Greenhouse setup in the Southeast Zone 8B

So after a year or so of thinking about it, reading about it and thinking about it some more I have decided to build a greenhouse. But, I still have a few questions.

I am planning on digging out a 2' - 3' and building the base of the greenhouse within it. The excavated dirt will be fill and mounded up on the North and West walls for shelter from the sun and a thermal bank when needed.

I am going to French drain around the structure to keep water from ponding and may also dig out a cold sink that can also act as a drainage area. The overall depth will be determined by the level clay starts in earnest.

The vent panels will be operated by manual temperature controlled pistons and any and all openings for venting will be covered in mesh to keep out pests.

I would hover like to have bees in the greenhouse to assist in pollination. My options here are a hive installed in the greenhouse with exits interior and exterior or to have a section of 1/2" PVC pipes that would allow bees and other small insects in while keeping Goliath Moths out. My bees are well behaved but I am not sure how they would react to me in a closed in space so the PVE pipe may be my only options. This will allow all kinds of other nastiness in, but sometimes you take the good with the bad and accept it.

My second issue is with active cooling and heating. I am thinking of a 20 - 30' section of 4 - 8" PVC run around and 2 - 3" down with a solar fan to circulate the cooler or warmer, depending on the season, air through the greenhouse.

On paper and in my head it sounds and looks good.

Any thoughts or ideas?
The more I know, the more I know I know almost nothing of the vast knowledge out there.
So hit me with some experience and wisdom.

Thanks,

Bryan

Keep in mind that unwanted pests that can ruin your crops will also be coming and going, and anything you spray to get rid of the nasty's may harm the bee's

Quote:

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Originally Posted by welderguy

Keep in mind that unwanted pests that can ruin your crops will also be coming and going, and anything you spray to get rid of the nasty's may harm the bee's

---

I am not 100% organic, but I refuse to spray toxic stuff on my tomatoes and ghost peppers. ;)

Maybe since bees are diurnal and some but not all of the pests are nocturnal, I could simply close the openings at night to minimize bad bugs?

Are you looking for pollination? what exactly are you seeking from the bees? will help more with suggestions.

How large of a GH are we talking?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Davidlastink

Are you looking for pollination? what exactly are you seeking from the bees? will help more with suggestions.

How large of a GH are we talking?

---

David,

Yeah, pollination. Could paint brush it, but would rather not have to.

Starting with a 12 x 16 with the possibility to expand from there.

The easiest way to pollinate your tomatoes is to shake the bushes while they are flowering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6f-2yP3Gnc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crashdive123

The easiest way to pollinate your tomatoes is to shake the bushes while they are flowering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6f-2yP3Gnc

---

Plants having sex! Nice!

Never even considered my chilies and tomatoes self pollinating. ;)

Wonder about my Kiwis, Durian, cucumbers and herbs? Guess most of those may be good with a shake as well or a quick hit with a paintbrush.

An easier safer alternative is butterflies, they will do well in a greenhouse and are less care to setup/ maintain than bees. They are also something nice to look at.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davidlastink

An easier safer alternative is butterflies, they will do well in a greenhouse and are less care to setup/ maintain than bees. They are also something nice to look at.

---

Not me David. Butterflies are nice to look at in the wife's flower beds. But do not get near my garden little pretty flappy winged egg layers.
A clutch of eggs near my tomatoes soon turns into an army of bottomless pits with horns.

There is a place for them of course, but not in my greenhouse. ;)

My bees are not much trouble at all, and I get a few gallons of honey a year from them.

Now if I ever develop severe allergies to them, there will bee some changes.

I am going to see if they will even wonder in if I plant some bee tempting items in there. Then if they are not enticed or nasties get in, I will close it up and keep it closed to outside bug traffic.

Monarchs. Will have to find em local or go out and look for em.

Also you can get stingless wasps if you have a hornworm problem.

I ordered ladybugs last year, hope they come back in force this year Finding monarch larvae/eggs might be tough but they don't eat anything but milkweed and they are the "Quintessential" Ladybug.

Gardening is a Macro-environmental endeavor. So you have to balance soil, plants, light, climate, and first consider wildlife. I would never plant tomatoes near a tobacco farm etc.

Heck you can even toss in chickens to your greenhouse if you were so inclined.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davidlastink

Monarchs. Will have to find em local or go out and look for em.

Also you can get stingless wasps if you have a hornworm problem.

I ordered ladybugs last year, hope they come back in force this year Finding monarch larvae/eggs might be tough but they don't eat anything but milkweed and they are the "Quintessential" Ladybug.

Gardening is a Macro-environmental endeavor. So you have to balance soil, plants, light, climate, and first consider wildlife. I would never plant tomatoes near a tobacco farm etc.

Heck you can even toss in chickens to your greenhouse if you were so inclined.

---

David,


I like the 100% microclimate setup and rely heavily on the great ladybug and predatory wasps. Whenever a see those egg clusters on a tomato horn worm I smile and let the worm live so the next batch of wasps are healthy from feeding on it.

If I could raise Ladybugs, Preying Mantis and Predatory Wasps, my life would be much easier. Monarchs are apparently suffering major population shortages this year and last as well. I think Honeybees and Monarchs have a common malaise in pesticide choices we are making commercially.

The chickens would be great if I could limit them to bugs, they LOVE Tomato Horm Worms, grubs and fertilize as they browse. ;) They also love fresh vegtables and that is bad for us until we give them the scraps and peelings. Wonder if I could teach them to eat only bugs in the garden? Can chickens detect capsaisin? I may find out, may also find out if a chicken can scream. lol

Plant marigolds and keep them well fed chickens are also grazers they love grass. But if you keep bees then that might work well for you. Just wonder if you can sustain enough flora to support a hive in there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davidlastink

Plant marigolds and keep them well fed chickens are also grazers they love grass. But if you keep bees then that might work well for you. Just wonder if you can sustain enough flora to support a hive in there.

---

We plant Marigolds to deter and Dill to attract most years. If I install a hive in the greenhouse I will have two exits, one to the outside and one into the greenhouse with shop dust collection gates on both for service and move options.

Pretty sure it takes thousands of flower visits to make even a tablespoon of honey so my greenhouse may provide enough for one tablespoon and some good pollen each year, but not much else.

Will make a cool show and tell item for my daughter. ;)

Chickens eat marigolds and it turns there yolks deeper gold. Now if you rigged a dryer vent hose from your greenhouse to a hive box that might keep other nasties out but allow bees access.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davidlastink

Chickens eat marigolds and it turns there yolks deeper gold. Now if you rigged a dryer vent hose from your greenhouse to a hive box that might keep other nasties out but allow bees access.

---

What flavor chickens do you have that eat Marigolds? Ours turn their beaks up at them and go for the cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes spinach and almost everything else. We have Dominique, Ameraucana, Rhode Island, Australorp, Game and some mixed breed from hen sittings. Interestingly enough none but the game chickens are interested in sitting. My wife believes the industry has genetically altered the others to not sit. Good for industry bad for the species.

The few I raised were red pullets from tractor supply. Between the yard trimmings and bugs from deep bedding them they seemed very content and aside from getting up top on my garage were not much trouble at all. Sound like yours be spoiled lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davidlastink

The few I raised were red pullets from tractor supply. Between the yard trimmings and bugs from deep bedding them they seemed very content and aside from getting up top on my garage were not much trouble at all. Sound like yours be spoiled lol.

---

Well... wife and Little Miss have every one of them named. They do get more than enough food and handfed grubs and grasshoppers and free range every day for a while. They live a good life as far as chickens go I think. lol They pay us back in eggs and I am not complaining at all. A good omelet with a few spices and some cheese with a good dab of Ghost Pepper sauce, toast and a good cup of coffee makes for a perfect breakfast.

Well you can still deep bed em and get some black gold from em.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davidlastink

Well you can still deep bed em and get some black gold from em.

---

The coop is 4 feet off the ground and all the droppings fall through the welded wire and chain-link floor onto the ground for composting and use. Our gardens benefit greatly from it. Galvanized chainlink is some tough stuff, it has been there 9 years so far and holding up nicely in spite of the high levels of caustic goop sticking to it.

interesting... a bit gross and seems like some work getting in under there but interesting.

I just gave em an area, filled it with bedding when ever the older stuff seemed too cluttered.

The oldest bedding was well minced and shredded I'm sure if I had years of deep bedding I'd be able to dig out the under layer every year and find a nice rich soil. Great thing about it that the chickens work as com posters and egg layers in a proper setup, one which I never achieved. Properly done those chickens really put out a lot of profitable stuff for an extremely small initial outlay and very little maintenance. My latest gardening adventure is costing me more than the chickens did even with buying a few months feed. Nevermind labor lol. Plus the Kids love them... hard for a kid to get attached to a head of lettuce lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davidlastink

interesting... a bit gross and seems like some work getting in under there but interesting.

I just gave em an area, filled it with bedding when ever the older stuff seemed too cluttered.

The oldest bedding was well minced and shredded I'm sure if I had years of deep bedding I'd be able to dig out the under layer every year and find a nice rich soil. Great thing about it that the chickens work as com posters and egg layers in a proper setup, one which I never achieved. Properly done those chickens really put out a lot of profitable stuff for an extremely small initial outlay and very little maintenance. My latest gardening adventure is costing me more than the chickens did even with buying a few months feed. Nevermind labor lol. Plus the Kids love them... hard for a kid to get attached to a head of lettuce lol.

---

Actually not much work at all, the coop is 4 x 8 for the 20 hens, will be adding on soon. So a good seed shovel to mix it up and let it compost a bit before spreading it around the garden. From the group now we get a few hundred pounds of good fertilizer each year. May have to start throwing some sawdust and paper under there for added mulching.

We have also started cycling dirt from the chicken pen into the garden and bring dirt from the garden as fill back into the chicken yard. Keeps stuff moving and airy and the plants and chickens love the dirt change.

The only fertilizer machines better than Chickens are Rabbits, but the furry ones don't lay eggs. ;)

Still want to start a worm bed for vermicomposting, may have a good spot in the greenhouse for it!

Like to see some pic's...when you get'er up and running.

I would have to look it up.... but an early Doomsday Preppers, featured a guy that converted his swimming pool in to a Micro climate.....sounds like what you want to do.

PS
http://channel.nationalgeographic.co...-mcclung-47863

or
http://gardenpool.org/author/admin

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hunter63

Like to see some pic's...when you get'er up and running.

I would have to look it up.... but an early Doomsday Preppers, featured a guy that converted his swimming pool in to a Micro climate.....sounds like what you want to do.

PS
http://channel.nationalgeographic.co...-mcclung-47863

or
http://gardenpool.org/author/admin

---

That was one of my favorite setups! One swimming pool, deep end had Talapia, shallow end was a square foot garden. Chickens in cages above the fish pond section.

My greenhouse will not be so self contained, but there will be aspects of self sufficiency in it on the farm setup we have. Greenhouse will be solar powered with 12v pumps and lights, a 500 gallon reservoir capturing runoff from the greenhouse used to irrigate and cool, fertilizer from the chickens and fish cleaning leavings, and bees involved somehow when I get that part figured out and geothermal involvement with greenhouse 2 feet down and dirt mounds at the North and West sides.

I think it is sound. If I tear it all down and put a goldfish pond there in the Fall, you will know it had issues. ;)

Try worm towers or a worm condo. I think I will give it another go this year, got some interesting left overs from my last attempt.

Coop image. Coop floor is welded wire and chain link fencing. So far that has kept the varmints from dining on the flock.
Fertilizer falls through the fence fairly well and sits there waiting on us to scoop it up for use. ;)

Attachment 9182

I that a mountain lion in the back ground!? lol

I just ordered in a pound of reds from uncle Jim will post up some info once I get my bins started up this week end.

I just noticed that :)

I am finally starting on the greenhouse this weekend. If weather does not refuse my plans. ;)

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