I can't believe it's really happening!

[fibre]

WOW! What a beautyfull greenhouse, Dot!!! I feel happy with you!

 

[hchan]

Whoa that is looking fantastic!! One day...

 

[eOrchids]

We are all happy (and envying) that your greenhouse is finally done!!!

 

[SlipperFan]

...
Dot a small suggestion on my side all though it's close to your garage it's better to cover your plants with some plastic, becuz at your temperatures frost can damage in a few seconds !!
have fun moving and stocking your new greenhouse
cliokchi

Thanks, cliokchi -- I think orchids are tougher than one might think. They are all moved now, and no cold damage done. I didn't move them when the temp was in the single digits, though -- it was in the high teens and low 20's when I moved them. Their leaves didn't even get cold, and the only damage was that I knocked off the pouch of a slipper when I took it through the door.

lots of room for those trichopilias now! and epidendrums, and vandas... by the way, I have a small flask of vanda tricolor suavis that look like a few might feel at home in that greenhouse!

Thanks Charles -- I haven't forgotten your offer. Can we talk about this in the Spring when shipping is not so problematic?

We are all happy (and envying) that your greenhouse is finally done!!!

Me too! And I really appreciate all the support and encouragement evidenced in this thread. Thanks, everyone!!!

 

[Scooby5757]

Almost full...time to start second phase of construction. oke:

 

[Rick]

Holly Cow Dot!

It already looks half full, and already massive amounts of beautiful slipper blooms.:clap::clap::clap:

Did you post a pic of that long petaled Phrag already?


Definitely get a temp alarm.

I have a wireless temp monitor, but its doesn't have alarm function. So I wake up every hour on those extra cold nights to make sure the power is still on.

 

[John M]

Dot, here are the photos of my heater thermostats and timer.

Okay. So they look ugly. They are 19 years old and the housing has rusted and the paint is peeling; but, they work fine. Even so, I've got a bunch of new ones to install when I get a few minutes. The two on the left control the propane heater and the two on the right control the natural gas heater. The two on the top are the day thermostats and the two on the bottom are the night thermostats. The thing in the middle is the fans control. The left dial controls 18" motorized louvres at the south end, in the peak, as well as an 18" exhaust fan at the north end, in the peak. The louvres are situated near the interior circulating fan which blows air down an 18" plastic tube the length of the greenhouse for general air movement as well as to distribute the (cold), air coming in when the louvres are open. Even on a very cold winter day; if the sky is clear and the sun shining, the greenhouse will overheat from the solar energy. So, the louvres open and the small exhaust fan comes on. Hot air is expelled and cool air is brought in and widely dispersed throughout. As the season progresses, the sun becomes too strong for the 18" exhaust fan and 18" louvred vent to keep the temp down. So, the dial on the right is set at a temp just a little above the dial on the left. This right dial controls a large 48" exhaust fan. When I've got that set so that it can come on, I have to manually crank open the back vent at least 12". The whole back vent is 4' high x 24' wide.

All 4 of the heater thermostats are controlled by this timer. I have set it to trip the night thermostats on at 8:30 p.m. and to trip them back off in the morning at 7:30 a.m. When they are tripped off, the daytime thermostats take over.

BTW: The temperature alarm I use is the one recommended by Ray at First Rays Orchids. Here's a link to his web page about it. YOU MUST GET SOME SORT OF ALARM. Sooner or later, an alarm will save your plants for you! http://www.firstrays.com/alarm.htm The diagram on Ray's site shows a battery and an alarm device in the circuit; but, I don't do that. The module in the house gives off a very loud alarm when the temp in the greenhouse drops or exceeds the temps to which I've set the sensor in the greenhouse. I've set it at 50*F and 90*F. If either of those temps are reached, the alarm in the house goes off and wakes the dead! Plus, (Rick, you should get one of these), I have a power outage alarm. You can buy ones that are made specially for that purpose. They plug in your wall and sit there quietly until the power goes off. When that happens, a loud alarm sounds and you are woken up and able to do whatever you might need to do. The power outage alarm I have right now is actually a power outage night light/flashlight. A loud buzzer alarm from Radio Shack has been screwed to the housing and the wires fed inside and hooked up to the same wires that power the light during a power outage. So, when the power goes out, this flashlight goes on and lights up the room as well as sounds the alarm. I never sleep through a power outage.

 

[Ernie]

Old fashioned, mechanical muscle beats chips and circuits in a greenhouse for sure.

 

[tenman]

Dot, here are the photos of my heater thermostats and timer.

Okay. So they look ugly. They are 19 years old and the housing has rusted and the paint is peeling; but, they work fine. Even so, I've got a bunch of new ones to install when I get a few minutes. The two on the left control the propane heater and the two on the right control the natural gas heater. The two on the top are the day thermostats and the two on the bottom are the night thermostats. The thing in the middle is the fans control. The left dial controls 18" motorized louvres at the south end, in the peak, as well as an 18" exhaust fan at the north end, in the peak. The louvres are situated near the interior circulating fan which blows air down an 18" plastic tube the length of the greenhouse for general air movement as well as to distribute the (cold), air coming in when the louvres are open. Even on a very cold winter day; if the sky is clear and the sun shining, the greenhouse will overheat from the solar energy. So, the louvres open and the small exhaust fan comes on. Hot air is expelled and cool air is brought in and widely dispersed throughout. As the season progresses, the sun becomes too strong for the 18" exhaust fan and 18" louvred vent to keep the temp down. So, the dial on the right is set at a temp just a little above the dial on the left. This right dial controls a large 48" exhaust fan. When I've got that set so that it can come on, I have to manually crank open the back vent at least 12". The whole back vent is 4' high x 24' wide.

All 4 of the heater thermostats are controlled by this timer. I have set it to trip the night thermostats on at 8:30 p.m. and to trip them back off in the morning at 7:30 a.m. When they are tripped off, the daytime thermostats take over.

BTW: The temperature alarm I use is the one recommended by Ray at First Rays Orchids. Here's a link to his web page about it. YOU MUST GET SOME SORT OF ALARM. Sooner or later, an alarm will save your plants for you! http://www.firstrays.com/alarm.htm The diagram on Ray's site shows a battery and an alarm device in the circuit; but, I don't do that. The module in the house gives off a very loud alarm when the temp in the greenhouse drops or exceeds the temps to which I've set the sensor in the greenhouse. I've set it at 50*F and 90*F. If either of those temps are reached, the alarm in the house goes off and wakes the dead! Plus, (Rick, you should get one of these), I have a power outage alarm. You can buy ones that are made specially for that purpose. They plug in your wall and sit there quietly until the power goes off. When that happens, a loud alarm sounds and you are woken up and able to do whatever you might need to do. The power outage alarm I have right now is actually a power outage night light/flashlight. A loud buzzer alarm from Radio Shack has been screwed to the housing and the wires fed inside and hooked up to the same wires that power the light during a power outage. So, when the power goes out, this flashlight goes on and lights up the room as well as sounds the alarm. I never sleep through a power outage.

I can't use an outage alarm here; our power goes out all the time for a second or two to a minute or three; we're on an old substation and all they want to do about it is keep raising our rates without improving service. So, an outage alarm would be going off all the time. I'd never get any sleep. A temperature alarm, on the other hand, is handy, and not affected by the frequent power outages as they don't last long enough to cause the temps to drop much if at all.

 

[John M]

I can't use an outage alarm here; our power goes out all the time for a second or two to a minute or three; we're on an old substation and all they want to do about it is keep raising our rates without improving service. So, an outage alarm would be going off all the time. I'd never get any sleep. A temperature alarm, on the other hand, is handy, and not affected by the frequent power outages as they don't last long enough to cause the temps to drop much if at all.

I understand your point; but, if you used a UPS (uninterupted power supply), available in computer supply stores, that would feed the alarm power during those short outages and keep the alarm from ringing. However, after a short while (10 or 20 minutes or so?), the back-up power would run out and the alarm would then be activated. This way, you'd only be disturbed if the power outage was lasting long enough to cause your greenhouse trouble. It's worth looking into......

 

[SlipperFan]

Did you post a pic of that long petaled Phrag already?

I think you mean Phrag. Geralda. I've been so busy moving things I haven't had time to photograph it yet since it opened. I need to create a spot in my greenhouse to use for photography. I have ideas, but I can't act on them until the traffic (contractors)eases, hopefully by this weekend.

Dot, here are the photos of my heater thermostats and timer....
BTW: The temperature alarm I use is the one recommended by Ray at First Rays Orchids. Here's a link to his web page about it. YOU MUST GET SOME SORT OF ALARM. Sooner or later, an alarm will save your plants for you! http://www.firstrays.com/alarm.htm The diagram on Ray's site shows a battery and an alarm device in the circuit; but, I don't do that. The module in the house gives off a very loud alarm when the temp in the greenhouse drops or exceeds the temps to which I've set the sensor in the greenhouse. I've set it at 50*F and 90*F. If either of those temps are reached, the alarm in the house goes off and wakes the dead! Plus, (Rick, you should get one of these), I have a power outage alarm. You can buy ones that are made specially for that purpose. They plug in your wall and sit there quietly until the power goes off. When that happens, a loud alarm sounds and you are woken up and able to do whatever you might need to do. The power outage alarm I have right now is actually a power outage night light/flashlight. A loud buzzer alarm from Radio Shack has been screwed to the housing and the wires fed inside and hooked up to the same wires that power the light during a power outage. So, when the power goes out, this flashlight goes on and lights up the room as well as sounds the alarm. I never sleep through a power outage.

Thanks, John. His diagram shows a battery that looks like a car battery -- maybe it's just diagrammatic. Do you know how many amps are needed? I think I need to contact Ray.

 

[John M]

Thanks, John. His diagram shows a battery that looks like a car battery -- maybe it's just diagrammatic. Do you know how many amps are needed? I think I need to contact Ray.

Dot, if you look at the diagram on Ray's website, I have the same Temperature Sensor and the same Powerflash Module that is shown there. In the house, I have the same Universal Module; but, no bell or battery. The Universal Module is all I have in the house. If the temperature in the greenhouse goes too high, or too low, the Temperature Sensor closes a circuit and that tells the Powerflash Module (plugged into an electrical outlet in the greenhouse), to send a signal over the wiring to the Universal Module in the house, which causes it to start screeching with it's own built in alarm. Yes, asking Ray a few questions is a good idea. I have no idea why the diagram shows a separate bell and battery. Both the Modules are powered by the electricity in the power lines and the Universal Module has it's own alarm built right in.

 

[SlipperFan]

I think we came to that conclusion today, John. Also, I don't think I need a battery because we have a back-up generator that will power the electricity should we have an outage. I think my contractor will work something out similar to what you have. Thanks!

 

[John M]

Of course, during a power cut, the alarm won't work because it's powered by the line power. In my case, even when the generator is running the greenhouse, the alarm wouldn't alert me of a temperature problem in the greenhouse because the transfer switch isolates the greenhouse from the power grid before starting up the generator. That's so that the power from the generator doesn't get diverted down the lines and out onto the grid (and the whole neighbourhood). When I use the manual-start generator, I also manually flip off the main breaker in the greenhouse to isolate it from the power grid. Also, the greenhouse must be taken off the main power grid for another reason. It's so that the power from the generator doesn't go down the lines and electrocute some poor utility worker while he's repairing the damaged lines down the road. So, during a power cut, I don't have an alarm when there's no power at all; or, even while I do have the greenhouse being powered by the generator because when that's happening, the greenhouse is isolated from the rest of the power grid, which means the sensor in the greenhouse is temporarily incommunicado and cannot alert the house alarm device to make some noise. However, during a power cut, I'm alert and paying attention and I check the greenhouse frequently. If I'm awake, of course, I'll know instantly if there's a power cut and if I'm asleep, my power outage alarm will wake me.

Plus, to help monitor the greenhouse, I also have a 25 watt green lightbulb in the greenhouse that stays lit 24/7, all year. Even though the greenhouse is over 200' from the house, when I look outside in the middle of the night (on a regular, uneventful night; or, during a power cut and the generator is on), I can see the faint green glow of the light. So, that way, I can monitor that the greenhouse has power without having to leave the house. I can also see the front of the greenhouse; so, in the summer during the daytime (when I can't see the green light, even though it's still on), I can see the exhaust fans working, which tells me that the greenhouse has power and the thermostats are functioning and keeping the greenhouse ventilated. In the winter, during the daytime, I can see the water vapour exhaust billowing from the Natural gas heater chimney. So agian, I can tell from the house that the greenhouse has power and that the heater is functioning.

By paying attention to a number of climate control functions (exhaust fans and chimney exhaust), as well as employing the use of other means (temp alarm and a green light bulb), I can easily monitor the greenhouse status while I remain in the house. BTW: I use a green light bulb because plants are "blind" to green light. A low wattage, green light bulb does not disturb the photoperiodic sensitive plants and delay or prevent their blooming.

One thing that I must do, is investigate immediately if the green light is not evident. There's no point in having it, if when it's not shining, I simply think; "Oh, the bulb's burned out. I'll have to change that tomorrow"! If there's no green glow, I'm out there immediately, no matter what the hour, to check on things. If the problem was simply a burned out bulb, I change it there and then, not the next day when I have more time.

So now, I'm going to repeat myself a bit here; but, it's important. Even if there's a green glow, that does not mean that the greenhouse has heat. It means that there is power in the greenhouse. A furnace can still go down for some reason other than a power cut. In fact, the night my greenhouse did freeze, I got up in the middle of the night and saw the green glow and felt the peace of mind as I went back to bed in the knowledge that all was well and the greenhouse had power and was warm. Of course, I found out in the a.m. that the heater had broken down and there was no heat, even though there was power. So, it's important to install a temperature alarm.....and for some redundancy, get used to how your greenhouse looks and sounds when all's well in the night, day, cold and heat. Make a point of learning how your greenhouse works and how all the various controls work. Being familiar and having an instinctive understanding of how all the various controls work and interact with each other will one day save you from immense heartache. This way, your own senses will help you catch a problem before it becomes a disaster.

 

[NYEric]

Man, w/ all these hassles who need a g/h!? oke:

 

[hchan]

Man, w/ all these hassles who need a g/h!? oke:

Well you sure don't need one Eric, as your apartment is one big grow room! :rollhappy:

 

[SlipperFan]

Man, w/ all these hassles who need a g/h!? oke:

Now that all my orchids are out of the house, I'm starting to clean out my former grow areas.

No matter how careful one tries to be with regard to watering, re-potting, etc., a mess is bound to be created. I'm finding mold and water stains on the bottoms of my windows and along the floor where the wall meets it. To say nothing about the dirt that collects under the stands -- no matter how many times you try to sweep.

I am so glad to have that greenhouse! It is worth the "hassles" -- or problems that need to be solved along the way.

 

[cnycharles]

Well you sure don't need one Eric, as your apartment is one big grow room! :rollhappy:

I'm surprised that he hasn't installed astroturf on the walls and a misting system for mounted plants! :rollhappy:

 

[John M]

I'm surprised that he hasn't installed astroturf on the walls and a misting system for mounted plants! :rollhappy:

When I grew under 9,000 watts of HID lights in my basement, I covered the walls with 1/2" chicken wire from floor to ceiling and had hundreds of mounted plants! I watered with a regular garden hose. 'You doing that yet, Eric? oke:

 

[Justin]

wow that is just awesome. congrats again!