DIY Greenhouse [2048x1577 - 1MB] | Poal: Say what you want.

• 1y

DIY Greenhouse [2048x1577 - 1MB] (pic8.co)

Here's the greenhouse I built.

It's about 6m x 4m (20f x 13f) in total, with raised beds down each side. The whole thing is built on a slope that is about 1.5:10, the beds are built to reduce the slope, but not entirely remove it. Above the greenhouse, I've dug a small dam that allows the collection of a small amount of surface runoff to soak through and under the beds over time, although its main purpose is to divert excess rainfall, as I get more rain than I need here. Above this small dam, I've now planted a lot of Comfrey. This will be cut down and stuffed into the trench where it will decompose, making the seeping water also a form of fertilizer as the Comfrey draws up nutrients from deep in the soil into its leaves. A kind of automatically applied Comfrey tea.

The beginning: The first steps were to lay out the plan and start digging. I dug out the turf and subsequent white clay down to a bed depth of about 40cm. The lower portions of these beds would fill with water. This was part of the plan, the clay lower area of the beds would act as a sort of wicking bed design. In the bottom of the beds, I put wood in various stages of decay, sticks and leaves, but mainly wood. This wood will decompose slowly over several years, providing food and habitat for mycorrhiza. https://pic8.co/sh/bHfAbz.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/vaz4jg.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/1TWoLw.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/4N0dIl.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/4KbQz0.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/7Gz0CX.jpg

The bed edges were made with 50x200mm treated pine. The pine is treated with an arsenic free treatment, which costs more, but I'm growing veges in this and don't really want to eat arsenic. Galvanized retaining wall holder thingy's were knocked into the ground to hold them in place and the corners in the doorway and joint at the other end held with tec screws and a bit of joinery. https://pic8.co/sh/bT8YZo.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/3E42Pg.jpg

The garden bed stayed this way for a fair while, growing a crop of corn, some cabbages, etc. over the summer.

To make the frame for the greenhouse, I used 50mm (2") poly pipe and wooden frames made mainly from old pallets. The arches themselves were simple, just being lengths of pipe that were pegged out to settle into about the right radius. The frames were made by cutting a cylinder on the end of each beam. This was done on the table saw, but no photos were taken of that process as it required full concentration (and I wouldn't want anyone to try how I did it, as it is not particularly safe). To keep the frames in shape, they are held in tension with stainless steel cable. The cable is held in a slot cut into the frames and pinned with a 1/4 20 screw. This detail is put on what will be the bottom of the frame, so condensation will not accumulate in the bolt holes. https://pic8.co/sh/QY68xW.jpg

Joining the wooden frames to the arches was done by making joiners using short lengths of the pipe, A slot was drilled and cut into each side, then the pipe was heated up with a heat gun and pushed over a form (a piece of firewood that I turned to dimension on the lathe). https://pic8.co/sh/TUMA1l.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/PtC6N6.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/jZdALF.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/m88UtX.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/Ngg0mV.jpg

Assembly was fairly straightforward. The arches were mounted on galvanized star posts and held on with a tec screw. The joiners had to be put on before the arches were erected. Then it was a process of putting frames in and securing them with tec screws. The frame was fairly rustic in terms of squareness and levelness, but that doesn't matter (gives it character). https://pic8.co/sh/bZ5jXz.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/9E3LTN.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/HXEaTm.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/eVR9T0.jpg

The plastic was put up without any assistance. Thought it might be difficult, but wasn't too bad actually. It is held down with wire clips that trap the plastic in an extruded aluminum channel. https://pic8.co/sh/EzLGoA.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/wEHNjZ.jpg

The door was a really tall door (I had to cut a couple of inches off it to make it fit). Originally it was a heavy fly screen door, I want to let insects in but keep birds out (those fuckers aren't spying on my veges) so I removed the fly screen and replaced it with chicken wire. An old blind roller was repurposed to hold greenhouse plastic that can be raised and lowered on the door. I have 3 sets of brass eyes that allow me to lock off the door plastic at either low, medium or high level depending on the outside temperature. https://pic8.co/sh/cdqcVG.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/Yr9J2N.jpg

A handle was made with some 3/4 pipe and a stick. https://pic8.co/sh/a87gcP.jpg

A rear window which hinges at the top and can be held open with stays that I can lock in place (it need to be fairly secure as the wind can exert a fair amount of force). The stays were made with some scrap wood, eye hooks and copper pipe ferrules. The eye hooks were converted into robust hinges with a steel pin turned on the lathe. https://pic8.co/sh/nHh7Rf.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/RRpxBm.jpg

This whole process took a while, about a year from start to finish (obviously not full time). Now it's done, it's so far working really well. The veges that were growing before have finished (though I still get self seeded Daikon and Amaranth. I put in a shovel full of my home made compost that I know has a lot of tomato seeds in it in winter, expecting to maybe to get a couple of seeds germinate, I now have a section of waist high tomatoes that already have fruit on them (this shows that enough insects are getting in to pollinate). On warm days, I raise the door plastic to it's high level and open the rear window, otherwise it would be way too hot in there. https://pic8.co/sh/6lXkok.jpg

I'm currently harvesting beetroot, some carrots, snow peas and some remaining cabbage. Tomatoes should be starting to ripen soon, so I'll be picking tomatoes not long after planting out my normal seedlings.

↓ expand content

Here's the greenhouse I built. It's about 6m x 4m (20f x 13f) in total, with raised beds down each side. The whole thing is built on a slope that is about 1.5:10, the beds are built to reduce the slope, but not entirely remove it. Above the greenhouse, I've dug a small dam that allows the collection of a small amount of surface runoff to soak through and under the beds over time, although its main purpose is to divert excess rainfall, as I get more rain than I need here. Above this small dam, I've now planted a lot of Comfrey. This will be cut down and stuffed into the trench where it will decompose, making the seeping water also a form of fertilizer as the Comfrey draws up nutrients from deep in the soil into its leaves. A kind of automatically applied Comfrey tea. The beginning: The first steps were to lay out the plan and start digging. I dug out the turf and subsequent white clay down to a bed depth of about 40cm. The lower portions of these beds would fill with water. This was part of the plan, the clay lower area of the beds would act as a sort of wicking bed design. In the bottom of the beds, I put wood in various stages of decay, sticks and leaves, but mainly wood. This wood will decompose slowly over several years, providing food and habitat for mycorrhiza. https://pic8.co/sh/bHfAbz.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/vaz4jg.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/1TWoLw.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/4N0dIl.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/4KbQz0.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/7Gz0CX.jpg The bed edges were made with 50x200mm treated pine. The pine is treated with an arsenic free treatment, which costs more, but I'm growing veges in this and don't really want to eat arsenic. Galvanized retaining wall holder thingy's were knocked into the ground to hold them in place and the corners in the doorway and joint at the other end held with tec screws and a bit of joinery. https://pic8.co/sh/bT8YZo.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/3E42Pg.jpg The garden bed stayed this way for a fair while, growing a crop of corn, some cabbages, etc. over the summer. To make the frame for the greenhouse, I used 50mm (2") poly pipe and wooden frames made mainly from old pallets. The arches themselves were simple, just being lengths of pipe that were pegged out to settle into about the right radius. The frames were made by cutting a cylinder on the end of each beam. This was done on the table saw, but no photos were taken of that process as it required full concentration (and I wouldn't want anyone to try how I did it, as it is not particularly safe). To keep the frames in shape, they are held in tension with stainless steel cable. The cable is held in a slot cut into the frames and pinned with a 1/4 20 screw. This detail is put on what will be the bottom of the frame, so condensation will not accumulate in the bolt holes. https://pic8.co/sh/QY68xW.jpg Joining the wooden frames to the arches was done by making joiners using short lengths of the pipe, A slot was drilled and cut into each side, then the pipe was heated up with a heat gun and pushed over a form (a piece of firewood that I turned to dimension on the lathe). https://pic8.co/sh/TUMA1l.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/PtC6N6.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/jZdALF.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/m88UtX.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/Ngg0mV.jpg Assembly was fairly straightforward. The arches were mounted on galvanized star posts and held on with a tec screw. The joiners had to be put on before the arches were erected. Then it was a process of putting frames in and securing them with tec screws. The frame was fairly rustic in terms of squareness and levelness, but that doesn't matter (gives it character). https://pic8.co/sh/bZ5jXz.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/9E3LTN.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/HXEaTm.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/eVR9T0.jpg The plastic was put up without any assistance. Thought it might be difficult, but wasn't too bad actually. It is held down with wire clips that trap the plastic in an extruded aluminum channel. https://pic8.co/sh/EzLGoA.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/wEHNjZ.jpg The door was a really tall door (I had to cut a couple of inches off it to make it fit). Originally it was a heavy fly screen door, I want to let insects in but keep birds out (those fuckers aren't spying on my veges) so I removed the fly screen and replaced it with chicken wire. An old blind roller was repurposed to hold greenhouse plastic that can be raised and lowered on the door. I have 3 sets of brass eyes that allow me to lock off the door plastic at either low, medium or high level depending on the outside temperature. https://pic8.co/sh/cdqcVG.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/Yr9J2N.jpg A handle was made with some 3/4 pipe and a stick. https://pic8.co/sh/a87gcP.jpg A rear window which hinges at the top and can be held open with stays that I can lock in place (it need to be fairly secure as the wind can exert a fair amount of force). The stays were made with some scrap wood, eye hooks and copper pipe ferrules. The eye hooks were converted into robust hinges with a steel pin turned on the lathe. https://pic8.co/sh/nHh7Rf.jpg https://pic8.co/sh/RRpxBm.jpg This whole process took a while, about a year from start to finish (obviously not full time). Now it's done, it's so far working really well. The veges that were growing before have finished (though I still get self seeded Daikon and Amaranth. I put in a shovel full of my home made compost that I know has a lot of tomato seeds in it in winter, expecting to maybe to get a couple of seeds germinate, I now have a section of waist high tomatoes that already have fruit on them (this shows that enough insects are getting in to pollinate). On warm days, I raise the door plastic to it's high level and open the rear window, otherwise it would be way too hot in there. https://pic8.co/sh/6lXkok.jpg I'm currently harvesting beetroot, some carrots, snow peas and some remaining cabbage. Tomatoes should be starting to ripen soon, so I'll be picking tomatoes not long after planting out my normal seedlings.

(post is archived)