[BonnieLorraine]

Before someone posts, yes I know it's not a real greenhouse, it's my bastardized version of a shade house with plastic over it and a mist system, but given we live in zone 10b with 60% humidity, it seems to be working so far.

Anyways, the frame is redwood, with 50% shade cloth stapled on top, and 6mm greenhouse plastic over that. We cut holes in the middle of the plastic panels so when it rains it will drain in the center. The mist system is hooked up to a calcium filter and a timer, and is set to come on 4 times a day for 10 mins each. We have 5 10' EMT poles for hanging plants, and currently have a bit over 50 plants hung up. Two tables are redwood slat tables I built 6 yrs ago and the rest are outdoor plastic shelving that we divided into two. The flooring is 2k lbs of lava rock I removed from a friends yard while remodeling it.

Everything seems to be thriving so far, except for a few things I may have melted in my apartment (not surprisingly, the greenhouse is cooler than the apt). There are about 40 pics on my photobucket, but I posted my favorites here. The link below is in case anyone wants to see the rest.


Greenhouse pictures by bonnielorraine22 - Photobucket

 

[Jduane]

Very Nice, Wish i had the time/money/space to do this, this is truly great.



What are your plans for it?

 

[epiphytes etc.]

Very nice setup. Must be rough trying to grow plants in southern California.

 

[BonnieLorraine]

Thanks

Yup, I'm fortunate enough to live in one of the few places in the US where I could pull this off. Ended up costing $400 for a 24'x10' structure, not including tables, poles, or plants. We've been propagating plants for my friends reptile store, and selling them at local reptile shows and frog meetings. There are a bunch of tanks/racks inside the house with t5 lighting for the propagated stuff, this was more to hold all the mother plants.

 

[poison beauties]

Bonnie its really a nice setup. Hell I think you were confined to an apt room for the plants a while back. This is a very nice setup and given your region and temps I think your dead on with the layout and planning. I would consider some type of air circulation or ehaust fans but I may have misssed it. Make sure your ready with some type of humidifier too just in case.

Michael

 

[BonnieLorraine]

Thanks Michael
It hasn't really gotten over 85 so far this summer, most days are in the upper 70's, and the walls aren't completely air tight with the house, so there's always a breeze running through. I think for the winter I might get some more plastic and wrap it around the outside of the frame to hold in the warmth, we left it open for now since we knew we'd need the circulation. The misters seem to be doing ok so far, there is a 20' length of it going down the middle of the roof. I need to get an outdoor min/max humidity gauge, checked at Walmart but they didn't have any. So far I've been kind of using my plants >.< Ok, the B. imperialis didn't wilt, let's try a Hydrocotyle, alright that's fine, lets try a B. prismatocarpa. So far nothing has wilted, so I'm guessing it's pretty high.

 

[JoshH]

Looking great!

Have you ever gotten a firm ID on those aroids tagged as Pothos sp? I sent photos of them and similar ones around the aroid world and several botanist indicated that they looked like certain rather uncommon Philodendron species. I have several that look just like yours and they apparently were collected in Panama and Costa Rica.....ID's can be hard to find!

 

[GRIMM]

So great! Man if I lived in a nicer climate I would definitely do something like this. Love the organization of everything.

 

[james67]

very nice, im quite jealous now.

the idea of a greenhouse type structure here has been contemplated at the house where im staying now(with another DB member) but it seems doomed since we're in zone 8b (making both heating and cooling necessary) and the lots are so close that the yard only gets a few hrs of sun. i also worry, in the neighborhood we live in, that inquisitive kids would be breaking into it frequently.

anyway, point being.. im jealous its a really nice set up, and WELL made for $400

james

 

[Frogtofall]

Looking great!

Have you ever gotten a firm ID on those aroids tagged as Pothos sp? I sent photos of them and similar ones around the aroid world and several botanist indicated that they looked like certain rather uncommon Philodendron species. I have several that look just like yours and they apparently were collected in Panama and Costa Rica.....ID's can be hard to find!

Not to get off topic here but if you're talking about the ones with the funky petioles, then I'm a bit perplexed. I have (somewhere) a couple of photos from a friend who lives in Thailand of various types of these plants scrambling over rocks in the forests. They are said to be some type of true Pothos.

Panama and Costa Rica you say??

 

[BonnieLorraine]

The closest I've been able to find looking at photos is chinensis. The one with the more lance like leaves is from Julio, and the trailing one with the ovate leaves is from EricM. I actually saw yours in your ebay auction Josh and was going to ask you about them, since they do look rather similar. I finally got a camera the other day, had to borrow one from a friend, but you spotted them before I could send the pics to you heh.

On a side note, just got a temp/humidity gauge for the greenhouse, it goes up to 84% RH at night, and down to 65 degrees, and daytime is currently 85 degrees (should go down next week) and upper 60's to mid to low 70 for the RH. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why the RH sunk down to 57% today, until I went out and saw my friend had accidentally shut off the water supply to the mist system instead of just turning off the hose. I need to be more careful.

 

[varanoid]

Awsome setup. Wish I had the space to pull something like that off. Plus I have to move so much its just not practical. I'll be keeping an eye on this as this is something I'd love to do down the line if I am still living in southern california and am in a stable enough living situation. In the meanwhile, some of your other threads have inspired me to do a orchidarium\plant propogation tank. Thanks for the inspiration and good luck with your greenhouse.

 

[JoshH]

Not to get off topic here but if you're talking about the ones with the funky petioles, then I'm a bit perplexed. I have (somewhere) a couple of photos from a friend who lives in Thailand of various types of these plants scrambling over rocks in the forests. They are said to be some type of true Pothos.

Panama and Costa Rica you say??

Yeah....it's kinda a mess as far as IDs go. True Pothos are well known to have the flattened or channeled petioles; unfortunately so do many neotropical Philodendrons and Rhodospatha. But, since most of these are extremely rare, I'd say that if someone says that it came from an Asian origin, it's probably Pothos. The ones that are neotropical have been drifting in mostly in the pockets of froggers and viv geeks....lol, or so I'd imagine.

I've been meaning to compile photos of all these similar species and send them off to Dr. Croat and some other experts...sorry for getting off topic Bonnie!

 

[ChgoHerp]

That's an awesome setup. too bad it would not work in Chicago. I'd have a problem deciding what critters I would have free roaming something like that.

 

[NickJR]

love it.. wish it was mine!

 

[dendrothusiast]

The closest I've been able to find looking at photos is chinensis. The one with the more lance like leaves is from Julio, and the trailing one with the ovate leaves is from EricM. I actually saw yours in your ebay auction Josh and was going to ask you about them, since they do look rather similar.

That pothos did look very similar to josh's specimen. I've also tried to find the i.d. on the specimen you gave me a while back too. Good to see you got the green house going!