Ben Johansen

Hey, Thomas. Thanks for the reply!

thomas rubino wrote:Hey Ben;
That retaining wall needs to be entirely inside the greenhouse or be completely insulated from the outside.
If it has any outside exposure it will suck the heat right out of the mass.
If it has outside exposure, you can use an insulator (perlite, rockwool) and have an insulated stud wall between an outside wall and your mass.

The wall itself is entirely inside the greenhouse. However, the Eastern end wall is designed as a partial rock wall with a timber framed section on top going up to the ridge line. Would a few inches of rigid pink foam in between the retaining wall and the Eastern rock wall be enough of a barrier to prevent heat loss? Or would it be better to go with an insulated stick frame wall instead of of stone for the lower wall? (I could install a very convincing stone veneer to hide it)

thomas rubino wrote:My experience is that an 8" J-Tube is a better choice for northern greenhouse use.
3/4 gravel is not going to perform well at all in a greenhouse.
Solid dirt would be better.
Ask your county road crew about clay pockets on the gravel road system.
Talk to a contractor or three and ask if they have run into any clay while digging foundations.
As a heat-holding mass, it just needs to not have any insulating air pockets.

The local subsoil is a relatively sandy clay. If I'm setting the retaining wall on a 2' wide footer foundation, my thought process goes to a layer of packed gravel and sand at the base just above the cement, then a vapor barrier and a layer of pink foam, then a bed of local sandy clay to seat the 8" exhaust, which would then also be packed in the same stuff, . Do I need to worry about moisture in the soil causing corrosion of the exhaust pipe? Also, as far as the transition from buried stovepipe to the chimney goes, what kind of connection and insulation do you recommend?
I appreciate the advice, thank you very much.

Hi, y'all. Haven't posted in a while, glad to see this place is still thriving. I'm working on a custom greenhouse build, a wraparound on a house, roughly 56' x 20' for the main area. I'm combining passive gain and climate battery methods with a rocket heater for the coldest nights here in Wisconsin. The running design theory is to place the RMH core at about 33' in, and run its 6" exhaust through the center of a stone retaining wall about 18" thick. Fill around the exhaust would be 3/4" gravel, and I anticipate about 2' of lift over the 30' run of the exhaust, after which it will meet an outside stovepipe chimney that rises around 8' to crest the top of the greenhouse.
My questions are; 1. Is this run too long, or too steep? 2. Will having too much rise in the stovepipe chimney cause back draft in cold weather? 3. Am I designing the retaining wall too thick to properly absorb and radiate heat out into the greenhouse? And 4. What glaringly obvious things am I missing that might cause this system to fail?
Thank you for your kind attention.

Wikipedia:
"Although Ginkgo biloba and other species of the genus were once widespread throughout the world, its range shrank until by two million years ago, it was restricted to a small area of China.

For centuries, it was thought to be extinct in the wild, but is now known to grow in at least two small areas in Zhejiang province in eastern China, in the Tianmushan Reserve. However, high genetic uniformity exists among ginkgo trees from these areas, arguing against a natural origin of these populations and suggesting the ginkgo trees in these areas may have been planted and preserved by Chinese monks over a period of about 1,000 years. This study demonstrates a greater genetic diversity in Southwestern China populations, supporting glacial refugia in mountains surrounding eastern Tibetan Plateau, where several old-growth candidates for wild populations have been reported. Whether native ginkgo populations still exist has not been demonstrated unequivocally, but evidence grows favouring these Southwestern populations as wild, from genetic data but also from history of those territories, with bigger Ginkgo biloba trees being older than surrounding human settlements.

Where it occurs in the wild, it is found infrequently in deciduous forests and valleys on acidic loess (i.e. fine, silty soil) with good drainage. The soil it inhabits is typically in the pH range of 5.0 to 5.5."

Also, this is a pretty concise lil pdf treatise as well:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ppp3.7&ved=2ahUKEwip_fmMr_zpAhWoCTQIHRX-DEsQFjASegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw0RO1qBx5hr_1pvTnRRub8m

Seems like Anne is spot on though, if it like a low pH like that, it would likely appreciate a good amount of organic material, i.e. an established forest. There are lots of black locusts around here, maybe I'll find an existing grove and plunk a couple seeds down in the fall. Hot tips, y'all! Thanks!

Probably definitely over thinking it, but I like going deep on this shiz.

Anne, do you happen to know anything about ginko's origins? The area of the world where it comes from? I've heard that it's sort of a living fossil, that most trees and plants like it died out during the ice age. Kind of wondering if there are clues to it's preferences in where it survived the cold time...

greg mosser wrote:i've done it a number of times without much issue, stratifying in a pot outside over winter with fresh seed - my standard tree seed germination technique.

Dammit Greg! Some of us are trying to over think this!

Hey all. It's been a while since I got on here, I love that this place continues to thrive. Im wondering if any of you (Ms Stobart, mayhaps?...) have any experience growing ginko from seed? I've attempted several times to sprout the lil buggers indoors and out, tried soaking them in a super light solution of kelp extract, even tried cold stratification in bags of good forest soil in the fridge, but no luck yet. Any input or suggestions are heartily encouraged, and new methods will be pursued in the order in which they are received. Thankee kindly.

Hey, Peter. I like your vid on cigarette butt remediation, and I'm wondering if there are any chemicals that you can think of to act as a precursor to train oyster mushrooms to remediate inherent pesticide and chemical buildup on old orchard sites? There are a lot of old orchards around this area, and its hard to trust fruit from a tree that is old enough to have most likely been sprayed or dusted with things like lead arsenide and calcium arsenate. What are your thoughts on heavy metal remediation?