4 Season greenhouse take 1

Im doing some building. Should be about a week. Thermal mass 20inch stone floor with straw bail (r-25) underneath taking up 8 x 40 of it. There will be a pellet stove for the other 2/3's which is gravity feed incase the power goes out. Thats the thing about this grow though. I want to do a power free grow. The roof will consist of seven 6x24 ft, 16mm, triple wall, polycarbonate panels that will let through 75% of the light though no UV. The sides will be thermo glass panels 6.5 x 4 feet that hopefully will give a different part of the spectrum. Im connecting it to the rear of the double wide and the materials for the framing will be here tomorrow.

Before we get to the progress photos which will be coming I want to ask on the light and get some opinions on strategy. The sun hits the rear of the house around 10. By 1130 they will be in full sun until the sun sets. Heres what it looks like in terns of conditions

We do get snow so that should reflect up the field into the side glass and help a bit as well.
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karmaxul said:

Im doing some building. Should be about a week. Thermal mass 20inch stone floor with straw bail (r-25) underneath taking up 8 x 40 of it. There will be a pellet stove for the other 2/3's which is gravity feed incase the power goes out. Thats the thing about this grow though. I want to do a power free grow. The roof will consist of seven 6x24 ft, 16mm, triple wall, polycarbonate panels that will let through 75% of the light though no UV. The sides will be thermo glass panels 6.5 x 4 feet that hopefully will give a different part of the spectrum. Im connecting it to the rear of the double wide and the materials for the framing will be here tomorrow.

Before we get to the progress photos which will be coming I want to ask on the light and get some opinions on strategy. The sun hits the rear of the house around 10. By 1130 they will be in full sun until the sun sets. Heres what it looks like in terns of conditions

We do get snow so that should reflect up the field into the side glass and help a bit as well.
..View attachment 3539925 View attachment 3539926 ...View attachment 3539928

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here are some pics of mine ... i also run a thremal battery or "subterraniean heating and cooling system" just pipes 4" and a fan pushing your hot air into the earth...

Very nice, Do you have any photos of the flowers from your room please?

I bet he surely does! @Joedank

I would love to see them or a journal. Do you run this all year?

Its in his signature I think but if not

https://www.rollitup.org/t/pheno-hunting-for-this-season.861527/page-27#post-12040321

karmaxul said:

I would love to see them or a journal. Do you run this all year?

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yes , i do cucumbers or tomatoes in the hot parts of the year
it does great if you can hook up a termostat to a big and a small fan and us one or the other as the season pemits...
here is a crappy sideways flower pic from the solar ghouse . for not letting in UV the resin does quite well ...

i have mine split right now 1/2 veg 1/2 flower ... its about 12* F. outside and 55 in the greenie with no heat ...

greenhouses rule!!

Vnsmkr said:

Its in his signature I think but if not

https://www.rollitup.org/t/pheno-hunting-for-this-season.861527/page-27#post-12040321

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thanks bud for picking up the slack like a family round here from all over the world !

Joedank said:

thanks bud for picking up the slack like a family round here from all over the world !

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Anytime fam! Tomatoes or cucumbers in the hot part of the year, ha ha. My cucumbers come up and start flowering then they start to yellow off from the bottom up. Perhaps they need a boost of something though I try to keep the whole garden on a similar regimen of fish and molasses

Vnsmkr said:

Anytime fam! Tomatoes or cucumbers in the hot part of the year, ha ha. My cucumbers come up and start flowering then they start to yellow off from the bottom up. Perhaps they need a boost of something though I try to keep the whole garden on a similar regimen of fish and molasses

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try planting in a diffrent zone and dont get soil or water on the leaves (rain is fine )
if i keep my cukes super dry and pick the bottm 10 inches they can live forever almost ....

Looks nice... In your opinion what is THE best material to use for a greenhouse? One that allows the most light and uvb as well.

Corso312. In my opinion, with cold winters, I would get the 16mm triple wall. I am not sure with the UV light though I only found about 3 suppliers in the country who had the larger sizes in stock. I have tried the double wall 8mm on part of the green house last year though it was not nearly as insulated and would create condensation constantly. I do not know if the any polycarbonates are made to let in UVB though it sure would be nice. 75% light transmission and 2.55 R-value. The 5 wall 16mm is 65% light transmission and 2.77 R value. Its possible 10mm would work though I can not chance it at this point. I imagine if it did the pellet stove would be working considerably harder though it can get to almost -20F some days in the winter round these parts.

Thanks Joedank and Vnsmkr. Im going to give the thread a good read when I have a bit more time. Looks inspirational from the pages I have seen so far. Growing some food in there may not be a bad idea too in the mean time while the other plants slowly fill it. I shut down all the lights for outdoor and do not have any mothers at the moment so it going to be from seed at first which despite the initial price has benefits with the growth rate increase from the seed vigour.

I have about 16000 pounds of Earth Worm castings down in the field mixed with 33% peat and 33% clay that I need to bring in the atrium before it freezes to use this winter. I am going fertiliser free as it tastes and grows like magic. I picked up a van for 160 dollars that I hope will last a few trips as my wheel barrow. Im not one for hills and for the same price I figured I would give this a try instead. I drove it down the road a few miles the other day to test and lets just say it did not break down though I was glad to make it home. If its got a few more miles in it for the yard Ill be more then happy.

Earth worm castings are awesome. Easily can grow trees from ewc and good compost

Yes and the flavor with out the phosphorus is like magic especially with all the microbes of the castings which can be double of counts found in compost with out worry of ciliates and such. I ordered seeds today. 100 MasterC99 seeds from Bear Hill Seed Co to start should be ready to pick up at my local medical seed supplier soon.

I'm super interested in your four season greenhouse! Also known as a walipini, is that right?

I'm curious about some dimensions, if you'd like to share? Like, how deep into the ground did you go? What's the angle of your glazing from vertical? I've been doing some research from an alternative architecture standpoint... I figure that if the concept works, why not live in one?

Have you considered the use of a heat pump to aid in environmental control?

ttystikk said:

I'm super interested in your four season greenhouse! Also known as a walipini, is that right?

I'm curious about some dimensions, if you'd like to share? Like, how deep into the ground did you go? What's the angle of your glazing from vertical? I've been doing some research from an alternative architecture standpoint... I figure that if the concept works, why not live in one?

Have you considered the use of a heat pump to aid in environmental control?

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it is part of our house , and a heat pump is in the works ... it really is nice to have it be warm an sunny in our 8 ft walk out basement.
it is 12' X 37' but only 20 ft is glazed 10 ft x 10ft is work and clone tent space, with a skylight winddow for air intake ..the glazing is double wall 8mm at a 40* angle . we can pump the hot air into the house , or pump the house air into the ghouse .
i have run co2 in there and it can get out of control fast in a 4000gal bed ...

Joedank said:

it is part of our house , and a heat pump is in the works ... it really is nice to have it be warm an sunny in our 8 ft walk out basement.
it is 12' X 37' but only 20 ft is glazed 10 ft x 10ft is work and clone tent space, with a skylight winddow for air intake ..the glazing is double wall 8mm at a 40* angle . we can pump the hot air into the house , or pump the house air into the ghouse .
i have run co2 in there and it can get out of control fast in a 4000gal bed ...

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I just installed a heat pump in my suburban home and it is definitely the way to go.

I'm jelly, sounds like an awesome walk out basement, LOL And since it is the basement, all the CO² in the house conveniently finds its way right down there...

Me likey!

ttystikk said:

I'm super interested in your four season greenhouse! Also known as a walipini, is that right?

I'm curious about some dimensions, if you'd like to share? Like, how deep into the ground did you go? What's the angle of your glazing from vertical? I've been doing some research from an alternative architecture standpoint... I figure that if the concept works, why not live in one?

Have you considered the use of a heat pump to aid in environmental control?

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I did not dig into the ground at all as I have a septic under there and I simply do not have the time. I started to dig though it was short lived. Luckily I have a slight hill behind the house that drops about 40 inches over 20 ft or so. I am not sure the angle of the roof off hand though it is going to be dropping down about 2.5 feet over 20 feet or so. The glass sides are vertical. Im not sure what will happen with the snow. I may have to heat it up a bit while it is snowing or get a roof rake? Ill leave that part of the adventure for later. Im hoping the elevated side will be good for the likely 3 feet of snow we will get this winter accumulating on the ground. I have not considered a heat pump only do to the price. I think they would be great at taking the moisture out of the air though in both summer and winter for a green house and come the day I build my dream one I would likely install on of these.

Living in one would be cool though I imagine temp control may need some thought. I like the idea of solar oven style heaters for houses in the winter. Ill let you know, I imagine it will be a busy winter in there. My 20 x 10 atrium last year kept the house toasty warm once the sun hit it late winter last year

Joedank said:

it is part of our house , and a heat pump is in the works ... it really is nice to have it be warm an sunny in our 8 ft walk out basement.
it is 12' X 37' but only 20 ft is glazed 10 ft x 10ft is work and clone tent space, with a skylight winddow for air intake ..the glazing is double wall 8mm at a 40* angle . we can pump the hot air into the house , or pump the house air into the ghouse .
i have run co2 in there and it can get out of control fast in a 4000gal bed ...

Click to expand...

Have you ever tried like a big bud strain or heavy producers with limited sun hour exposure? I getting in some MasterC99 though would be interested to see how different plants will react to this style growing in the winter time. Should I stick with sativas or throw caution to the wind? Is there an ideal flowering window I should consider? How much sun/clouds do you experience and any idea with your average sun exposure times?

Also can I ask how much can be produced in a room such as yours and in what area that is from please?

karmaxul said:

Have you ever tried like a big bud strain or heavy producers with limited sun hour exposure? I getting in some MasterC99 though would be interested to see how different plants will react to this style growing in the winter time. Should I stick with sativas or throw caution to the wind?

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Two options jump to mind; one, gas lantern style timing to keep stuff in veg until you're ready. Two, supplemental lighting at the beginning or end of day to extend day length and accomplish the same thing.

Light supplementation during dim winter days can certainly also help perk up plant health and yields.