# Fiberglass?



## bullsie (Mar 6, 2012)

I need to get my orchids out of the house early (and my greenhouse is still in the planning stage) and was looking at those fiberglass greenhouses. Anyone have any experience with them? I need to get my plants out first of April, and here in western PA I usually put all out first of June.


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## jtrmd (Mar 6, 2012)

bullsie said:


> was looking at those fiberglass greenhouses. Anyone have any experience with them? .



When you say 'fiberglass greenhouse',do you mean the small twinwall polycarbonate hobby greenhouse kits?I had one for a little while here and it worked fine for what I needed.I did have some addons like exhaust fan,shading,and homemade evaporative cooler.


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## bullsie (Mar 6, 2012)

Actually of fiberglass. Listed as solar greenhouses. Basically made of one piece.


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## Ray (Mar 6, 2012)

Got a link?

Most "fiberglass" greenhouse coverings are fiberglass-reinforced acrylic.


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## bullsie (Mar 6, 2012)

I was looking at these:

http://www.simplysolargreenhouses.com/index.html


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## Rick (Mar 6, 2012)

bullsie said:


> Actually of fiberglass. Listed as solar greenhouses. Basically made of one piece.




I think just about anything can be made to work. I feel that greenhouses originally designed for efficiently growing temperate food crops come up short on growing tropicals. The growing of food crops allows for temps to get just short of freezing in the winter and well into the 90's in the summer, and humidity to stay around 50%.

So you may still need to add heating cooling and humidification systems.


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## Rick (Mar 6, 2012)

Which size are you looking at? My first GH was about 8X14 and filled it pretty fast.

You might also consider digging the floor down a couple of feet to give you more vertical space. This particular GH is not flexible enough (door structure) to set it up on a few coarses of blocks to give you more height that way. 

Going below grade will help keep things cooler at plant level as well as give you more options for hanging plants.


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## Ray (Mar 7, 2012)

Several potential issues come to mind.

"Free delivery and setup" is within 100 miles of Bell City, MO. How much will it cost to deliver it to you?

What is the light transmission level of the covering? It looks to me that the covering is likely to cut down the light intensity pretty significantly. Not a problem if all you grow is low light plants, but could be on the other end of the light-loving spectrum.

Being a one-piece, molded greenhouse, you cannot replace the cover. I don't care how much UV inhibitor they put in the plastic, it will degrade over time, yellowing (further reducing light transmission) and becoming brittle. Most acrylic panes are guaranteed for 5 years, but can get longer.

For about the same price as their smallest 7'x6' unit, you can get a Turner 8'x22' or 14'x14' with a clearer fiberglass-reinforced acrylic panels giving you more light, more space, and the ability to recover it for longer life. Yes, you have to assemble it, but it's easy to do.


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## NYEric (Mar 7, 2012)

bullsie said:


> I need to get my orchids out of the house early




OK, just send them to me. You'll get them all back, I promise! oke:


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## Candace (Mar 8, 2012)

Bullsie, I've seen these locally for sale on CL etc. Maybe they're made differently now, but the older ones I've seen have turned quite yellowish. I would also worry about the light transmission and if they get brittle with age? Questions to investigate for sure. My opinion, is that they are VERY expensive for what you receive.


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## likespaphs (Mar 8, 2012)

Candace said:


> ...the older ones I've seen have turned quite yellowish. I would also worry about the light transmission and if they get brittle with age?...



i think fiberglass turns yellowish over time and becomes brittle, but i'm not 100% sure


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