South American plants

[Lori S.]

The greenhouse would certainly have to be very well-insulated and heated... when it's -20 C outside here, it's -20 C in our greenhouse too!

[cohan]

Yes, it would need to be well thought out- there are no plans at the moment, just vague fantasies-- sometimes I think of it as an extension of outdoor gardening (eg- some of those cool NZ plants that are probably not hardy here) and sometimes as an extension of indoor gardening- which in some ways is my more serious plant collecting! Certainly I wouldn't think of the traditional flimsy all glazing sort of construction as anything other than a mid-summer space here...lol.. I'd be thinking very well insulated, probably not glazed to the ground, possibly not on the north side, (maybe even lean-to) and probably some kind of heavy shutters or drapes to enclose it entirely on the coldest days.. with the right system, you'd only need modest heating to keep it from deep freeze...
Have you seen any of the type of greenhouse that blows warm daytime air (I know- no value in the coldest weather) into the soil under the greenhouse, and pulls it back out at night? I think I read of someone getting 8 months of vegetable growing with that system in Edmonton.. not bad....

[Lori S.]

Have you seen any of the type of greenhouse that blows warm daytime air (I know- no value in the coldest weather) into the soil under the greenhouse, and pulls it back out at night? I think I read of someone getting 8 months of vegetable growing with that system in Edmonton.. not bad....

No, I haven't - sounds intriguing.  I don't get how air is blown into the soil??  Is there some kind of base on the greenhouse with, I dunno, maybe a baffle system that traps air, or ... ?  It seems that most people with greenhouses around here don't even have thermostatically-controlled fans to control excess heat, let alone systems to deal with extreme cold, so whatever system they are using, it sounds quite advanced!
Having said that, we get 7 months use out of our greenhouse using only small electric heaters, pond heaters, and by covering the insulated ponds with styrofoam sheets at night to hold in some warmth - but it's those other 5 months that are the killers!      We used to run it for 8 months, but March is pretty unpredictable and it has not seemed to be worth the effort, so April is the usual start.

[Hoy]

A friend of mine built his greenhouse down! He actually used a hollow in his garden and built floor and walls of concrete. The roof is glass. To get down into it he has steps in one of the short ends. Soil was filled all up to the roof (outside!). And it easy to cover the roof but that is usually not necessary. He also have some pipes through the wall into the soil. They are perfect for planting. At that dept the soil is always frost free.

[cohan]

Have you seen any of the type of greenhouse that blows warm daytime air (I know- no value in the coldest weather) into the soil under the greenhouse, and pulls it back out at night? I think I read of someone getting 8 months of vegetable growing with that system in Edmonton.. not bad....

No, I haven't - sounds intriguing.  I don't get how air is blown into the soil??  Is there some kind of base on the greenhouse with, I dunno, maybe a baffle system that traps air, or ... ?  It seems that most people with greenhouses around here don't even have thermostatically-controlled fans to control excess heat, let alone systems to deal with extreme cold, so whatever system they are using, it sounds quite advanced!
Having said that, we get 7 months use out of our greenhouse using only small electric heaters, pond heaters, and by covering the insulated ponds with styrofoam sheets at night to hold in some warmth - but it's those other 5 months that are the killers!      We used to run it for 8 months, but March is pretty unpredictable and it has not seemed to be worth the effort, so April is the usual start.

I'll dig up a link on those greenhouses-- tomorrow  ...
As you say, you can get some months just with the 'greenhouse effect' and minor heat-- that's why I think it wouldn't take that much if you only wanted to bump up the minimums a couple of zones

[bulborum]

In Holland they build now Neutral Greenhouses
that means they produce the same or more energy as they consume
there are a lot of experiments with different foils on the glass panels
but this is not for hobbyist like us in the moment

from an Alpine greenhouse there is an good example here
See: http://bp1.blogger.com/_2m3wGnWBkAk/SFldTDoOZCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/c3M0roVU_3Y/s1600/alpine+greenhouse.JPG
must be at least 1,5 merer deep

Roland

[McDonough]

from an Alpine greenhouse there is an good example here
See: http://bp1.blogger.com/_2m3wGnWBkAk/SFldTDoOZCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/c3M0roVU_3Y/s1600/alpine+greenhouse.JPG
must be at least 1,5 merer deep

Roland

Roland, a superb example of a "pit greenhouse", it is a dream of mine to build one of these. I have even drawn up plans, and started an excavation some years ago, but like so many of my projects they get started and never finished, just not enough time.

[bulborum]

from an Alpine greenhouse there is an good example here
See: http://bp1.blogger.com/_2m3wGnWBkAk/SFldTDoOZCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/c3M0roVU_3Y/s1600/alpine+greenhouse.JPG
must be at least 1,5 merer deep

Roland

just not enough time.

Mark

You work much to hard
and make toooooo much money

do as what I did with the bathroom
ask somebody to do the job
My wife happy after 11 years waiting
and I could continue working with my hobby  

No , you are wrong
It isn't flower-stamps

Roland

[cohan]

Roland- beautiful greenhouse! True, I think there are a lot of innovations being made now- more so in Europe, but hopefully North American governments will  see the benefit in supporting more of that kind of research instead of only supporting petroleum  ( I know, living in Alberta I'm supposed to blindly support all oil business...lol)

Here is the link for the greenhouse I mentioned:
http://www.sunnyjohn.com/indexpages/shcs.htm

[bulborum]

Do you have an indication from the price per m²

[cohan]

No idea, personally, about cost, I think they may discuss it a bit on the site, its a long time since I read it all the way through; I think the technology is fairly simple though, so costs will be mainly construction- depending how much you do yourself, and regular costs for glazing etc..

[bulborum]

Tropaeolum hookerianum starts flowering here
flowers after six months

Roland

[cohan]

Tropaeolum hookerianum starts flowering here
flowers after six months

Roland

Pretty! Is it a climbing sp? Do you mean flowering 6 months from seed?

[bulborum]

Yeh

six months from seed
I was surprised too
its climbing and in the moment 60 cm tall
As support I put a small bamboo stick in the pot
leaves are curling around the fine branches
but it looks if the plant grows taller

Roland

[cohan]

Cool a genus I don't know much about, apart from knowing it has species I don't know