Greenhouse on the cheap.

Greenhouse On The Cheap: pros, cons, and modifications.

If you have not yet read my posts explaining my current living situation and homestead please follow the links below.

Tiny Home
Our Homestead
How we got land to farm for free

So in the spring of 2014, having accepted money for 16 CSA shares we had to double dig 3700 sq ft and properly amend all of it in a month. The greenhouse had to go up as soon as the ground was thawed enough to get a stake in the ground.

Everything I chose for this greenhouse was due to needing it to be quick and easy.

Used 2 10’ pvc pipe 1” thick for each complete rib, Joined in the middle with a tee fitting.

Each rib spaced 2’ apart.

A half inch pvc pipe was stuck a couple feet in the ground and that is what the ribs would slide over on each side.

I built the end walls out of scrap 2x4 and put a door at one end and 2 automatic windows that open and close on their own based on temperature. Without electricity. I highly suggest these they are affordable and could save your life.

I had an older inline fan that I use in spring when I need to keep it cool for the greens still in the greenhouse. I try not to use it too much.

The end walls and side skirting are held up with T-Posts pounded down a foot above ground, Then salvaged 2x12 is screwed to the T-Posts and from there the plastic is fastened to the skirting and the end walls.

Tables run along the sides and are pressed firmly into the sides to help bow them outs and for support. It can take quite a snow load, I just knock the snow off when any collects and I have never had a collapse.

Problems-
The plastic tees just kept breaking at random times after I first set it up. So I used a bunch of duck tape to protect the plastic and that lasted 2 seasons. This fall I took the tape off, bought new tees, and used a heat gun to soften them up, then with some help from a friend we eased it into the right bend, held it till it hardened and they held like champs. I show a picture of a broken one and then the modified molded one below.

Besides that it has out performed what I originally expected it to do. I did not think the pvc would hold up this good but hey, I’ll take it.

More Pics

And more

Travis Schulert wrote:Greenhouse On The Cheap: pros, cons, and modifications.

If you have not yet read my posts explaining my current living situation and homestead please follow the links below.

Tiny Home
Our Homestead
How we got land to farm for free

So in the spring of 2014, having accepted money for 16 CSA shares we had to double dig 3700 sq ft and properly amend all of it in a month. The greenhouse had to go up as soon as the ground was thawed enough to get a stake in the ground.

Everything I chose for this greenhouse was due to needing it to be quick and easy.

Used 2 10’ pvc pipe 1” thick for each complete rib, Joined in the middle with a tee fitting.

Each rib spaced 2’ apart.

A half inch pvc pipe was stuck a couple feet in the ground and that is what the ribs would slide over on each side.

I built the end walls out of scrap 2x4 and put a door at one end and 2 automatic windows that open and close on their own based on temperature. Without electricity. I highly suggest these they are affordable and could save your life.

I had an older inline fan that I use in spring when I need to keep it cool for the greens still in the greenhouse. I try not to use it too much.

The end walls and side skirting are held up with T-Posts pounded down a foot above ground, Then salvaged 2x12 is screwed to the T-Posts and from there the plastic is fastened to the skirting and the end walls.

Tables run along the sides and are pressed firmly into the sides to help bow them outs and for support. It can take quite a snow load, I just knock the snow off when any collects and I have never had a collapse.

Problems-
The plastic tees just kept breaking at random times after I first set it up. So I used a bunch of duck tape to protect the plastic and that lasted 2 seasons. This fall I took the tape off, bought new tees, and used a heat gun to soften them up, then with some help from a friend we eased it into the right bend, held it till it hardened and they held like champs. I show a picture of a broken one and then the modified molded one below.

Besides that it has out performed what I originally expected it to do. I did not think the pvc would hold up this good but hey, I’ll take it.

Check out the video I have on youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8muwK6qh-i0 I used PVC pipe, but I used electrical conduit because it has the fittings built in. It's attached to the ground via the tension of the ribs on rebar stakes. The electrical conduit, unlike white pvc pipe is UV stabilized, so it maintains strength and is not as brittle after a few years in the sun.

Yeah 2 years ago when I built this I had not learned yet that the electrical conduit is a better option for greenhouses. Hopefully people read this before embarking on their own! Still for a $90 greenhouse I am happy its lasted as long as it has with no collapse. Lots of snow last year.

Another good thread Travis

On a technical note, you can bend 32mm/40mm pvc pipe over a 6m stretch without it collaspsing on itself. Using 4-way connectors for the ribs & roof makes it quite sturdy if slipped over rebar or smaller pvc

I could not have done better for $90.00, Good job.
I am in the South, so I almost never see snow, in 1971 we had a storm, snow drifts.
I am looking into recycling hot air (over 90F ) into the soil instead out a vent.
I understand that the pipes need to be at least 48" deep, to warm the soil without drying it out.

I've made similar size greenhouses on multiple sites for free.  I used bamboo or green saplings for the frame, wired to metal stakes driven into the ground and then wire-tied to each other.  The plastic was scrounged from mattress and furniture store dumpsters....such goods are shipped in huge plastic bags, which can be cut open and trimmed into large rectangular pieces.  These can be folded together along the edges and "candle-welded" to make any size plastic you want.  I used two thicknesses for extra warmth, and simply weighted the edges down with logs around the outside, and some baler twine going over the top on the outside.  Door was simply a flap which tucked into the framing at one end, tied off in extra windy weather.