Looks great Lane! And BIG!

I'm sure you'll have many enjoyable days working out there. :-)

Thanks! Yeah, Bill, it is pretty long. Not sure what possessed me to make it so big, but I think I'm going to like it. Still need to get good soil in and get the irrigation worked out. It was a big project (for me) and I have little knowledge of construction, so it was definitely a learning experience. I've already been told I'm going to need more ventilation

Looks good!. Having an automatic vent would be nice. You have a fruit tree inside?

Only one problem, you should have built it in MY backyard !!

I agree regarding the automatic vent.

I’m a total greenhouse novice. How do those vents work?

And yeah, that’s a honey crisp apple tree. Not sure what I’m going to do with it. I usually get a handful of golf ball sized apples if any at all. Out of strange curiosity, I may leave it there a year just to see what happens

I think many of the vent openers are gas filled, the gas expands with the higher temperatures to open the vent and then of course closes as the temp decreases.

Your tree will likely die with the extreme temperature fluctuations of winter, the greenhouse getting nice and warm on mild sunny days and then to plummet at night.

The vents work very reliable. I have not had one fail yet. I believe the ones I use, bayliss xl, have some sort of wax in them.

I think the apple tree will survive but not sure if it will meet minimum chill requirement. It'll be a good experiment to see if you get pollinated blossoms.

Lane, that looks quite a project! You'll be so glad you have it for these long winters and short growing seasons we get. Great job!

Really impressive! Looking forward to seeing what you grow in it.

Looks great.

What size is it?

How much did it cost? - I ask because I am wondering how a cost of a commercially available kit would compare to a DIY greenhouse like yours.

Vladimir - It was quite expensive (for me), but I can't imagine what a kit of similar size would cost.

It is about 250 sq ft. and I just did a quick estimate and I'm in about $2,500 so far. I anticipate spending more on ventilation, whether that's fans or auto vents, don't know yet. I haven't spent anything on irrigation, either.

I live in a small town where lumber is more expensive and the shipping for the poly was expensive, so if you live in 'civilization' it would likely be a couple hundred cheaper, I would think.

A big cost, that caught me off guard, was the treated 6 x 6s that it sits on. Maybe you could get away with something less expensive, like just have the bottom plates be treated 2x4 and just set it on the ground. I don't know. I don't have any prior building experience. We have ungodly winds here and I didn't want the thing to blow away so I figured I needed a sturdy base lol. The 6x6s were like 500 bucks alone

A challenge was the site. The ground slopes quite a bit and I had to contend with that and it caused me problems.

And, of course, labor. I did everything myself and spent many dozens of hours on it, so that's got to be factored in.

When I researched greenhouse building it became apparent that diffused light was important. I used frosted coroplast as a covering. These are available at the big box hardware stores.

Here is an article about light diffusion.

https://aces.nmsu.edu/seasonextension/documents/hoop%20house%20and%20light%20diffusion

You should be able to find many articles about diffused light.

Great job, any updated pics? What do you plan to grow inside? If it's heated and you leave the apple tree until next year..You will experience what a zone 9 winter is like and see it blooming in Late Feb -March. I have had a greenhouse and rebuilt them two or three times over the years since 2010. I am in zone 5b and the greenhouse is zone 10b. If you are in zone 4a/b you could get it to zone 9 or if you don't wanna spend much on heating maybe even zone 7 or 8. There is A LOT you can grow in there year round if you so wish to go that route.

Looking great Lane!

l have a small 10x12‘ for about 35 years but it needs to be replaced or destroyed lol. I’ve used reinforced plastic, amazingly it lasted this long.

Who makes your panels and how much? 4x8’ sheets?

Matt - It is not heated and I'm pretty sure it gets down to about one or two degrees (F) of the outdoor minimum temp. I'm getting new thermometer stuff for Christmas so I'll be able to track its temp in real time.. So it's a zone 4 greenhouse for now lol.

I'm not sure what I intend to grow. I mostly intend for it to be used as a season extender. Where I live, gardens are almost impossible because a freak frost could happen literally any day of the summer. Beans, peas, potatos, carrots, melons (maybe), some flowers, and I really, really want to grow grapes. @urbo grows them in a greenhouse and I'm going to give it a try, too. My brother in SW Wyoming (I'm in SE WY) in a very similar climate grew artichokes and they turned out great, so maybe a couple 'chokes.

Tell me more about your greenhouses, Matt. How do you heat them? What are are/were they constructed out of? What do you grow?

Say I put a black 55 gal drum of H2O in there would that make a difference in the nighttime min temp?

Konrad - thanks!

They are TuffTex panels which I got in 12' lengths. I designed the structure so that I could use one 12' panel for a wall and a ceiling piece. I think the 12' panels were about $30 each

Thats a great greenhouse!

That's still cool you can get a few weeks added to each end of the growing season. That's scary having frost like that in the summer!!! Yeah grapes and other things would do well. I grow the common veggies but I specialize in tropical fruits and citrus. In the winter I start all the cool weather crops...sometime this month. November also marks citrus season so there's things that are ripening Nov-March.

Adding a 55 gal tank won't change the night temp. I've seen and heard lots about water tanks but they just do not work unfortunately it' kind of works to a degree or two living in a zone where you have a quick freeze for 2 nights and the temps go way back up within a few hours.

This is how some things look yesterday

Feb cold. showing the outside of it.

Matt- Very cool. What fruits do you grow? I see some citrus

And how do you heat your greenhouse?

Awesome! One for me next, okay? :)

I grow bananas, pineapple, passionfruit for now. I lost my guava which was doing very well and my avocado last winter. I'm on the hunt for a new guava tree for this upcomming year.

It's heated with one 1500 watt heater and a fan. I throw in an extra heater on only the coldest of nights.

The citrus list:

Mexican lime

Murcott mandarin

Ponderosa lemon

Eureka lemon

Meyer lemon

Cara Cara orange

Valencia orange

Navel Washington orange

Hamlin orange

rio red or red rio grapefruit.

Wow. Impressive, Matt. So you've got some plants in-ground and some in pots?

Where are you? If you don't mind me asking.

How much $$ would you reckon you spend heating your greenhouse per month in say Dec/Jan?

Thanks! Yes I have 2 banana, 4 citrus and a fig in the ground.

I still pay $100 a month. Even tho Dec can be nice till about Christmas that will cover it no matter.

I'm around Toronto Canada.

Man, it would cost hundreds for me to heat mine if yours is ~$100 (Canadian?).

Since I saw pictures of your set up, my mind has been going 100 mph lol. A weird thought, but what do you think about setting up a "mini greenhouse" within my larger greenhouse to reduce the volume of air that needs to be heated?

Wow, great project. If a person had more time than money, this is what I'd consider doing to get rid of the treated 6 x 6's that are so expensive:

make a concrete form for foundation

imbed 5 inch bolts into concrete while pouring wet concrete

have treated 2' x 4's or maybe even untreated for bottom plate

There would be a bit of cost for cement but it will be super sturdy and may cost less than the 6 x 6's. By using 2 by's for bottom plate (with bolts) the greenhouse should be able to withstand big winds.

However, because of the flexible nature of the plastic I would probably put guy wires (metal cables) on all 4 corners (tops of walls) to serious metal fencepost stakes (or similar) just to ensure the sides of greenhouse don't bounce around too much. I know those WY winds, ha ha.

L Clark. Yes it's in Canadian dollars. You couldn't use that technique- electric heater anyway because of the size of your GH and your even colder zone. Wood stoves are what people use when they get into your size and they want to heat it. Yes you can make a smaller shelter inside. What some people do is block off the roof peak area to keep the warmer air lower. (goes the same for heated and un heated)

Steve - I did consider using a concrete footing. I'm not the best with concrete so I didn't go that route. Yup. Wyoming winds whipping up today, that's for sure. It's still standing! I tied the plastic into the 6x6s. That added a lot of integrity.

How goes it? any changes?

Unfortunately, no. I haven’t done a thing in there in weeks. I winterized my irrigation, otherwise I’d work on that. I’ll hit it hard starting April :-)

Any pictures of new updates or progress reports? ;-)

Ok. I added a pathway

Here are some inside pics. too overgrown, but whatever. I got lots of food out of here lol

Grapes. Swenson red

Honey crisp apple

But it needs a new roof due to hail!

overall, its been a great addition to my life. My kids love it too. Sometimes in winter I go out there with a chair and read a book on sunny days in a t shirt

You did a great job of laying those bricks, looks awesome and your greenhouse lush! I almost added a greenhouse this year, certainly would have been appreciated in this heck of a wet summer!

It's so cool to see grapes and apples growing in a partially controlled environment.

When I was a kid, I watched my dad plant a 'Stick' from a grapevine someone gave him and remember that vine filling ~40' of 6' chain link fence along the alley. Tons of grapes most years.

There was also an Apple tree that mom made the best pies from.

Kids need to know/see these things so when people ask them 'where do apples & grapes come from' they don't say 'From the grocery store'. ;-)

Yeah, it's been fun. Laramie, WY is a tundra where very little can grow and it surprises and fascinates people when I tell them I have grapes and a honeycrisp apple at my house. I cut dozens and dozens of Pink Peace roses and give them to neighbors and friends. Many have never smelt a fragrant hybrid tea rose before and the delight it gives them makes the trouble of the whole project worth it.

A note about the vine - holy crud do grape vines ever grow fast. It is overwhelming the space. The apple has too and I hacked about 1/3 of it away this spring. But the grape... I will need help pruning it. I'll post pictures once the leaves fall off.

Yes, nothing like having one's own high quality eating grapes, I had 'Himrod' seedless in my previous solarium, just getting into heavy production years when the place was sold, but dang, those grapes tasted amazing! Clark, do you lay the vines down and give any protection for the winter or they left standing as be? My solarium was attached and heated by the house and maintained just above freezing during the coldest winter nights, in there had been some passion vines and a bit of a pelargonium collection needing not to be heavily frosted.

Here's some good reading on grapevine pruning:

https://modernfarmer.com/2016/02/pruning-grapevines/

;-)

Thanks, Bill. I've read about pruning grapes several times and now I think I finally understand the basic principle. I'm a slow learner lol.

Frozebud, I do not lay the vines down and so far I have not had much die back, thankfully. The green house seems to be worth about 1.5-2 zones of hardiness. I am zone 4a and that Pink peace rose is tip hardy and it's said to be a zone 6 rose so, who knows. It's helps though. It's like the perfect incubator for tomatoes. I pulled hundreds of weed tomato seedlings out this year.

How long was it before your grape came into heavy production? I would not say mine is heavy yet. Really this is the first year I've gotten anything, but I have heard it takes several for grapes to really get going