Greenhouse.

[.40caltrucker]

We are wanting to build a greenhouse this year and decided to make a permanent one using old windows. Does anyone know where I can get a bunch of old windows and doors with full glass would work great to. We want to get them as cheap as possible and preferably free.

Size will be approx 20'X10'

Does anyone have a greenhouse? I always though CO2 had to be pumped in it to make the plants grow during winter, is that true.

 

[smokingman]

I know it is not exactly what you are looking for but how about a 20x40 high side wall for around $1200 shipped to your door(20x96 for $2600 shipped to central Indiana)?

High Sidewall Greenhouse Frames 20 ft | High Sidewall Frames | Growers Solution


They also carry the Twinwall Polycarbonate in 6 and 8 mm thickness in sheets from 6x8 $84.00 to 6x24 foot for $252.00. Not exactly free but much cheaper than glass.
Twinwall Polycarbonate 8MM 6 ft wide sheets | Polycarbonate Sheets | Growers Solution

 

[DanO]

See if your town dump is organized for recycling. A lot of them are, staffed by people doing community service time. You can get a lot of old windows that way.

You may want to do planting boxes with glass window tops instead. While it is still cold out, you can add a little cow manure to the soil to keep the temp up under the glass at night. My dad was from Northern Norway and taught me this trick to get an early start on your garden.

 

[.40caltrucker]

I know it is not exactly what you are looking for but how about a 20x40 high side wall for around $1200 shipped to your door(20x96 for $2600 shipped to central Indiana)?

High Sidewall Greenhouse Frames 20 ft | High Sidewall Frames | Growers Solution


They also carry the Twinwall Polycarbonate in 6 and 8 mm thickness in sheets from 6x8 $84.00 to 6x24 foot for $252.00. Not exactly free but much cheaper than glass.
Twinwall Polycarbonate 8MM 6 ft wide sheets | Polycarbonate Sheets | Growers Solution

Thanks for the PM and link.

I just got back from my brothers house, he has a trailer he's tearing down and I'm taking all the windows from it. That'll get us started. Hopefully between craigslist and friends I can get all the windows free or just a few bucks. As long as the glass isn't broken they'll work.

Will plants grow in the winter inside a greenhouse without heat?

I am considering piping the flue of the furnace out there for heat if need be. Might as well capture that 20% going out through the roof right. I could pipe it into a suction fan to make sure it makes the trip out there, since I doubt the exhaust fan in the furnace is strong enough to blow it all the way out there.

The additional CO would also be great for the plants to grow.

 

[redneckmedic]

You do not have to pump in CO2 AFAIK if you have a greenhouse with a huge vegetation I could see it become a problem, but it would be a jungle.

Cold Frames are a great place to start, so are 6mm lined ground greenhouses, as that is what I have going. I want to build a greenhouse also, but will probably opt with something that uses a soft shell vs window, for expense and trying to retro-fit free windows. House kits are a great source, look on Craigslist also for greenhouses and windows. I have a buddy that does window install, I can give you his number and if you take them from him, it would save him a dump fee.

HTH RNM

 

[.40caltrucker]

You do not have to pump in CO2 AFAIK if you have a greenhouse with a huge vegetation I could see it become a problem, but it would be a jungle.

Cold Frames are a great place to start, so are 6mm lined ground greenhouses, as that is what I have going. I want to build a greenhouse also, but will probably opt with something that uses a soft shell vs window, for expense and trying to retro-fit free windows. House kits are a great source, look on Craigslist also for greenhouses and windows. I have a buddy that does window install, I can give you his number and if you take them from him, it would save him a dump fee.

HTH RNM

That would be awesome, Thanks.

I worry about the soft shell since we want to use it year around with the snow piling up on it.

 

[VUPDblue]

To address some of your concerns:
You will not be able to grow anything in the winter if you don't heat. When the sun's up, the GH will be warm. When it goes down, the temp will equalize to the outside temp almost instantly.
CO2 is not necessary, not at all.
Don't worry about "soft shell" greenhouses. I imagine that by "soft shell" you guys are referring to poly-covered round(ish) structures. If that's the case, they don't really hold snow as it slides off. If you are talking about a flat-roof poly covered structure, then that will definitely be affected by snow load, but it's the frame you'd have to worry about, not the poly itself.
I have a little bit of experience with this type of thing so feel free to pick my brain.

 

[oldbikelvr]

Check out a Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. There is one in Bloomington. I might have some extras, I have some sitting around but I want to make some cold frames. What I don't use, you are welcome to. Send me a PM to remind me, but I should have what i need figured out in about a month or so.

 

[Bill B]

From a purely economic standpoint you'll spend much, much more heating a greenhouse in the winter than you will ever make up growing your own veggies, flowers, spices, what-have-you. Unless you're growing something illegal that people smoke, then you can make money.
Start with cold frames, put you compost heap in one end of it. The heat from the compost will help keep it warm at night.
But, if you're doing it just for your green thumb, think of using a thermal mass to help with the heat.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Find an installer for a replacement window company. They dump more windows in dumpsters per day than you will need and will likely give them to you free. Now if you want the aluminum framed ones you might have give him a few bucks....they tend to break the glass out of the frames and sell the aluminum. I installed for a couple years back in the day.....

 

[.40caltrucker]

From a purely economic standpoint you'll spend much, much more heating a greenhouse in the winter than you will ever make up growing your own veggies, flowers, spices, what-have-you. Unless you're growing something illegal that people smoke, then you can make money.
Start with cold frames, put you compost heap in one end of it. The heat from the compost will help keep it warm at night.
But, if you're doing it just for your green thumb, think of using a thermal mass to help with the heat.

The heat would be free technically. Our furnace is 100k BTU 80% efficient so we're already losing 20K BTU 20% through the roof and if I pipe it out to the greenhouse it should be enough to keep it above freezing at night. The only cost would be a fan to provide suction on the piping so the exhaust fan on the furnace doesn't have to work so hard to make the journey. By the time it makes the journey I should be able to get at least 15K BTU to the greenhouse.

 

[Yeah]

I have a small high tunnel, a round roof, tube framed, poly covered deal.

Turns out I have less time than I hoped to fool around in there, but I have heated it in the past with the excess capacity from my Heatmor, for $0. All radiant, with pex attached to the seed starting shelves.

When I first came to the States I lived in Seattle and those things were everywhere once you got outside the city, and they grew in them year round.

 

[.40caltrucker]

To address some of your concerns:
You will not be able to grow anything in the winter if you don't heat. When the sun's up, the GH will be warm. When it goes down, the temp will equalize to the outside temp almost instantly.
CO2 is not necessary, not at all.
Don't worry about "soft shell" greenhouses. I imagine that by "soft shell" you guys are referring to poly-covered round(ish) structures. If that's the case, they don't really hold snow as it slides off. If you are talking about a flat-roof poly covered structure, then that will definitely be affected by snow load, but it's the frame you'd have to worry about, not the poly itself.
I have a little bit of experience with this type of thing so feel free to pick my brain.

The soft shell poly green house was what we wanted at first. But After doing a little reading we decided we like the idea of glass a little better. I can use more room up the walls and have sturdier walls for holding plants. We're building this on a concrete pad that a barn use to set on so we have a full foundation to set it on.


Will just about any plant grow in it with heat? We really want fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, lettuce, and broccoli just to name a few all year long. I really like the idea of planting new seeds each time we pick something like onions.

 

[VUPDblue]

Will just about any plant grow in it with heat? We really want fresh tomatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, lettuce, and broccoli just to name a few all year long. I really like the idea of planting new seeds each time we pick something like onions.

Grow? Yes. Produce fruit? No. You would, at the least, need to use some artificial light to get things like tomatoes and peppers to produce fruit. The days just aren't long enough for that to happen on it's own. Root crops, lettuce and cold-weather crops could be grown year-round and would do fine.

 

[.40caltrucker]

Grow? Yes. Produce fruit? No. You would, at the least, need to use some artificial light to get things like tomatoes and peppers to produce fruit. The days just aren't long enough for that to happen on it's own. Root crops, lettuce and cold-weather crops could be grown year-round and would do fine.

Light isn't going to be a problem, the wiring already runs to the slab. I would just need to buy some water proof lighting, junction boxes and switches.

We should also plan to plant all the tomatoes and peppers on the sun bearing side so they do get the most sunlight possible then right.

 

[VUPDblue]

Yes, more sunlight is definitely better. If you light, be sure to use incandescent lights or UV "grow lights", fluorescents don't help. Also, be sure to supplement them with bone meal or other calcium supplement so they don't succumb to end-rot. This is common with greenhouse grown fruit and is a preventable disease due to calcium deficiency.

 

[BigMatt]

I just had 26 windows replaced in my house last year and they all went in the dumpster. The frames were pretty rotten, but the glass was good.

 

[.40caltrucker]

I'm getting 2 sliding doors from my mom. That'll cover the front and back openings.

This might get done in no time at all I'll post pics of the progress when it happens.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

The heat would be free technically. Our furnace is 100k BTU 80% efficient so we're already losing 20K BTU 20% through the roof and if I pipe it out to the greenhouse it should be enough to keep it above freezing at night. The only cost would be a fan to provide suction on the piping so the exhaust fan on the furnace doesn't have to work so hard to make the journey. By the time it makes the journey I should be able to get at least 15K BTU to the greenhouse.

I am considering piping the flue of the furnace out there for heat if need be. Might as well capture that 20% going out through the roof right. I could pipe it into a suction fan to make sure it makes the trip out there, since I doubt the exhaust fan in the furnace is strong enough to blow it all the way out there.

The additional CO would also be great for the plants to grow.

You are free to do what you want, but I'd seriously reconsider this. That fan messes up you will have co/co2 backing up in your house bad. As was mentioned in this thread consider thermal sinks, such as black barrels filled with water where they will catch the sun. And possibly as an addition a wood burner with a thermal sink around it. Pick up a cheap wood burner and pile as much rock as you can under around and on top as you can, as in a ton of stone or two. You can fire up the stove for a couple of hours and that rock will absorb the heat and gradually release it over the night.

It won't be as cheap but it would probably be a heck of a lot safer. But that's just my .

 

[.40caltrucker]

You are free to do what you want, but I'd seriously reconsider this. That fan messes up you will have co/co2 backing up in your house bad. As was mentioned in this thread consider thermal sinks, such as black barrels filled with water where they will catch the sun. And possibly as an addition a wood burner with a thermal sink around it. Pick up a cheap wood burner and pile as much rock as you can under around and on top as you can, as in a ton of stone or two. You can fire up the stove for a couple of hours and that rock will absorb the heat and gradually release it over the night.

It won't be as cheap but it would probably be a heck of a lot safer. But that's just my .

There is already an exhaust fan on the furnace to blow the co through the flue. I would just add another in the pipe to help it get all the co through the underground pipe. If the outside fan quit for some reason and the inside fan wasn't strong enough to blow it all out, the furnace would shut down because of the safeties in the furnace. Kinda like a clogged flue. We have co detectors also.

I'm going to pipe it through the roof of the greenhouse and add a heat exchanger to the pipe. I realized I was confusing co and co2 when talking about it. Plants breath co2 and furnace puts out co. So piping it straight in probably wouldn't be smart.