Hello from idaho

[NwMtGardener]

Hi Jellybean, from next door in Montana. Also a greenhouse newbie, sorta! I've been putting one up in the spring for, I think, the last 3 years. Actually, I missed last year, so THIS year is my 3rd year with a greenhouse. Here's a link to my thread about this year's greenhouse going up, earlier this week.

Here's another post about various members greenhouses/hoophouses with pictures.

And here's a thread about my 2012 greenhouse.

I don't leave the plastic on all summer, it's too hard to keep cool and causes problems with mildew, mold and bugs. Commercial greenhouses use shade cloth, you would probably want to consider getting some if you want to have yours up all summer. AND it's super handy to have a wireless thermometer that beams the temps from inside the greenhouse into the house, for convenience. You'll have to do a lot of fiddling and adjusting of doors and vents to keep the temps within an acceptable range, it's much easier to be able to see how hot it is in the greenhouse from the comfort of your living room!

 

[digitS']

Jellybean, the UV-resistant is probably what you want if it will stay up for a lot of months. The construction-grade film is just killed by the summer sun. October comes and it is likely to break into a dozen pieces.

The UV-resistant is soft, however. By that I mean it will tear as easily when you are putting it up as the construction stuff. It will stand up to the sun for several years. I get away with leaving it for 4 years without a problem.

There are some temporary hoop houses that spring up around here for my greenhouse "overflow." Since they will be coming down by summer, I don't use the UV-resistant film for those. Some of that plastic film, I can reuse for several seasons.

Steve

 

[jellybean]

Thanks for the tips! On average I think our temps are around 90 in summer and lots of sun. Not much rain here, sunny most of the winter also. Was considering doors on both ends and vents if needed towards the top. Or a shade cover, or roll up the sides. If that doesn't keep it cool enough I'll have to remove cover in summer. I've seen some 8-12 mil poly covers so need to make some calls to decide what thickness to get. Since I haven't set it up yet I'm just figuring out to do it so I don't need to redo it later if it doesn't work My beds will be about 8' x 3.5' by almost 3' tall. Made from scraps from husbands sawmill I'm piecing together. Right now just waiting on a dump truck load of gravel from husband to spread out so I can build on top of it.

 

[baymule]

Welcome from Texas!

 

[NwMtGardener]

I'm confused about the gravel - are you growing in pots on top of the gravel? or making a raised bed with soil over the gravel?

 

[digitS']

Did you know that Idaho is almost 20% larger than all the 6 states of New England combined? And, if you ironed both areas out flat, it would still be 20% bigger!

I bet some didn't know that and I'm just mentioning it here in the "empty quarter/fly over zone."

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

Heh, Idaho always looks so small to me, from over here in MT. till we have to drive all the way down to Twin Falls or Pocatello, that is!

 

[jellybean]

We have so many weeds and animals and poor soil, if the ground isn't covered by wood chips or gravel it's a mess with weeds and duck crap. So I'm spreading out a large area of gravel to keep weeds down. Then I'll put the raised beds up (they'll be almost 3' deep with layers of wood, compost, soil, etc), and a greenhouse over some of them. Then some beds will be outside. I am also planning on putting our meat smoker and hammock nearby, so gravel will be nice. And the ducks won't hang out there all day rummaging like they do in wood chips. If the weeds are 3' tall around the beds I won't have time to manage any of it or even want to.

 

[NwMtGardener]

We have so many weeds and animals and poor soil, if the ground isn't covered by wood chips or gravel it's a mess with weeds and duck crap. So I'm spreading out a large area of gravel to keep weeds down. Then I'll put the raised beds up (they'll be almost 3' deep with layers of wood, compost, soil, etc), and a greenhouse over some of them. Then some beds will be outside. I am also planning on putting our meat smoker and hammock nearby, so gravel will be nice. And the ducks won't hang out there all day rummaging like they do in wood chips. If the weeds are 3' tall around the beds I won't have time to manage any of it or even want to.

Ahhh, i see! I was picturing raised beds that were maybe only 1' deep over gravel, and was wondering if that may cause some issues with drainage. "They say" that water does not flow well from different types of materials - like dirt to gravel, and now i realized all those times i put rocks in the bottom of my potted plants to "help" drainage, i was actually making them waterlogged where the dirt meets the gravel. I doubt you'd have any noticable problems with that in a 3' raised bed though.

 

[journey11]

Welcome, Jellybean!