# Greenhouse technical aspects



## Lycaste53 (Jul 18, 2011)

[FONT=&quot]Our greenhouse in Munch was built in 2009-2010. It is situated at the south front of the house where a loggia and a terrace formerly had been located.






[/FONT]Today, it looks like this:





[FONT=&quot]The greenhouse is about 50 square meters wide and is divided into two parts. Because of this it´s possible to provide two different climate zones.





[/FONT]Concerning the heating: Munich is situated at about 520 m above sea level. We have an average annual temperature of about 9,5°C and in winter about 55 days of 0°C and less. Sometimes temperature falls down to - 20°C in the city.  The heating of the greenhouse is provided by two different systems, which work either separately or together. 

 [FONT=&quot]Along the glass front, there are convector panels to provide the circulation of warm air at the cold surface of the glass.





[/FONT] Also there is a heating under the surface of the floor, to have comfortable temperatures when working barefooted in the greenhouse. The second effect is that, after watering, the floor quickly gets dry again.





[FONT=&quot]Ventilation is done by two fans combined with windows at the ceiling, which open automatically, determined by time and temperature.





[/FONT] Humidification is provided by two humidifiers, which convert osmosis- water to fog by ultrasonic sound. (The same system is used in supermarkets to protect the vegetables from shrivelling)

[FONT=&quot]





[/FONT][FONT=&quot]There are humidity-sensors in both parts of the greenhouse. It is possible to regulate different rates of relative humidity. It looks quite cloudy, when the humidity- units are working.[/FONT]





Water in Munich is very clean (needs no purification and no additives). It has a quality like mineral water, i.e. it contains a lot of minerals, so we call that kind of water ´hard´. Actually we measured a conductivity about 550 µS and a hardness of water of about 20°DH (° DH means ´Deutsche Härtegrade´). That´s a too big amount of ingredients for orchid- cultivation.
 [FONT=&quot]First we soften the water with a softening unit:





[/FONT][FONT=&quot]The second step is to prepare osmosis water (which is needed for the humidity-units, they can´t handle hard water). Osmosis water is collected in a 200l tank. It is also used for watering the plants with added fertilizer





The third thing we do is collecting rainwater from the roof of the house in a 5 m³ cistern for storing water, which we situated in a former swimming pool, about 60cm below garden-level[/FONT]





Inside the greenhouse there are 4 taps to be able to access the different kinds of water: Rainwater, osmosis water, normal water and a mixture of osmosis and normal water, which has a conductivity of 60µS





Sun-shading is done by a system of moving sun-breakers, panels of anti-sun-glass, which take off 80% of light. There are photometry instruments outside, which measure the intensity of daylight and open and close the panels by a certain software. At the moment, above 50.000 lux shading closes totally.





[FONT=&quot]During the winter, there is a additional lighting between 16h-21h
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[FONT=&quot]There also is an additional LED- Grow-light at the ceiling of the former loggia, which is used at dark days in summer too.





[/FONT][FONT=&quot]All the facilities of the greenhouse are controlled by a so called ´bus-system´, nearly every action can be determined and controlled via PC. This is not only possible when I´m at home, logging in from outside by using internet is possible too.


[/FONT][FONT=&quot]In this greenhouse, there are living about 800 orchids, most of them like tempereate to warm conditions

Best regards, Gina 
[/FONT]


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## NYEric (Jul 18, 2011)

Very nice. Something to visit in Munchen besides Ludwig's castle and the Olympic stadium.


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## Mathias (Jul 18, 2011)

Wow, that is a very sophisticated greenhouse!! :clap::drool: Have you come up with most solutions by yourselves or did you use some professional help?


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## goldenrose (Jul 18, 2011)

:drool::drool::drool: AWESOME!!!
what happens when the power goes out? backup generators?


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## Wendelin (Jul 18, 2011)

Whow, Gina! That's a high class conservatory!
Well done! 

The last time I saw different tabs for each kind of water was in Leipzig Botanical Garden.:wink:


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## Lint (Jul 18, 2011)

That is most impressive!
Do you have some kind of security system as well?

Anyway, you must show some more pictures once you put some plants in there!


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## fibre (Jul 18, 2011)

Wow, great greenhouse and a lot to learn for my own greenhouse one day! Thanks for sharing!


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## likespaphs (Jul 18, 2011)

looks great!


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## Ernie (Jul 18, 2011)

Will you marry me? Errr, I mean NICE greenhouse!  

Good catch on the power-reliance, Rose. Is there backup power? 

(Lint- first pic shows it is inhabited, the other pics show the construction progression)


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## quietaustralian (Jul 18, 2011)

Great greenhouse! Could you provide some information about the humidifiers?

Regards, Mick


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## JeanLux (Jul 18, 2011)

Yeah!!!! Very sophisticated, and a real investment for hobby growing  ; bravo!!!! Jean


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## Shiva (Jul 18, 2011)

So, What's the problem? oke:


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## Lycaste53 (Jul 18, 2011)

@ quietaustralian
here You will find further informations
http://www.airwin.net/html/en/index_english.html

best regards, gina


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## Lycaste53 (Jul 18, 2011)

@ JeanLux
it is an investment in the value of the whole object, the expansion of the house is a multi- purpose setting where everything could be done, not only cultivation of orchids. It is a two- room- studio where you could exercise yoga, paint paintings, have a little office, what else...at the moment, it is used for growing orchids, but I could have much fun by doing other things here, maybe some day I will have a garden at Papua, no no more orchids here, then I will find some other solution to fill the area with life


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## koshki (Jul 18, 2011)

Gina, that is an amazing installation! Sigh, I dream of having a greenhouse someday...


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## Marc (Jul 18, 2011)

I can only say that this is the most impressive installation that I've ever seen in the greenhouse of a hobbyist.

If I would have 10% of the funds available that you invested in your growing place I allready would consider myself to be a very lucky person.

On the other hand I'm happy with what I currently have and I can only congratulate you with such a wonderfull place.


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## Lint (Jul 18, 2011)

Ernie said:


> (Lint- first pic shows it is inhabited, the other pics show the construction progression)



Oops, you are right! I failed to notice that.
But I can barely see anything on that picture, I think some shots from the inside would be nice.


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## SlipperKing (Jul 18, 2011)

Very, very nice. Somebody loves you very much!


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## biothanasis (Jul 18, 2011)

Great gh!!!! Lot's of effort anf great planning!!!


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## W. Beetus (Jul 18, 2011)

Amazing greenhouse! I would love to have something as nicely built as what you have, and the control systems sound great also.


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## SlipperFan (Jul 18, 2011)

What a great set-up! It makes my greenhouse look primitive!


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## Ozpaph (Jul 19, 2011)

Wow!!!


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## Lycaste53 (Jul 19, 2011)

@ Mathias: Yes, it needed a lot of professional help
@ goldenrose: power normally doesn´t go out, maybe for one hour every ten years
@ Lint: The whole object has a security system

Today, I show some pics from the interior:





















Best regards, Gina


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## biothanasis (Jul 19, 2011)

Oh MY Gina!!! Fantastic!!!!! :clap:


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## Shiva (Jul 19, 2011)

Very well organized and tidy.


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## NYEric (Jul 19, 2011)

Too much space! Needs more plants!


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## Candace (Jul 19, 2011)

Very impressive!


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## Shiva (Jul 19, 2011)

SlipperFan said:


> What a great set-up! It makes my greenhouse look primitive!



Primitive? Compared to yours, mine should have been blasted off the face of the Earth along with the dinosaurs! In fact I like yours a lot better. My position is to invest in orchids as much as I can and make do with the structure I have, and can afford. That german Mercedez of a g/h is probably worth much more than my house. oke:


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## koshki (Jul 19, 2011)

Oh my, how wonderful. I would never want to leave!


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## chrismende (Jul 19, 2011)

SlipperKing said:


> Very, very nice. Somebody loves you very much!



Rick, do keep in mind that women also make good money!


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## chrismende (Jul 19, 2011)

I love the very German efficiency of this! It simply shows very well now technical expertise can help us, if we have the available funds. I would *love* to automate some of the processes in my greenhouse, but at the moment the real goal for me is to do it all as energy efficiently as possible. This automation draws power, and I'm trying to do it passively when I can. Hence I'll be putting in two new low ventilation windows on the end opposite the intake, making the shading adaptable as easily as possible by me -etc. 
As for the water - well, right now it's simply from the tap. It's not great - about 240 - 270 ppm and quite alkaline, but it's what I have. I'll work out what to do later.


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## chrismende (Jul 19, 2011)

To add, I too would love to be ABLE to do the wonderful water system you have Gina! Your greenhouse is fabulous, and I'm eager to see more! I'm so glad you have joined us! Do you have lots of paphs?


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## Lycaste53 (Jul 19, 2011)

Yes, I have some Paph´s, Phrag´s and hardy Cyp´s, in the garden. 
At the moment most of them are not in flower. I believe that it really makes no sense to compare cultivation of orchids in San Francisco and in Munich. Climates are very different. We can have very hard winters with a lot of snow, this has to be respected in construction of buildings. For example: we have to add a fictive additive weight of snow of 1,15kNn per squaremeter of the roof . That´s the reason why the shading panels of the greenhouse are made of 18mm unbreakabe glass. 
Be happy not to have to do constructions like this in the place where you live.
Best regards, Gina


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## Berthold (Jul 19, 2011)

chrismende said:


> Rick, do keep in mind that women also make good money!



please keep in mind that women can spend good money also.


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## goldenrose (Jul 19, 2011)

SlipperFan said:


> What a great set-up! It makes my greenhouse look primitive!


I don't want to say what mine looks like in comparison but .....
I'm still glad to be able to have it!



Lycaste53 said:


> @ goldenrose: power normally doesn´t go out, maybe for one hour every ten years


HUH , not fair!



Berthold said:


> please keep in mind that women can spend good money also.


WHAT???  didn't you know that that is one of our many jobs?:rollhappy:


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## Lycaste53 (Jul 20, 2011)

Today, I would like to share with you some pics of the quite mixed collection:





Coelogyne speciosa





Gongora armeniaca cornuta





Laelia purpurata





Vanda lamellata var boxallii





Cattleya intertexta





Aeranthes grandiflora





Cycnoches peruviana

And some paphs too:





















Best regards, Gina


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## Shiva (Jul 20, 2011)

Nice show Gina. I particularly like the cycnoches.


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## goldenrose (Jul 20, 2011)

Shiva said:


> Nice show Gina. I particularly like the cycnoches.


:drool::drool: Me too, is that cool! :clap::clap:


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## Berthold (Jul 20, 2011)

Gina I like all :smitten:


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## NYEric (Jul 20, 2011)

chrismende said:


> I love the very German efficiency of this!


Aren't you from Germany!? oke:
Thanks for the photos Gina!


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## Berthold (Jul 20, 2011)

NYEric said:


> Aren't you from Germany!? oke:



no she is from Bavaria I guess.


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## NYEric (Jul 20, 2011)

Berthold said:


> no she is from Bavaria I guess.


No, I meant Chrismende.


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## Lycaste53 (Jul 20, 2011)

Germany is a republic of severeral (formerly separate) regional governements and in the south Bavaria is situated. But we are germans too.! It´s like a californian is part of the US


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## polyantha (Aug 14, 2011)

Nice one! Now I know how a state of the art greenhouse looks like!


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