New Greenhouse...

[Orchidflowerchild]

East wall:



West wall:



Interior shot:



Cheers!

-Cj

[jay]

Very nice.

Now you get to have the fun of filling it up.

What do you have in there now?

Jay

[Tess1]

Congratulations, now you have to start filling it, what fun.

[Tobi]

Looking good Cj.

[Orchidflowerchild]

I'm shopping for heaters, now, and I'm cogitating a way to put in a hanging shelf, under the benches, for seedlings and lower light plants (paphs, phals...).

-Cj

[Tess1]

good idea, a lower shelf for lowlight lovers, am thinking about doing that too.

[sandra]

Very nice. Have fun in there!

[flowerchild]

Very nice, now all I need do is get me one of them!!!!!

[Anton]

One thing I would suggest now that winter will soon be upon you is to buy bubble wrap to cover the GH for insulation, otherwise you'll clock up high power bills due to the inefficient insulation of the plastic.

If you go to Cynthia's web site you'll see how she's done it. I'd show you mine, but I took it all down this morning as we are now starting to get day temperatures in the 80sF and night time down to the high 50sF.

[Orchidflowerchild]

Oh yes, I know. This isn't my first time around the greenhouse block. I have been in the orchid game for a while, after all.

Then again, our average coldest night of the year is only in the upper 20's F, and even so, only a few nights like that happen every year. Our biggest worry here is more about the high temps in summer. I'm going to let it get through the first cold snap and see how well it holds heat, then decide it I want to go through all the trouble of putting up the bubble wrap.

Mostly, that's because I don't want to have to go searching through the barn at my parents' for the rolls of bubble wrap I used on my first GH.

Honestly, I've had more problems in similarly covered greenhouses with the temps getting too high. Haing an 80-odd degree days that result in a 90-odd temp in the GH. I'm willing to pay a little more for the heating for the 12 or so days that I will really need it, so as to avoid cooking things when the sun decides to just beat down on a winter's day. My first GH had a similar exposure, and I cooked a couple plants because it rocketed up to 95F inside the GH once the sun hit it. It had been all tightly wrapped for the 30F night, and boy, it got warm that day.

I only wish the weather here was consistent enough to batten down the greenhouse hatches. It gets kinda hairy if you get a solid week of cold (we often do in Feb or Mar), but it is not uncommon to see the 80's well into december. So far this fall, our lowest night has been 38f. I don't expect we should see a hard freeze before the end of November, and by then only one or two light frosts. I'm climate Zone 8, after all. Miami is only Zone 10. We're marginal to Zone 9, honestly. About even, latitudinally to Tampa, Florida.

-Cj

[jay]

Getting too hot will be my problem. I live in the desert where it can get 125F in the summer. It would be nice to have a greenhouse for the humidity and light, but the temps are brutal.

Jay

[Anton]

Here in Adelaide, South Australia, like you guys in the desert, we get extremes too.

The past week has been dropping down to the bottom 50sF but during the day from 80 to 87F ! So, I took the plunge and whipped off the bubblewrap this morning so that it just a shade house now with 75% shadecloth.

At night, I might just throw a sheet of construction plastic over the top to keep a little bit of warmth in.

[digitalgate]

i wish i have i hectare of land.

[Orchidflowerchild]

Digitalgate: I rent a mobile home and the plot on which it sits. The space I am alloted it 30 feet from the house in any direction. A small hobby greenhouse does not nexessarily require acreage.

-Cj

[Orchidflowerchild]

Digitalgate: I rent a mobile home and the plot on which it sits. The space I am alloted it 30 feet from the house in any direction. A small hobby greenhouse does not nexessarily require acreage.

-Cj

[Nancy]

It's beautiful. I know you can't wait to add some new things. What kind of orchids do you have a hankerin' for other than species?

[Orchidflowerchild]

Originally Posted by Nancy

It's beautiful. I know you can't wait to add some new things. What kind of orchids do you have a hankerin' for other than species?

Species in general, species of the Laeliinae, specifically. I'd like to have at least one or two of every Cattleya species, and as many other random things from the group, as well. I'm going to try my darnedest to get all of the unifoliate catts by summer, next year. Also, I have a love of the rupiculous laelias (Hoffmannseggella), so I hope to be able to get most of them.

There are some random things outside the Laeliinae that I definitely want, such as some of the Spatulata Dendrobiums, I definitely want another Den. spectabile, I like Tolumnias, and of course Stanhopeas, Gongoras, and Coryanthes. For now, though, I'm focusing on building a cattleya collection.

-Cj

[Sharyn]

Orchidflowerchild: Congrats on your new GH. Oh..........how I wish! I'm sure you'll be busy filling it up soon. Can't wait to see your additions.

Also, be sure to post in our "Growing Spaces" thread to show off your new greenhouse.

[arleneg]

Very nice work!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Well, I assume you will be putting up some shade cloth that will help with the heat. I take mine off during winter, and back on in spring. Now about the bubble wrap. I found that the shipping store stuff that only last about 8 months is really great to diffuse the light, and allow my orchids to go to higher light levels before I have to worry about burning the leaves (the agriculture equivalent doesn't diffuse very well). This is what I am trying to find time to put up in my GH for winter, not for insulation, but to help diffuse the light to prevent burning with the removal of the shade cloth. In summer, I don't think there is any downside to having the bubble wrap up because the cooling in the greenhouse is done by ventilation, not by heat transfer thru the walls, which is insignificant. If you have heat problems in summer, I think the only answer is an evaporative cooler blowing thru the wall, tho I have never been in high humidity areas, so that may be different.

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by Orchidflowerchild

Also, I have a love of the rupiculous laelias (Hoffmannseggella), so I hope to be able to get most of them.
-Cj

Cj,
I have been reading up on rupiculous Laelias recently and have acquired
an interest in these beauties. Do you currently have any now and if you
do what are they growing on/in? Do you plan on mounting them or growing
them in a pot medium. I was reading that some of the successful growers
of these were using coarser lava rock on the bottom of the pot and topping
off with fine Aliflor.

[Orchidflowerchild]

Originally Posted by Cynthia, Prescott, AZ

Well, I assume you will be putting up some shade cloth that will help with the heat. I take mine off during winter, and back on in spring. Now about the bubble wrap. I found that the shipping store stuff that only last about 8 months is really great to diffuse the light, and allow my orchids to go to higher light levels before I have to worry about burning the leaves (the agriculture equivalent doesn't diffuse very well). This is what I am trying to find time to put up in my GH for winter, not for insulation, but to help diffuse the light to prevent burning with the removal of the shade cloth. In summer, I don't think there is any downside to having the bubble wrap up because the cooling in the greenhouse is done by ventilation, not by heat transfer thru the walls, which is insignificant. If you have heat problems in summer, I think the only answer is an evaporative cooler blowing thru the wall, tho I have never been in high humidity areas, so that may be different.

Honestly, my solution to summer heat will be to take the roof plastic off and just have shadecloth over the top. I'll be replacing the plastic with PVC or polycarb panels, next year, anyway. As for the bubble wrap, I have two HUGE rolls of it stil stored in the barn at my family's place, but I loathe going in there and digging through that stuff...black widow phobia, you know...

Evaporative cooling is incredibly less efficient, here. We think of 40% humidity as SUPER dry. Most days are above 30% in winter, and up to 100% in the summer, with temps well over 80 from April until November or December.

Originally Posted by Tobi

Cj,
I have been reading up on rupiculous Laelias recently and have acquired
an interest in these beauties. Do you currently have any now and if you
do what are they growing on/in? Do you plan on mounting them or growing
them in a pot medium. I was reading that some of the successful growers
of these were using coarser lava rock on the bottom of the pot and topping
off with fine Aliflor.

I usually grow them mounted. I used to have 10 or fifteen species, and those that weren't mounted were in pots of gravel and crockery. I grew a few tied on to limestone rocks. You could also use a mix of pea gravel, charcoal, and perlite with a little bark, if you like. The chief thing to remember with the Hoffmannseggellas (formerly rupiculous Laelias) is that they need to dry readily. If you water in the morning, they should be well-nigh dry by nightfall. They resent wet feet, and during the nov-january dry season in the area of brazil they come from, they subsist on morning dewfall and evening fog. I've always grown them along with my upland rest-needing Cattleyas, such as warsewiczii, aurea, dowiana, and rex. High light, especially in winter, is well-recieved. As for light, specifically, I give them and the aforementioned Cattleya species 3000-4000 fc. High, I know, for Catt types, but I find that those Cattleyas and of course the Hoffmannseggellas flower better when you grow them a little hard. C. warsewiczii is especially rewarding when it is grown bright, as you can get 7-10 of those spectacular, huge flowers on an arrow-straight inflorescence.

-Cj

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by Orchidflowerchild

If you water in the morning, they should be well-nigh dry by nightfall. They resent wet feet, and during the nov-january dry season in the area of brazil they come from, they subsist on morning dewfall and evening fog.
-Cj

One of the Brazilian native orchid experts suggests watering them late in
the afternoon in a attempt to mimic their eveing misting in nature, providing
you supply adequate air movement to prevent rot.

[Anton]

Hey CJ, just imagine the Black Widow images you could get for Bill while hunting for the bubble wrap.

[Orchidflowerchild]

I imagine they would be rather blurry shots, considering I'd be screaming and running, at the time.

-Cj

[Orchidflowerchild]

Originally Posted by Tobi

One of the Brazilian native orchid experts suggests watering them late in
the afternoon in a attempt to mimic their eveing misting in nature, providing
you supply adequate air movement to prevent rot.

Yup. Since most of them stay quite small, they are wonderful subjects for small clay pots. With inert media such as gravel or such, they dry very quickly. I really can't say enough good things about these little gems! They tolerate neglect, high temps, low temps, and are very compact ith perfectly charming flowers. I highly recommend them. If you want to get them really good and cheap, I suggest checking Floralia on the Orchid Mall Brazilian plant sources. They have plants of various rupiculous species available for >$15 and will deliver them to a show or ship them from a show, if you pre-order.

-Cj

[pikevi]

That looks neat, Orchidflowerchild.... complete with an exhaust fan!

I am sure we are going to see photographs of many orchids in bloom soon.

Good luck.

[alice]

Mini greenhouses are generally a small version of the models utilized around the world through avid gardeners. The work in all of the same methods and even make the same amazing results .

[articuno75]

Love the greenhouse Cj. Is it constructed from a kit or home made?

[Orchidflowerchild]

Originally Posted by articuno75

Love the greenhouse Cj. Is it constructed from a kit or home made?

Well, I was going to just make one, but in researching materials and accessories, I found this site:

The Little Greenhouse - small pvc greenhouse kits

I got the 8.5' x 10' deluxe kit. I easily could've done just what they did with the kit, as far as frame construction, but considering that I got the plastic covering, the misting system (with filter), exhaust fan, AND shadecloth, it was totally worth it. With shipping, it totaled out to just over $700. If I had followed the plans exactly, I also would've had to buy ~$100 in lumber for the original plans, which call for a box frame foundation that is secured to the ground by digging a hole and filling it with concrete in which anchors are set. My neighborhood, however, does not allow digging of holes, and I hate dealing with concrete. Instead, I drove rebar into the ground for each outside post to sit over. Plenty of stability, without my dealing with concrete, neighborhood permitting, or post hole diggers. Plus, it gives me green points for recycling old rebar from the family business.

-Cj

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Thanks for the comments on the rupiculous Laelias. I have about half of them now, most from Floralia, and have made major improvements in their culture recently. I found that they were particularly susceptible to the fusarium problems I've had, probably encouraged by the original bad culture. I have moved them all to tiny clay pots that dry extremely fast given my 2 parts perlite to 1 part Canadian peat mix. It would probably be better to be mounted, but I don't have room for that many mounts, and the plants are very pretty blooming in such small pots. I have had luck blooming so far briegeri, lucasiana and milleri. The plants from Floralia take a little time to get established as they are bareroot and probably are kept this way for awhile while getting everything ready for the shows. Cj, I send Steve at Floralia a list of all the rupiculous Laelias I don't have and see what he can locate to bring up for me. He came up with quite a few that are not in his catalog the last time I did this.

[Orchidflowerchild]

Steve is really great. I've done business with him pretty much right from the beginning of my growing. I put wire mesh up on the end wall of the GH and will probably hang more on the other end wall so that I can grow mounted minis like Hoffmannseggellas and Tolumnias. Handily, they take pretty much the same culture, so a microclimate is not hard to create. I never had a rupiculous or a tolumnia on a mount bigger than 2"x4". Well, i take that back, a couple of the Tolumnia species are kinda vining, with loooong rhizomes. Tol. urophylla is like that. Guianense, too.

-Cj

[Nancy]

Now can I please see a picture of your Cattleya Walkeriana?

[Orchidflowerchild]

The plant closest to the camera in the internal shot is my C. walkeriana. YOu can only see about a third of the plant. It is the one in the basket.

Now, if the bugger would just bloom....it keeps putting out very very nice new leads, but no flower since I've had it. Granted, I got the plant last fall and it was in my bathroom with nowhere near enough light, over winter, but it has been growing like gangbusters since spring, when it went out to the back porch....

Here's hoping for blooms!

-Cj

[Nancy]

Thank you. It has given me something to shoot for with my plant.