I would like to start a thread about Green houses and this looked like it might be the right place to do it.
I am on an EXTREMELY tight budget. I have looked and looked at green houses online. Any thing that would fit my budget I wouldn't put a winter hardy plant in.

I got thinking about something my mother did. She bought a sliding glass door at a "junk yard" made a foundation of reclaimed bricks and laid the glass door on top to make a mini hot house to start her plants early last spring.
I was thinking of devising a green house floor plan using reclaimed sliding glass doors. I don't recall at the moment what price mom paid at the junk yard but I remember it was cheap.
Just wanted to share this thought and see if any one else had any very low cost green house ideas...
Gina *BabyBlue*

Yep. We cover our beds with trash-scrounged windows. Bales of hay for the back, so theyre tilted a bit to catch more sun.
Not sure how hard it would be to make an actual small room, but if youre handy at all, or have friends who are, you can just make the 2x4 uprights spaced as wide as your glass. I DO like low/ sunken/ stone backed/south facing structures to conserve some heat. (ive got a whole book on passive solar greenhouse design.)
Ive never actually built a real structure, we had some supports last year, but they were just lay-on windows (this is a temporary home for us, no buildings!) Im sure you can do it!

The part of my idea that has me stumped is the peak. would probably have to make the triangles to fill that area. unless there is nothing wrong with a flat topped green house?
Gina *BabyBlue*

Good idea. I have apparently been blacklisted from the GW Greenhouse forum. I don't get any error, my posts just don't show up anymore. How obnoxious and self-important is that?

Laaz, can we have a new forum for greenhouses?

Gina, In answer to your question: Yes, you can have a flat roof, however snow will collect on top if you get any and that could be a real problem. I have also been told glass is really prone to cooking your plants if you have any good direct sun.

You were blacklisted from GW? What they used to call "sent to Disney"?
Jeepers.

Susan

I, too, would enjoy a GH forum.

Some issues for you to consider at this point
- hail... do you need tempered glass, at least for the roof?
- snow... do you need to consider snow load? It is a good idea to add to the predicted snow load the weight of the containers you will hang from the ceiling. I can give you a snow load link for GH construction that helps you space rafters and so forth.

I have a glass GH. I don't think glass "burns" plants. The plants don't receive any more light than they would outside. It is the heat that causes the problems. Shade cloth and a well designed ventilation system can prevent these kinds of problems.

Robert

I have a added a greenhouse forum at the bottom of the page.

You are welcome to move this there if you want.
Gina *BabyBlue*

So would a raised bed, heater cables and a double layer of plastic work???
I am guessing it is matter of home much heat/wattage you can provide

Any one know how much it might cost to heat a small greenhouse in NE.
It seem like even with a prof unit it would be expensive

thanks

Frank, there are many, many factors to consider when determining the cost of heating a GH. Just to name a few: climate (zone), GH size, GH glazing or covering, thermal mass, GH orientation, source of heat.

I started a thread on Dave's about this, including examples of north wall insulation, addition of water barrels for thermal mass: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/644362/ (I hope it is OK to link to Dave's here!)

SB

The biggest problem with a small greenhouse is not heating. The biggest problem wih a small greenhouse is cooling. Small greenhouses over heat very, very, VERY quickly. Plants like even temperatures, and that is just about impossible with a small greenhouse. The reason that greenhouses have ceilings that are between 12 to 20 feet high is to enable the greenhouse grower to maintain constant temperatures. Heating is also not cheap. My greenhouse heating bill for last winter was just over $4,000.00. Remember, citrus do not grow at all when temperatures are below 55.4F, (which is absolute zero for citrus) and they produce VERY LITTLE growth above 95F. So there is really not much point going to all the expense building a greenhouse and then keep the greenhouse's winter temperatures in the upper 40's or in the 50's because you want to save on the heat bill. - Millet

So are you trying to tell us that we need to keep the Night time Temps above 55.4F?

Jimmydo, what I am saying is that if you want your citrus tree to continue to produce growth during the 4 or 5 cold winter months, you need to keep the tree's growth medium (soil in the container) above 55.4F. I keep my tree's root zone at 64F during the winter. You can keep the night temperatures up, or place the tree on a heating pad or other warm surface. Lastly watering the tree with warm water during winter also helps. - Millet

Wow, I did not realize I needed to keep them so warm, I have just been trying to prevent freezing (In reality, with my heater that means keeping the heater set to 45 (It's Lowest setting)

Now is this regardless of Rootstock?

My Goal is to make some Edible Citrus that is Hardy down to 25 (For Brief Periods) (I know that Mr.Texas has been successful at this, so I know that the goal is obtainable).

So I will get Little or No Growth during the Times of Year that my Soil temps are below 55.4 Degrees?

Now does this hold for the other side (95F), is it the Soil temp that we need to be worried about, or the AIr Temp?