Mini greenhouse

[wisco61]

Well, all this snow was getting me down so I started doing some prep work for spring. I got owned last year by slugs, laziness, and a late start, so I am trying to prevent that this year. One part of that is a mini greenhouse I can set up in the woods to give me an extra early start.

So anyways, this is just a rough prototype. I am going to make 2-3 of these for spring using plywood and some other upgrades. Doors on both sides, thicker plastic, etc. The size will stay the same for me, but its adaptable to any size. Could easily make a little one that would fit inside a back pack or the such.

The sides are attached to the bottom with hinges and the piece of PVC holds it all upright along with the tension of the plastic stapled to the sides.

This one is 14" wide, 24" long, and 12" tall.

Questions/Comments?

 

[MrBlatent]

No questions but a bit off respect coming your way, might have to try that out this year.

I had the exact same issues as you describe in 08 my last decent gorilla outing, i must get more organised!

Got any other tips for us un-organised types? Keep em coming!

MrB

 

[pipeline]

Nice, thats pretty nifty... Little popup quonset... Could definately come in handy.... Be careful not to let it overheat when the sun comes out... Make sure it can ventilate...

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I used to make tree stands before mfgs put me outta business. Some olive drab base and a few spots of terracotta and black make for pretty good camo. It's easy to trace and cut a couple of different leaf types for over spray patterns. With a little practice it actually looks good and helps to keep from being as visible from a short distance. Nice work, btw.

 

[hamstring]

I love the quick and easy setup very ingenious. One thing that may hurt you is the amount of time you will have to spend keeping them watered. May want to try using plastic beer cups. I know you can’t get as many in the cold frame but unless you are growing femed seeds you can put two per cup for to maximize females. I can leave this setup for 2 weeks (in the spring) with out returning to care for them.
PEACE

 

[North]

wisco, i see your an ice fisherman..yes?

oldschool portable ice shack design.

 

[wisco61]

Yup, Ontario style ice shack was my inspiration.

 

[grasspass]

Back in the early 1980's a friend of mine had a wood ice fish house that he took the roof off , put on clear plastic and lined the inside with reflective material and grew weed out of the spear hole in the summer in the back yard. Never matured good because we didn't know about how lighting hours cause flower and he used a sativa bagseed. He should have blacked out the light at 12 hours every eve with a tarp.

 

[wisco61]

I plan on doing about 10 swamp tubes next year, some of which I will start seeds directly in. I want to give them the best chance possible, so I came up with this.

I just drilled through the lip of the tub and 3/4" pvc caps, and attached them with a screw and bolt. The rest is just PVC pipe and fittings, clear plastic and clothespins. I need to add ventilation, I am thinking of taping window screen to the plastic somehow. I just need to buy some screen and experiment with that, but I got a couple more months Also, the wood clothespins don't seem very sturdy, so I will find a substitute, but the basic idea remains the same.



I will only have that apparatus on for a week-10 days. After that I may lengthen the legs for something to hold fencing and trellis/scrog.

 

[hamstring]

I love it!!!

Wisco it doesn’t have to be a brick shit house to work. If it lasts one season its a success. I love the PVC screwed right to the container that rocks any thing to simplify the construction is awesome. The less set up in the bush the better.

The one thing I see is that if the plastic sags even just a little the top could fill up. Just keep you container higher on one side so the water can run off. I am always surprised at how destructive a little water build up can be.

Very nice it would be great to have a thread just on cold frames or seedling starting techniques in the bush. Well I guess we do have a sticky by Wally but keep bringing the great ideas Wisco I for one am learning a lot.
PEACE

 

[wisco61]

Very good point Hamstring on the water damage I hadn't thought of that...

/bubble hash....

20 oz bottle in the middle to tent the plastic up a little bit. I was gonna put a bottle in there filled with dark liquid to hold heat anyways, now it will be dual purposed!

 

[wisco61]

I got around to finishing one of my mini greenhouses. Pretty much the same as the prototype except for making it a bit taller, painted green, added vent holes and a velcro door. I also added duct tape and plywood trim to reinforce the plastic. Hope it serves me well. I have at least one more to build, but I will wait a couple weeks to see if any other inspiration comes.

 

[Gantz]

i used the bag and two coat-hangers that came with the suit from the drycleaners. put a few nursery packs in the bag, made a support structure out of the coathangers and added a few office clamps to seal the bag. simple, fast, easy, dirt-cheap....and wishing i had a camera to show my MacGyver skills

 

[hamstring]

wisco
Very Nice. You keep improving it I like the air vents and how easy it sets up. I hope you show it in use this season it looks like a winner. I bet next season you will have some more improvements.

You going to germ some seeds in her or just harden off clones/seedlings?

PEACE

 

[wisco61]

Heya hamstring, I will be doing both in it, but mainly germing seeds. And I will definately show some pics of it in action and give a report of how it worked in my thread for this year, once I start it.

Still freaking cold and snowy out, but the stores have begun stocking their seeds and seed starting supplies so the time draws nigh!

 

[facelift]

I would test these very cool designs out in the back yard before you use them in the jungle. Ventilation is important. Too much water can rot the leaves of the plants when they come into contact with the plastic.

If you're using a flat, you can put a tray under to hold water. This will add even more moisture in the greenhouse. You should be able to train it in and find a good humidity level. Early on, the temps will be a bit chilly, and you need to conserve a night time of heat.

You should stake those babies in the ground. One nice ground level gust and they'll be flip-flopping over the meadow. (like Al Gore at a Global Warming Conference). You might need supports for individual cups. I can see some rough weather coming in tipping the solo cups over.

Very nice!

I've got most of the supplies already. Nice thick plastic, wood scraps, and plenty of hardware.

 

[wisco61]

Thanks for the comments facelift. I will get a chance to test them out some once the damn snow leaves, but not too much as I live in an apartment and putting it in the back yard might be a little sketchy. If we get a little warm spell in April I can germ a couple seeds just to see what happens.

I'm on the lookout for a container 12"x20"x3" or for the tray. I'll need to water the hell out of them and have a couple inches of standing water in the tray as they will have to sit for at least a week between visits. I'll find something by spring I'm sure.

I was just thinking about stakes yesterday. It'd be pretty easy to just drill 4 holes in the bottom and put some carriage bolts through that would stick into the ground. That would hold it pretty steady. With at least one of them, I am gonna dig a 4-6" deep hole to set it in. Hamstring did that with one of his coldframes last year and it used less water as I remember so I will give that a try. It should also give it more stability. As far as the cups go, they should be fairly wedged in there, I think they will be ok. If it is a problem, the plastic trays that they send 20oz soda bottles in might work perfect.

Good luck with the construction. It was all really easy and I got a D in woodshop back in Jr High J

 

[facelift]

Some dowels shaved to a point and drywall screws.

 

[hamstring]

I was just thinking about stakes yesterday. It'd be pretty easy to just drill 4 holes in the bottom and put some carriage bolts through that would stick into the ground. That would hold it pretty steady. With at least one of them, I am gonna dig a 4-6" deep hole to set it in. Hamstring did that with one of his coldframes last year and it used less water as I remember so I will give that a try. It should also give it more stability. As far as the cups go, they should be fairly wedged in there, I think they will be ok. If it is a problem, the plastic trays that they send 20oz soda bottles in might work perfect.

Good luck with the construction. It was all really easy and I got a D in woodshop back in Jr High J

Wisco
If your handle has anything to do with you Lat early spring shouldn’t have too many hot days but moisture does leave quickly with some heavy sunshine. One great thing is the covered cold frame keeps wind from robbing moisture.

I love the carriage bolt idea to hold down the cold frame sounds solid to me. I am trying out a new system with a smaller containers so I will be interested in how well they handle the winds and storms of early spring also. Like you I want to shrink the size of my cold frame to make it easier to pack in.

I will say though just for discussion that my container and my cold frame are separate entities. The top is lightweight just cedar, PVC top, and plastic and window screen. Although I stake it down too I haven’t seen evidence of the wind affecting it much I was surprised. Depending on where you grow because it sits low to the ground if you’re in a protected area; shrubs, grasses and other native vegetation seem to help shield it a lot. Just my observation not saying not to stake it down you needs to do that for sure. Keep in mind the great thing is that shrub and tress don’t have there leaves yet so the early spring cold frames can go in places you wouldn’t ordinarily grow plants.

I plan on burying a couple of my cold frames around 4 inches too this year for better security but keep in mind I use a container with 8-10 inch high sides. That way I have a good 4-6 inches above ground so when it rains I don’t fill the container up with water that could fill the hole. That was one of the mistakes I made last year is I buried my container all but a couple of inches and it saturated the soil in heavy rains by the over flow of the rain water in the hole it was buried in. The plants still did well but I had a 8-10 inches of well drained soil and the water collected in he bottom of the container. I still had to pull the container out of the hole and drain it when it filled up so just be careful how deep you dig your hole.

Dude you will be surprised at how well it works I mean it good luck this season.
PEACE

 

[facelift]

Spring is on it's way. A nice week of 40's and 50's. May 1st won't be far behind.

I'm building one of these already. I need the pvc tube. I'm adding dividers to hold 12/20 ounce cups. I have the seed tray, but that's only good for a few days. The cups will be good for a week to 10 days. On the bottom I'm adding 3 inch dowels to stke the tray in the ground.

On site as soon as all the snow is going, I'll be raking the site to remove most of the native plants (Calling it as it is). Next the tray/greenhouse will cover the raked area for up to a month to aid in finishing off the environment. The seeds will be planted into the cups and grown in the greenhouse for a week or two and then into the ground.

Thanks again for sharing this cool idea.