My New Orchid House!

[Bolero]

This has taken ages to build, well several weekends anyway. It feels like a long time. I need to build the door and then it's pretty much done. Trying to separate parts with different levels of shade is proving more difficult than I thought. A good reason to specialise in a particular genera!!!

It is 6 metres by 3 metres. The shade cloth is 70% sandstone and the roof is polycarbonate. If you have any questions then let me know.

Holes in the ground.......



Then we built the individual frames.....



Exciting I know, a pile of frames.......



The frames up:



With the roof on:



A different angle:



Putting up the shade cloth!



The shade ceiling finally up!



The shelves are built - hot dipped welded mesh.



Another angle of the shelves:



Shade cloth on the sides:



Plants in the house! Woohoo!!!!



We still need a door though.

[fred]

awesome Bolero
this thread will get alot of hits it goes into details nicely
you have done a fantastic Job
a door would be handy lol

thank you so much for sharing with us

if your anything like me it wont take you long to fill the house

[benetay]

Very nice! I wish i had one of them & i can fill them all up!

Just a question, will air circulation be a problem?

Cheers!

[Hummer344]

WOW, isin't that nice. & it even came half full. LOL. I echo Benetay's question. what about air circulation.

[sunshine]

Wow. I am green with envy. As for air circulation notice the back has no
shade screen. And I am assuming there is gonna be a screen door. This should allow for air circulation.

Would love a greenhouse not only for the few orchids I have but to start
new plants for my planters for the summer. The green houses are getting
to be quite expensive. The growing season is so short in Maine that stating things from seeds. Is by the time they get ready to bloom summer is almost over

[tansyflower]

What a fantastic shade house. I will be building one soon, so am very interested in different designs.

One aspect that interests me in particular is the roof, as my plan was to build one with a shade cloth roof, so the rain can get in. I think that plants seem to grow better from natural rain, even tho we only have tank (rain) water.

There is obviously a reason that some greenhouses have perspex rooves (protection from the elemnts maybe, and the ability to give certain orchids their resting period). However many greenhouse you buy in kit form don't have a solid roof.

Also did you build this from scratch or get it in kit form, or semi made from a builder?

[digitalgate]

Bolero , i have one bad news for you. You are running out of space. You need to build another shade house.
now i understand why you guys call it shade cloth. I called it netting. Yours are basically cloth, while mine is entirely 100% Nylon like those used in fishing line.

[tansyflower]

The shade cloth you get here is sort of plasticky nylon woven together, not cloth as cloth would rot.

It comes in beige as well as green, probably as lots of houses are the same beige/ cream colour???

It's probably exactly the same as the netting you get.

[rodbender]

Very nice job !!!!! Now its time to start getting ready for the expansion project if you are anything like me Cause it will soon be filled to capacity

[jay]

I am very, very jealous.

And I do see you have A LOT of room to add new orchids.

[Tom F]

Fantastic! wish I lived where I could use something like this year round.

[Bolero]

Circulation is not a problem as the air moves through the nylon cloth.

It is made of nylon, do you get this stuff in the USA? It's really good stuff.

[patticake]

Oh, Bolero! How awesome! What a fantastic structure! I sure wish I could do something like that here, but the cold winters rule THAT out! Thanks for sharing it with us! I can live vicariously through you!

[kmarch]

Wow, fantastic shade house!!! I'm dreaming of the day...

[Anton]

I KNEW I should have made mine of wood, would have been finished weeks ago.

You only need circulation through the day, but as this one is totally shade cloth, there'll be enough air movement coming through the cloth to aerate the plants.

Bolero, was it prefabricated to your plans, or a pre-built kit, and if so, who makes them ?

[Bolero]

Originally Posted by Anton

I KNEW I should have made mine of wood, would have been finished weeks ago.

You only need circulation through the day, but as this one is totally shade cloth, there'll be enough air movement coming through the cloth to aerate the plants.

Bolero, was it prefabricated to your plans, or a pre-built kit, and if so, who makes them ?

No we bought the wood and made all the frame pieces before erecting them. It was all done with wood from Bunnings and that's probably why it took so long to build.

I was just out there and the air movement was lovely.

[Bolero]

This is the shade cloth, it is 70% which means that 70% of the light should be blocked. I chose this colour because even though it's rated at 70% UV, it in theory lets through more useable light (whatever that means) and the real rating is more light 50%. Also 70% of the wind is blocked (not sure how accurate that is either). I do know that the cloth breaks up the air movement so even if it's blowing a gale outside the house, inside it's a nice level of air movement.

[hulaorchid]

Yeah! It's great! I wish I had room for one!!

[delphiguy]

wow nice one you've built, however, it seems that you may need to build another one
soon. I am planning on expanding my garden myself. thanks for sharing.

[Bolero]

Oh no! I don't think I could build another. If I need another I will be getting someone else to build it for me.

I need my life back!

[fred]

Bolero that is very good shade cloth i use that as well
50% that is
I hope you never get as bad as me I have 3 houses I built myself and i am always looking at making more room inside the houses

hehehe I know I am bad lol

[katrina]

AWESOME job!!

Feel like taking a flight to the US...OH to be specific....and helping us w/the one we're building this Spring? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!

[zuri]

AWESOME. Well done! Can't wait to see how your plants grow and bloom.

Wish I could do something like that in NC.

Thanks so much for sharing.

[-k-]

That is one sweet setup! Well Done!

[Tarad]

WOW very nice!! Tara

[lmartiny]

Nice job. I'm going to show this to my husband. He is talking about building me one.

[Anton]

Originally Posted by Bolero

Oh no! I don't think I could build another. If I need another I will be getting someone else to build it for me.

I need my life back!

BOY, can I relate ..............

[NancyG]

wow great setup!

Post some more when they are all blooming.

[Bolero]

I know you all have been dying to see the door.......lol.

[kmarch]

WHORAY!!!! The Door!!!

[oncidiumlover]

And a fabulous door it is!
Great house, I'm sure your chids are loving it!

[Anton]

The door to the Enchanted Garden ?

[hulaorchid]

It's a beautifullll Door!!! lol

[dtje2000]

Bravo! A lovely shade house you have there! Very impressive! Is there an irrigation system?

[Bolero]

Originally Posted by dtje2000

Bravo! A lovely shade house you have there! Very impressive! Is there an irrigation system?

Stay tuned for a misting system!

[dtje2000]

Excellent! Can't wait!!!

[lmartiny]

OOH. I'm glad this came back around because I forgot to show my husband.
He's a funny guy. One day he says I don't need any more, then we're leaving a box store and he'll ask if I'm OK on orchids. Oh, and he does like them when they are in bloom.

[Anton]

Just go with the flow, don't rock the boat.

[cassier]

Thanks for sharing, it looks great, lots of room, for lots more orchids.

[Forever-mango]

Very nice green house...i mean sandstone house :P

I was wondering, how much is the cost of all the materials used?

Im thinking of building a greenhouse myself, but was wondering with the cost first.

[Bolero]

It was close to $2000. I would have to sit down and work out the individual cost of each item to give you a more accurate figure. Maybe $1800 or so. If I had employed someone to build it for me it would have cost double that I believe.

Just think stimulus package!!! (for those overseas, it's money the government is giving us for free in order to boost the economy).

[Anton]

Mine is up to $3,500 due to the cost of steel going through the roof since the world depression. It is 6m x 4m x 5m high, is made of 50mm x 3mm square tubing will have weld mesh over the frame and covered with Solar Weave then shade cloth. I also have used 10 of 6m x 75mm "C" section perlins for added strength and stability.

I have still to pay for materials for the benches, gravel, and misting and fogging systems and heating and fans.

Bolero's GH is made of wood, so may be cheaper, I would be interested in the cost of his. Also Ron in NSW made one of a prefab steel kit which is another way to go.

[Bolero]

It was about $2000 as stated just above.

Yours is a bit bigger though Anton so it would cost more. I think when yours is finished it will be incredible. I should have probably put Solar Weave over it as well but most of them are cool growing, the extra heat that the solar weave would provide would be beneficial even to my cooler growing plants. The cold wind is the thing that causes problems down here. I am considering adding plastic to the inside of the house but we'll see how they go this winter.

Hey do you think i could add a fogger to a shade house? They seem to cost a lot but may be worth the cost.

[flowerchild]

Originally Posted by lmartiny

OOH. I'm glad this came back around because I forgot to show my husband.
He's a funny guy. One day he says I don't need any more, then we're leaving a box store and he'll ask if I'm OK on orchids. Oh, and he does like them when they are in bloom.

One can never just be "OK" on orchids, you could always have just "1" ( and I say 1 very loosely) more!!!!!!!

[digitalgate]

wah, you guys spend more than I do on the green house. I was cursing and swearing when i paid mine.

[Anton]

Of course you can add a fogger to keep humidity up.

With my small GH, I bought rolls of bubble wrap and fixed them to the inside during winter, works quite well, then take it down during the end of Spring when the night temps get to a reasonable level.

Bunnings and Post Offices sell it in 15 metre rolls for around $15 a roll.

[Bolero]

How do you fix them to the sides? Do you staple or attach with shade cloth fasteners?

I am keen to try that.......do you hang the bubble wrap like a curtain?

My worry with the fogger is that during the warm winds in summer that the fogging will be just blown around and out of the shade cloth......that mind sound strange but hopefully you know what I mean.

[kmarch]

Hey Anton, when you use the bubble wrap, do you still use heat?

[Anton]

Bolero, I run it horizontally around the inside of the GH and yes, I use the shadecloth fasteners to hold it on, but I just hammer them in gently so that at the end of winter, it is easy to put a screwdriver under them to prize them off.

Then roll up the bubble wrap until the following winter.

Kevin, yes, still use heat, the bubble wrap acts as insulation and keeps the heat in better. I actually make it double thickness as well.

The other thing I do is to run it along the ceiling as well, which lowers the area which you want to keep warm. In my little house it involved making a false ceiling of the wrap so that the Dimplex oil filled radiator didn't have to work it's guts out to warm the area.

This is an idea I got off Cynthia here a few years ago, she uses rolls of agricultural grade bubble wrap to cover her houses during the Arizona snow season.

[Bolero]

Thanks Anton, I have a feeling that the bubble wrap would also help plants that don't need heat but just need to keep out of the cold winds.

You have given me some great ideas.

[Anton]

Bolero, just pay the cashier on the way out.

[lmartiny]

Bubble wrap. What a good idea!
I just showed this thread to my husband. Good timing for once. Showed him all the initial pictures. As I scrolled, he said "uh huh, yea, O.K., I can do that, sure.." i also wondered about the ceiling. In the summer we usually get daily afternoon showers. I was thinking about maybe covering a portion of it.

[Anton]

Willowbanks from memory, has Solar Weave just on the roof of his Catt house and the sides are just shadecloth so that they get the airflow through and the flowers don't get wet from rain coming through the shadecloth on the roof.

No doubt he'll correct me if I am wrong, but I am sure this is how he has done it.

All his other houses (he calls them sheds) are fully enclosed with Solar Weave like mine will be, to keep up humidity and heat.

There's a special fan you can get called a Stratotherm, which I am looking at, and it mounts on the ceiling of the GH. It sucks the warm air which rises to the ceiling, and blows it back to the floor via a 6" diameter aircon duct (one of those flexible silver material ones). This evidently cuts heating cost right down as you are getting the most use out of the warmth created.

Here's the Oz company I am looking at for heating and cooling solutions.OpenDNS Click on Commercial Grower, then Greenhouses,then heating and cooling.

It may give some ideas.

The box shaped heater sits at the opposite end of the GH to the door and has a polytube run under the middle bench with horizontal vents along it's length to let the warm air out. This warms the GH from the ground up, and the warm air which rises to the ceiling is captured by the Stratotherm fan and forced back down with the result of requiring less energy to heat the GH. They quote figures of between 20% to 30% energy savings.

[solay]

That is some set-up. It looks great. You've given me something to dream about. I would love another shade house that is enclosed like that.

[lmartiny]

Thanks for the explanation Anton. I'll show it to my husband. He'll understand. (then he can explain it to me)

[jgiguere17]

very cool orchid house, how is the air flow?

[Bolero]

Air flow works well, the air flows through the walls at a reduced rate. See the post above where I show the shade cloth.