A simple and inexpensive greenhouse

[CarolinaJim]

When I couched the idea of purchasing a greenhouse kit someone said that I really wanted to build one.

That person was correct. Since my fabrication skills are humble and I needed to get a greenhouse in place I opted for a low cost and low tech option which may be suitable for some suburban backyard situations.

This is a simple hoop style greenhouse which can be built for <$350. Anyways here are a couple of pictures and a link to the plans which of course I deviated from. My deviations are pretty easy to see in the pictures.

Here is a link to the plan which has been used successfully throughout the world.

http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/ext...greenhouse.pdf

Here are some pictures of the greenhouse in various stages of construction.





Thanks to all who provided inputs on the greenhouse. I'll be using this greenhouse as part of my backyard food production complex. Visit Voting (no not a thing to do with the election) if you would like to learn more about my backyard agriculture ideas and maybe make a couple of recommendations.

Also consider visiting the barrelponics group (no not mine ) on yahoo if interested in incorporating auqaculture and hydroponics in a greenhouse (or basement, desktop or countertop). Visit the group at barrelponics : Barrel-Ponics . Lots of interesting ideas there.

So, now that I saved all that money buy building the greenhouse myself I have a little extra money for seeds, barrels, pumps and maybe even a solar power system. Cool.

[tochatihu]

Putting metal tubing inside the straight runs of pvc (for ridigity) is a neat idea.

For those in colder climates who just need to start their plants weeks or a month sooner, you can make a lean-to on the S side of the house out of discarded wood-sash windows.

[PriuStorm]

Jim, that looks fantastic!! Glad to hear of your success, and thanks for all the links! It will be interesting to see your bounty as you try out your greenhouse.

[CarolinaJim]

[quote=tochatihu;725579]Putting metal tubing inside the straight runs of pvc (for ridigity) is a neat idea.[quote]

That was one of the points where I deviated from the plan. While using conduit is a good idea for strengthening the central purlin or beam I just didn't like the idea...especially since the plan called for installing a temporary central support if snow is expected.

If you look carefully at the pictures you'll see that I permanently placed a central post to which is attached a 2X4 beam. The ribs of the green house are attached to this beam with emt clamps.

[hyo silver]

Hey, Jim's building a greenhouse! (Told ya' ) It looks great. I'm sure that central post adds some much needed strength. Even a small snow load could easily crush a lightweight structure. Now with this experience to give you some confidence, you might be thinking of designing your next greenhouse.

[CarolinaJim]

Originally Posted by hyo silver

Now with this experience to give you some confidence, you might be thinking of designing your next greenhouse.

You were right.

I did a full circle on this one. I got stuck on a harbor freight Chinese 8 X 12 model for a while but ended up returning to my orignial plan with a slight detour which ended when I relized how expensive chain length fence toprails are. Schedule 80 PVC, despite its shortcomings, won first place for this experiment based solely on price.

Anyways this simple greenhouse will do for now. If I have any luck with my greenhouse efforts then I might go bigger in the future.