Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 10:52:43 -0700 (PDT) From: Albert Huntington <balberth@yahoo.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3386$foo@default> Subject: Re: Greenhouse construction
Joe Harden wrote about his greenhouse plans and
invited suggestions, so I thought I might speak up.
I have a small greenhouse (12'x15') here in San Jose,
California, which is a somewhat different environment
than the part of Texas I believe Joe is residing in.
A few general questions on the greenhouse to be asking
yourself:
1) Do you have plans to provide for air movement in
the greenhouse? A few fans running at all times will
probably help to combat fungal attack, among other
things.
2) Do you have plans for humidification? Once you
get
all of those kerosene heaters running, the humidity
may drop to dangerously low levels.
3) You mention shadecloth during the summer and
plastic during the winter. I'm not sure what
part of Texas you are in, but I'm assuming you're
living in the hot and humid part. Do you plan to keep
the greenhouse structure basically open in the
summers, or to seal the structure and provide
cooling and ventilation?
4) Some people have apparently noted problems with
fumes from unvented heaters running in their greenhouses. It depends
on the type of plants you are planning to keep.
5) Do you have plans to keep plants of differing
requirements in the same structure? I have found
that my drosera paradoxa, for instance, requires a lot
of light to survive, while many of my nepenthes don't
need nearly as much. My dionea, highland nepenthes
and temperate sundews do not appreciate the hot
environment my lowland nepenthes require. You might
want to make plans to divide the greenhouse into
warmer and cooler or darker and brighter sections.
I have a little information on what I've done with
my greenhouse at
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/1436/
Some of the advice may not apply to you as I am
sure your climate differs from mine considerably.
Hope I've been of some help.
--Albert Huntington
--San Jose, CA
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