El Cheapie Shade House

[Allen Robins]

Well, took a big plunge and bought a miniature green house at a garage sale for $12aud....put it together, installed a small thermometer and my one and only Phallenopsis and hoping for the best. Temp now is 20 degrees Celsius (70F)...tonight will be the litmus test for temperature drop...Regards......AL

[pikkumyy]

cool, i have a friend that had one of them (i say had because he is giving it to me), and he treated it like a shadehouse, not like a green house so all his plans died from the extreme heat and humidity (he was trying to grow cacti and other normal plants in it in the middle of summer). and he was only new at gardening so i hope it works for you, i plan on putting my phals in it too in winter, then ill take the plastic off in summer and leave the shade cloth on (i'm going to buy some).

so goodluck and it will be interesting to see how it goes

[Allen Robins]

Hahaha...wife and I having a great old laugh at that one...shouldnt really.,, but cacti? made our day............AL

[Puddy1]

Oh my gosh!!! I got to have one of those! Thanks Allen!

[terra_australis]

I have one of those inside my shadehouse. Can be handy but it is pretty difficult to regulate the conditions inside. Remember to think about air flow. You might want to set up a little solar-powered fan inside to create a bit of movement...

[pikkumyy]

terra_australis, ive just been talking to Anton about this problem, but i havn't been able to find any good places to get one

have you got any sudgestions?

[orchidea]

I have two of these for seedlings and bulbos. They are inside my house. They are made super cheap. Plastic gets torn of the zipper almost right away...... But it works for smaller orchids and seedling or such. The hight is not aloowing to put anything there with spikes.
But great to try something new. Better yet it came cheap....

[terra_australis]

Originally Posted by pikkumyy

terra_australis, ive just been talking to Anton about this problem, but i havn't been able to find any good places to get one

have you got any sudgestions?

I'm going to check out Jaycar in about 20 minutes to see. What I want however is a setup that uses a solar panel to charge a battery that runs a fan. That way it will run at night as well. The trick will be finding a battery that holds enough charge to power a large enough fan for that amount of time.

Originally Posted by orchidea

I have two of these for seedlings and bulbos. They are inside my house. They are made super cheap. Plastic gets torn of the zipper almost right away...... But it works for smaller orchids and seedling or such. The hight is not aloowing to put anything there with spikes.
But great to try something new. Better yet it came cheap....

I took one of the shelves out of mine so there was a bit more headroom. The top shelf has a little more room as well.

[Allen Robins]

Yes people, I think we are all reading the same song book, it has its limitations...mine is great during the day, but I have brought my one and only phal inside owing to the cold. I think Anton is on the money with his thermostat controlled water bed trick....I have been thinking along the lines of a animal/pet heat pad under a dish or tray of water during the night....any other suggestions? .......AL

[Greybeard]

[QUOTE=terra_australis;273962]I'm going to check out Jaycar in about 20 minutes to see. What I want however is a setup that uses a solar panel to charge a battery that runs a fan. That way it will run at night as well. The trick will be finding a battery that holds enough charge to power a large enough fan for that amount of time.




You might try a trolling motor battery for small boats, I'm not positive but I think they even make a solar charger for them and I'm fairly certain they can run for quite awhile If you use a fan smaller than an actual trolling motor might last even longer Good luck

[terra_australis]

Originally Posted by Allen Robins

Yes people, I think we are all reading the same song book, it has its limitations...mine is great during the day, but I have brought my one and only phal inside owing to the cold. I think Anton is on the money with his thermostat controlled water bed trick....I have been thinking along the lines of a animal/pet heat pad under a dish or tray of water during the night....any other suggestions? .......AL

If you do that you will definitely need a fan. I found that out 3 days after I moved plants into my new greenhouse. Everything came out in black spots. Yes, that quickly! I didn't even have a water tray in there, it was purely because of condensation from the air sitting on the leaves when it cooled down at night.

[QUOTE=Greybeard;273997]

Originally Posted by terra_australis

I'm going to check out Jaycar in about 20 minutes to see. What I want however is a setup that uses a solar panel to charge a battery that runs a fan. That way it will run at night as well. The trick will be finding a battery that holds enough charge to power a large enough fan for that amount of time.

You might try a trolling motor battery for small boats, I'm not positive but I think they even make a solar charger for them and I'm fairly certain they can run for quite awhile If you use a fan smaller than an actual trolling motor might last even longer Good luck

Didn't get a chance to go past the shops earlier... I have no doubt it would be easy enough to find something for one of these mini greenhouses but I'm after a solar charger/battery/fan combo that is powerful enough to circulate air in my 2mx3mx2m greenhouse.

[syndywindy]

I think those are great for indoor usage, but I'd carefully monitor if you are using it outdoors. That plastic can keep the heat trapped and your orchids can bake on really hot days. Even keeping it in a shaded area the heat will build up. Just imagine a really hot day and your car sitting in the sun with the windows up, how unbearably hot it can get. So you need to be cautious, if you can keep it unzipped so the air can get in that might be something to consider.

[plantloverlisa]

Hi Al, I have a heated pet mat that is made of hard plastic that works great for the seedling orchids. Just make sure to check what temperature your mat stays at.

[Allen Robins]

Originally Posted by plantloverlisa

Hi Al, I have a heated pet mat that is made of hard plastic that works great for the seedling orchids. Just make sure to check what temperature your mat stays at.

Thanks Lisa...on a low setting I imagine it wouldnt cost much to run.........AL

[Allen Robins]

My little miniature shade house is now fully operational. I was given a seed germinator that keeps the house at a fairly steady 14 degrees of a night time. Part of the day I turn it off when the sun takes over. So far so good...any suggestions would be appreciated.....Regards........AL

[terra_australis]

Cool. Keep us updated on how it goes.

FYI, I've been checking out solar fan systems and I reckon it would be pretty simple to make one for that size enclosure. 15W panel and a 100mm DC fan should work nicely. Unfortunately I'm having difficulty finding something powerful enough for my greenhouse. The best suggestion I got from the guy at Jaycar was to hook up a larger panel to a charge controller, and 12V lead-acid battery. The biggest problem with that is finding a 12V fan big enough to circulate enough air but low powered enough to be able to run all night on the battery. Beside that, the cost of such a system is well into the hundreds of dollars and I wonder whether I am just better off to run 240V straight to my greenhouse. I have a 1.5kW solar system on my house anyway...

[koshki]

Hi Allen, and welcome to Orchid Geeks!

I have that very same mini greenhouse, and have used it for several years for a variety of purposes, but always indoors.

Last winter I bought some inexpensive 2' T5 fixtures and zip-tied them to the underside of the shelves for lighting, then added seedling mats like yours for warmth (in the winter my sunroom is fairly cool) and used it for my warmer growing orchids. At one point I put a mini humidifier inside it and it got like a sauna...so I stopped using that due to the high humidity and lack of airflow. I have all the power cords connected to a power strip that has a timer for half the outlets, which I use for the lights. The seedling mats were always on for warmth.

Around spring, when I started moving my orchids outdoors, a fellow OS member suggested using a computer fan inside for air circulation. I haven't pursued that yet, but intend to when I start to bring my plants back indoors. I think it will be the perfect solution to the air flow issue.

All in all I thought it was fairly effective at providing a warmer growing area. I have not had any trouble with the plastic ripping or problems with the zipper, and have owned it for at least 5 years.

It would be great if the manufacturer of this greenhouse could have a "shade house" cover in addition to the plastic! I imagine there is some "crafty" Geek out there who could sew one up!

[Allen Robins]

Good reply Katherine, and I like your suggestions. As you can see, the green house is outside, and gets some light through the terrace. I have a piece of shade cloth that I will put over the top for added shade during summer.

I have a small bowl of water on the seed propagator, hoping this will add to the humidity. I am unsure weather this is a winner, perhaps some others may know.

The computer fan idea is great, except we are on 240 volts here not 120, I will have to find out if it can be done

Once again, thanks for your input, Regards..............AL

[terra_australis]

Originally Posted by Allen Robins

Good reply Katherine, and I like your suggestions. As you can see, the green house is outside, and gets some light through the terrace. I have a piece of shade cloth that I will put over the top for added shade during summer.

I have a small bowl of water on the seed propagator, hoping this will add to the humidity. I am unsure weather this is a winner, perhaps some others may know.

The computer fan idea is great, except we are on 240 volts here not 120, I will have to find out if it can be done

Once again, thanks for your input, Regards..............AL

FYI, computer fans run on 12V DC.

[Anton]

Allen, everyone has to start somewhere.

My first GH was a converted aviary which was 7.5 feet long x 5.5 feet wide and after I took the roof off and made a new one it was 10 feet high.

A suggestion: buy a plastic storage box big enough to fit on the floor, fill it with water and get an aquarium heater to put into it, and this will give you warmth and humidity which is what the Phals love, and will help them through winter.

[Bolero]

Snowtown you are from? That is a good name for a bad movie.......;-)

I think that little el cheapo house is fantastic. I have seen these for sale and I think in the location you have it the plants will do well.

Like the others have said - you have to start somewhere and I bought something similar in the beginning. I can't wait to see all the blooms it produces for you.....

[terra_australis]

Originally Posted by Bolero

Snowtown you are from? That is a good name for a bad movie.......;-)

For some reason I'm reminded of a Fawlty Towers skit.

"Don't mention the barrels..."

[pikkumyy]

hey allen, i forgot to ask, where did you get your El Cheapo?

[Allen Robins]

Thanks for all the advice people. I am wondering as to how successful the propagator is going to be. I am also wondering if I should place the plants on the tray or make a rack to help with the warmth. I certainly like Antons idea with the aquarium heater.

I am not computer savvy, so thanks for the info on the fan TA....Maybe I could run that off a battery charger in warmer conditions? Yes...Snowtown is known for all the wrong reasons...shame really, as its a good solid little community that was cursed be the actions of others who had no connection to the area!.....Regards.....AL

[Allen Robins]

Originally Posted by pikkumyy

hey allen, i forgot to ask, where did you get your El Cheapo?

Garage sale for $12....seen similiar on fleabay for about $50.........AL

[terra_australis]

Originally Posted by Allen Robins

Garage sale for $12....seen similiar on fleabay for about $50.........AL

Got mine from Bu**ings for about $50 from memory. Not every store seems to have them though.