lights.
Thanks for the comments
Karl

Hey Millet
Do you use the 4 or 6 mil Polly sheeting on your greenhouse? I am still kicking around this green house idea but just have not figured out how you attach the Polly sheeting to the frame. yours is doubled so that has me completely puzzled.
How long does the Polly sheeting last and finally what books or source of information would you recommend on greenhouses?
Karl

Karl, my greenhouse is a commercial Nexus Corporation greenhouse. The polyethylene that covers the roof of the greenhouse is two layers of 6-mil greenhouse film that has been specially coated with Teflon on one side. The Teflon coated side is placed up so it is facing the sun. Teflon keeps greenhouse film from turning yellow as it ages. All commercial greenhouses attach polyethylene to the greenhouse with a product called Channel Lock. Channel Lock is sold by every commercial greenhouse manufacture. First the female Channel Lock is bolted to the greenhouse frame, then the film is pulled over the roof and held tight by snapping the male piece of channel lock into the female. This hold the film extremely tight and it also keeps the two layers air tight. The two layers of film are inflated by a small fan specially made for the purpose.

Millet
Leeuwenhoer (1719)
Discover of Citrus Polyembryony

Hey Millet
I am getting there with the greenhouse but the hurricanes have set me back considerably. I ran out of time last year to complete the greenhouse and again I am rushing to finish before the first frost. Here is a picture taken between rains with the concreted post covered with plastic film.
The greenhouse is 20’x20’x 10.6’ tall. It is on the south side of my shop, which should get sufficient sunlight this winter. Unlike you, we only get about 4-6 days of freezing temperatures, with the lowest temps in late December and early January.
The natural gas supply is behind the Ice Cream bananas (far end) and the water and electrical are on the opposite end near the orincos.
I would love to use polycarbonate panels on the ends but it is just not practical with hurricane force winds every few years. I am designing the greenhouse where I can remove the poly from the ends and top before the threat of a hurricane.
Next challenge is to build a 4’ wide door that will not warp. I will most likely weld some 1” square tubing to form the frame, but aluminum is so expensive these days. Any suggestions?

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5350/dscn1769fl1.jpg

Going to be a very nice greenhouse. You will really enjoy it. Your idea for the door sounds good to me. I made my greenhouse door with a 2X4 frame covered with 3/4 inch plywood. My door is on the north end of the greenhouse. My north greenhouse wall is a solid wall, internally painted white to reflect the southern sunlight back into the greenhouse. Because of hurricanes you can't do a solid north wall. What is the average November, December, January and February night time low temperatures in your area? - Millet

http://www.climate-charts.com/USA-Stations/LA/LA166657.php

Hi Karl, I know this is late but I found this pic of greenhouse made with PVC which would be much cheaper than aluminum. He also sent plans but I don't know where they are. If I had to build a greenhouse, I'd use PVC. Good luck & how is your greenhouse now?

Patty
That is a nice little greenhouse and I almost used PVC to build with. Only after I increased the greenhouse height and width, did I decide to go with the fence top rail pipe. Actually there was not that much difference in the price between the two.
I had a local door company build me a 4’X 8’ aluminum screen door for less than $300 and I have it installed. Now I need to cover it with poly. I have made some progress last week with both end walls covered and the floor is in. The fan and auto shutter arrived yesterday. I was happy with the quick delivery until I opened the box to find the aluminum shutter bent to the point that it was junk. Got another one coming so it now looks like I will be in the greenhouse before the first frost.
I need to start thinking about tables and such things. Did you notice the little aluminum picnic table inside the greenhouse picture? I wonder if it would be useful if I modified it a little.
Karl

Karl,
There are also nice double-pane sliding patio doors from Home Depot that sometimes go on sale for $90, regularly, I can get a nice one for $150, and for the upscale version, they are over $300. But your custom door is a steal, custom doors here are over $500.

So if I were to design my greenhouse, I would design it so that it will accommodate the cheapo home depot patio doors.

Joe

If you are patient and lucky you can find used sliding glass doors for as little as $5 each. I got mine from a friend that does remodeling.