Mario Lazetti wrote:Hi,
I am determined to start growing hydroponic hops this spring to sell to breweries. I have looked at converting indoor warehouse space, constructing greenhouses, and now am looking at renting a large barn which is not insulated. The barn has 20 feet ceilings, roof vents, and a deep gravel floor with water and electricity, the barn is roughly 90x160 with doors on each end, and I can rent anywhere from 3-8k square feet.. My thought is that I will want to create a boxed, hoop topped room inside the barn. For framing and insulation the plan is to use chain link top post cemented into the ground for walls and bent at the top into hoops wrapped in greenhouse poly. My plan is to build the greenhouse just near the wall (what side of barn?) and place straw bales between barn wall and the poly wall. I am hoping that if I can figure out proper fan circulation that this will provide a well enough insulated and contained environment to grow these hops. If I can source it I am trying to cover the gravel with wood chips as an additional insulation layer and some natural co2 emission.
Attached is a sun map of the barn - I am having difficulty figuring out what area I should try and claim. I figure that I can open the doors in the summer for additional ventilation but in the winter will want to be far away from the N-E door as that is most likely to be opened by others. If you're wondering about lights, yes I plan to have a lot of LEDs. Full spectrum white LED corn cob lights are reasonably priced enough now that it is feasible for a person to try to make a greenhouse inside a dark building.
After looking at so many different options, I am hoping that this greenhouse inside a barn can work. Please give me some feedback on my plan or follow along this thread to see how the progress goes.
Hi,
We can Help, Durban Indoor Hops. We have been working on a design for the last 3 years. We have a way to grow, harvest, process, and market directly to the breweries. Let me know when we can talk more about your project.
kris@durbanindoorhops.com
Cheers,
Kris
