Only a Couple of More Months

[kevinkimers]

How many of you are as excited as I am that in only a couple of more months the weather will get warmer and the ground will be thawed....it will be spring time! Time to plant those roses, clear away all the winter debris, get those vegetable seeds germinated.... I can't wait. We can't live on our property at the moment because we have no well an septic there, but we decided that we will plant there anyway and just go and check on it every other day. We figured out that most of our crops will only need water every two days. We could be wrong about this, we have been reading the seed packets. Anyone have any suggestions on the best way to water them? Keep in mind, we are growing everything from Asparagus to Zucchini and so our garden is a macabre of vegetable heaven. We are even planting stuff we have never eaten before so as to try it out.

 

[ChanellG]

Well, I can garden year-round here so I'm still focused on my cold weather crops. My concern now is whether my greenhouse will hold up until spring. It's one of those "portable" ones you put together yourself and it;s too flimsy. I should have taken it back after I first got it, but I got it at a really good price and it served the purpose. I have it braced now, but if we have below freezing weather again with high winds I may lose the warm weather plants.

 

[kevinkimers]

You should really consider building your own garden boxes. That way you know for a fact that it is properly done. There is a wood and plastic material that is light yet both strong and weather resistant material you can find at most hardware or lumber store. I forgot what it is called but they use it mainly for creating decks so it is sold primarily in planks. You can build a light yet resilient grow box out of it. Basically it is made out of the chips and saw dust that is left over mixed with liquid plastic then hardened. After creating the box, for winter growth I would line the box with that insulation that has the reflective surface on the outsides. That will help to maintain the warmth your plants need. Use plexy glass (fairly inexpensive) to create your tops with to allow the sun light in. To keep the cold out, line the top where it connects to the box with the seal they use on doors. Sorry I am not so specific. I can't seem to remember what all these things are called officially but I know you guys are smart enough to know what I am talking about. LOL Hope that helps a little for your future winter gardens. It is what we are planning for next winter.

 

[CanadianLori]

I believe Chanell was referring to a greenhouse not a cold frame.
1. Cold frame 2. Palram polycarb greenhouse which I insulated this year but still not warm enough without turning the heater on and I refuse to heat the great outdoors.
I too am getting excited about the upcoming gardening season. I have a calendar just for entering seed start dates and that shows sunrise sunset times and the average highs and lows.
If I wasn't going to keep it for a reference I believe I would be crossing off the days in countdown fashion!

 

[zigs]

Not long now, sowed some North Holland Blood Red Onions today, mainly cos I liked the name

 

[Gina145]

Well, I can garden year-round here so I'm still focused on my cold weather crops. My concern now is whether my greenhouse will hold up until spring. It's one of those "portable" ones you put together yourself and it;s too flimsy. I should have taken it back after I first got it, but I got it at a really good price and it served the purpose. I have it braced now, but if we have below freezing weather again with high winds I may lose the warm weather plants.

I had one of those for a while too, and mine held up fine until spring. That's when my problems started because the plastic started to deteriorate from too much sun, and one light hail storm shredded it. After a couple of winters during which I patched it up with cheap plastic I eventually gave up and bought something similar to the greenhouse CanadianLoriz6a posted a photo of.

I always worried about wind too, but I had mine in a corner of my yard with walls on two sides. If yours is well braced, hopefully that won't be a problem.

 

[Rosyrain]

I am so looking forward to beautiful spring weather to come my way. I am going to start doing some spring cleaning tonight so that I can get an early start. This year I am going to plant some veggies that will be destined for the dinner table.

 

[peachdejour]

The rough winter weather is just really starting and I'm already done. I want in my garden and I want in it now! I keep looking at it full of snow and pouting. I think I might need to go get a house plant to keep me happy and sane this winter. I'm looking at at least three more months of snow. It seems so long right now.

 

[Pat]

I am also excited to see spring come. It is frozen outside in my area with a forecast of more cold weather and snow the first of the week. The winter does not stay long in my area so I have started to count down the days, by the end of February I can say winter is over, it will still be cold but it is up hill from there.

 

[ChanellG]

I had one of those for a while too, and mine held up fine until spring. That's when my problems started because the plastic started to deteriorate...

I always worried about wind too, but I had mine in a corner of my yard with walls on two sides. If yours is well braced, hopefully that won't be a problem.

Well, I don't know how long it will hold up for so I am debating about making a new frame out of pvc. Because of the leaning in all directions the cover has been stretched and is tearing away from it's seams, especially around the door flap. I've debated about using metal pipe, pvc pipe, and wood.

I have been thinking of doing something like this:

PVC would be cheap, but it's also very light. I suppose I could fill the pipes on the bottom with sand or something, but I think metal pipes would hold up longer and I could create built in support for shelving. Forming the roof would be easier than cutting rafters from wood also, and I could just purchase another greenhouse cover.

 

[CanadianLori]

I started on this track but once i realized what it would cost for the pvc,the fittings, the plastic and the clamps to hold the plastic, well, that's when i went ahead and bought my second palram that is 6x4. You might be better off with a harbour freight greenhouse?

i did go ahead and buy a pile of fittings so i used them to make a drying station. A place to rest the contents of my finished container plants. I find it so much easier to knock off the dirt from dry roots.

i may reuse this stuff again to build another solar water heater.

like playing with tinker toys!

 

[CanadianLori]

Remember you cannot hang anythin in that. You might also need shelves.

 

[kevinkimers]

Well, I don't know how long it will hold up for so I am debating about making a new frame out of pvc. Because of the leaning in all directions the cover has been stretched and is tearing away from it's seams, especially around the door flap. I've debated about using metal pipe, pvc pipe, and wood.

I have been thinking of doing something like this:

PVC would be cheap, but it's also very light. I suppose I could fill the pipes on the bottom with sand or something, but I think metal pipes would hold up longer and I could create built in support for shelving. Forming the roof would be easier than cutting rafters from wood also, and I could just purchase another greenhouse cover.

As long as you are not in a high wind area PVC will work great. It does not work well here because of the high winds we have. it is to light to hold.

 

[Gina145]

Well, I don't know how long it will hold up for so I am debating about making a new frame out of pvc. Because of the leaning in all directions the cover has been stretched and is tearing away from it's seams, especially around the door flap. I've debated about using metal pipe, pvc pipe, and wood.

I have been thinking of doing something like this:

PVC would be cheap, but it's also very light. I suppose I could fill the pipes on the bottom with sand or something, but I think metal pipes would hold up longer and I could create built in support for shelving. Forming the roof would be easier than cutting rafters from wood also, and I could just purchase another greenhouse cover.

As kevinkimers said, you need to take wind into account, so be sure that it's heavy enough to withstand your conditions. But if you go for metal be sure that it won't rust. My original greenhouse had a frame and connected stands made of thin metal pipes. When I bought my good greenhouse I reassembled the stands so that they fitted into that space, but after a year I had to replace them with plastic shelves because they had rusted so badly that they would eventually have collapsed. I was really surprised that they used that kind of metal for something that was made to be used in a wet environment.

 

[ChanellG]

Remember you cannot hang anythin in that. You might also need shelves.

I couldn't hang anything in the one I have now either. Would have to use free standing shelves - an advantage, but built in shelves with plants would help to weigh it down so...

As long as you are not in a high wind area PVC will work great. It does not work well here because of the high winds we have. it is to light to hold.

High wind is the reason I need to replace the one I have.

...But if you go for metal be sure that it won't rust. My original greenhouse had a frame and connected stands made of thin metal pipes.

Rust has definitely been an issue. The metal pipes rusted in plastic fittings almost immediately. Somehow they hold water, though I can't figure out how it gets in. The whole things leans in multiple directions... and now the cover is tearing. It's ready for the for the scrap heap.

This is what I currently have (and I did NOT get it at the price he did):