Watch how to make a small greenhouse with your own hands. Irreplaceable home helpers for fans of agriculture - do-it-yourself mini-greenhouses for the home. Preparing to build a greenhouse from plastic bottles: drawings and dimensions
For a serious gardener, the presence of a greenhouse pavilion on the site is mandatory. But for the construction of a stationary structure, not everyone has the place or resources, so a mini-greenhouse is an ideal way out - a simple and effective shelter for plants that can be easily assembled from available materials.
For all their simplicity, these structures provide an optimal microclimate for plants planted in them and allow not only growing seedlings, but also getting an early harvest.
If you ask a layman who is not privy to the secrets of building closed ground structures, how greenhouse shelters differ from greenhouses, then most likely you will hear in response - small in size. But this is not entirely true. Among them, there are indeed mini-greenhouses suitable only for growing seedlings, but this is only one small group.
A small shelter in the country can be built independently
The main difference between these two species lies in the way the microclimate is formed under the shelter.
If in the greenhouse the microclimate and biorhythms of plants are close to natural, then a humid warm climate is formed in the greenhouse, saturated with oxygen during the day and carbon dioxide at night. The soil serves as the main source of nutrition, therefore it is quickly depleted and needs regular fertilization. Plants in greenhouse conditions grow intensively due to the rapid accumulation of plastic reserves.
A polycarbonate greenhouse can be compared to a small greenhouse.
- for thawing and warming the beds in early spring;
- growing seedlings;
- distillation of early greens and radishes;
- early planting of crops with a long vegetative period;
- protection of plants in the garden from late frosts;
- acceleration of fruiting;
- getting several harvests per season;
- creating an optimal microclimate for heat-loving crops.
Types of greenhouses for beds
Mini-greenhouses for beds are very easy to build yourself. To do this, it is enough to choose a covering material - a film, agrofibre, polycarbonate or glass, prepare supports and correctly orient the entire structure.
Ground covers for insulation
Beds under agrofibre warm up faster
One of the annoying problems of the gardener is the discrepancy between the timing of warming up the soil and the timing of sowing crops. This can be easily corrected with the help of soil shelters. This is done as follows: after the snow melts on the site, the beds are covered with a greenhouse film or agrofibre.
The soil under the shelter warms up 10-14 days earlier, and the temperature under the film is 10 ° C higher than the ambient temperature, which allows you to plant seedlings earlier, sow greens or vegetable seeds when the weather has not yet settled.
The simplest tunnel shelter on arches
Tunnel shelter on arches
This small greenhouse of the "Snowdrop" type is easy to build from improvised means - agrofiber, PVC film or polyisopropylene. Suitable for growing seedlings, forcing greenery and for early planting in the ground. Arches are used as supports, which can be made of thick steel wire, galvanized profile, metal-plastic pipe or long rods.
How to make a homemade mini-greenhouse with your own hands:
- Prepare a site for construction. If necessary, lay compost or manure under the bed, pour 30-40 cm of fertile soil on top. It is better to make the width of the beds 0.6-1 m, length - 2.5-3 m, orientation - from north to south. Along the perimeter, you can protect the bed with boards so that the earth does not slip.
- Depending on the length of the ridge, prepare 6 or 7 pieces of pipes about 2 m long and 12-14 pegs (50 cm) for hammering into the ground and fastening the arches. If there are no pegs, then it is better to take pipes half a meter longer in order to securely fix them in the ground.
- Bend pipes into arcs up to a meter high. You can make a special template on the board or use a large iron barrel of a suitable diameter.
- On the long sides of the future twinkling greenhouse, drive in pegs every 50 cm. Fix arches on them (or stick arcs into the ground 25-30 cm below the soil level).
- Install a connecting bar on the arches or simply tie the arches together with a cord or wire.
- Fix the film or agrofibre. You can use clips or just tie.
- On the north side, collect the hanging end of the covering material, pull it and fasten it, on the south you can leave it free.
- Fix the film on the soil around the perimeter. It is better to take stones for this, and not to sprinkle with earth, since from time to time you will need to lift the film to access the plants.
Approximate installation scheme for an arched tunnel-type greenhouse
Box with transparent lid
Cassette mini-greenhouse is ideal for growing seedlings and early radishes. A box with a height of 40-50 cm is made for it from boards, the width and height of the frame are chosen according to the size of the upper shelter. For early sowing of seeds into the soil, it is recommended to choose soil in the box to a depth of 40 cm and fill the hole with biofuel. The fertile layer is 20 cm of ordinary soil. For pallets with peat tablets, it is better to make the frame small - 0.5 m * 1 m.
Cassette greenhouse with peat tablets
For the cover, you can take old window frames or tighten the top with a film (or better, with agrofibre). You can also use thick glass or triplex, but in this case you need to ensure that the edge is sealed or carefully sanded. After seedlings under cover, you can grow young greens - onions on a feather, herbs, watercress.
It is better to orient such a structure from south to north.
Modification of a cassette greenhouse - a box with a transparent lid. Its difference is that the upper frame is set at an angle with respect to the soil surface. They are arranged along the length from east to west, the southern side of the frame is usually twice as low as the northern one. The dimensions of the box are arbitrary, and for better illumination of plants, it can be made of polycarbonate roof.
Drawing of a wooden greenhouse under glass
Butterfly house - a convenient portable shelter
A mini-greenhouse like a "house" or "butterfly" is suitable not only for growing seedlings. Depending on the height, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cabbages, cucumbers and other vegetables can be planted in it for early harvests. You can assemble such shelters from improvised materials - boards, slats, films, agrofiber, polycarbonate.
Butterfly greenhouse scheme
The easiest way to make such a design is to mount a frame of slats and cover it with a film or sheathe it with polycarbonate. Under polycarbonate, the frame can be assembled from a galvanized profile.
A distinctive detail of this type of greenhouses - the gable "roof" is made movable on both sides. This makes it easier to ventilate and care for the plants.
Cucumbers in the greenhouse "house" under the film
To grow cucumbers, you need a mini-greenhouse of a slightly different design:
- At the chosen place, prepare a bed for two rows of plants and make a wooden harness. Such a "house" can be arranged on the south side of the house, but the seeds in it must be sown in one row.
- Fasten the racks for the side walls on the harness. The height of the central pillar is 1.5 meters.
- Connect the central racks with a longitudinal bar. Twine for gartering cucumbers will also be attached to it, so you need to make it strong.
- Sew up the sides with film, glass or polycarbonate.
- A removable roof can be made in the form of a frame with sheathing, or a film, which, if necessary, is simply rolled up and tied up.
Original solutions for country beds
Home greenhouses are not only a significant help for the gardener, but also a way to realize their creative ambitions. These designs once again prove that a thrifty owner will find use even for a piece of straw or the remnants of a film.
Straw-protected crops
Greenhouse made of straw and window frames
In horticulture, straw is often used for mulching beds and as a material for warming perennials in winter. In this design, straw bales act as building material for the box. Due to the properties of straw, it is good to retain heat and moisture.
The air under the glass warms up quickly, and the plants get a head start in two to three weeks. Window frames or polycarbonate are used as a cover.
Straw bales and frame with film - efficient design
Film protective umbrellas
Late frosts are a serious threat to the crop. Sometimes you have to literally save the beds from death - to spud all the plants or urgently cover especially valuable specimens with straw. But the problem can be solved in another way.
Individual "umbrellas" of two arcs and a piece of film or agrofiber are able to protect against frost. The arches are fastened with construction tape, the film is fastened with clips.
The same devices can be used for glasses with seedlings during the hardening period - during the day the plants are hardened, and at night they are securely hidden from hypothermia.
Two arcs and agrofibre will save you from frost
Old plastic barrel - in business
If the farm has an old plastic barrel of 200 liters, then in half an hour you can build a roomy greenhouse mini-greenhouse. You can grow seedlings, herbs, even mushrooms in it. The design retains heat and moisture well. In addition to the barrel, you will need construction scissors, film and construction tape. See the video for detailed instructions.
Grids and pallets - an excellent frame
The framework for the simplest tunnel shelter can be assembled in an hour from waste materials. Grids, pallets, regular slats or thin boards will come in handy. The finished sections are fastened with adhesive tape and covered with agrofiber. The soil in the beds warms up quickly, and seeds can be sown.
Sections are held together with adhesive tape.
Under such a roof, the soil warms up quickly
Using a tree helps to avoid any negative - it does not rust, does not emit chemicals, does not react with fertilizers and herbicides.
Second life for old refrigerators
Good mini-greenhouses are obtained from old refrigerators, which are easy to get in landfills or from neighbors.
The engine, cooling system and door are removed from the body. The lid is made of glass or polycarbonate. Refrigerators keep temperature and humidity well, so an ideal microclimate is created inside. The only thing you need to worry about is the drainage holes under the ground, because without them, excess moisture will lead to root rot and crop death.
Greenhouses from old refrigerators in the country
Polycarbonate for mini structures
Small polycarbonate greenhouses are light, durable and comfortable. From this material it is easy to build almost any model of a mini-shelter. The only drawback is that such construction can be expensive. But it is not necessary to buy specially whole sheets. You can use the pieces left after the large-scale construction of a gazebo or greenhouse.
In addition to polycarbonate, you will need material for the frame (rails or galvanized profile), screws and a suitable scheme.
Scheme of a simple polycarbonate greenhouse
Polycarbonate box
Small greenhouses for the apartment
For a keen summer resident, the garden season begins in February. And it does not matter that the entire area is covered with snow - seedlings can also be grown on the windowsill. And small homemade greenhouses made from improvised materials will help in this.
Trays for peat tablets
Popular peat pellet trays can be bought, but it's cheaper to make your own from an egg tray and plastic containers (bottles or cake boxes). Water the seedlings in tablets through the pan.
Operating procedure:
- Drill a hole for drainage in each recess of the tray.
- Choose a suitable plastic packaging (tray and cap). If there is no large container, then the egg tray can be cut. You need to drill several holes in the cap for air exchange.
- Put a peat tablet in each cell and water it.
- After 10 minutes, the tablets will swell and seeds can be sown in them.
- Place the seed trays in trays and close.
The egg tray will replace the peat tablet tray
If there is no suitable container, then the cap for a mini-greenhouse can be made from plastic plastic bottles:
- Carefully cut transparent bottles.
- From the panels cut out 5 rectangles for the box (do not forget the allowances for gluing). Choose the size so that the tablet tray fits freely inside.
- Glue the box cap with tape.
- Use a tray as a pallet.
plastic box
Cake or cookie containers can also be used to grow seedlings. Holes are drilled in the walls for drainage and ventilation, the soil is filled up - and the mini-greenhouse is ready for sowing.
Mini greenhouse made of plastic containers
Plastic bottles as greenhouses
Waste material - plastic bottles, in the skillful hands of a gardener, often turn into useful devices. In addition to irrigation devices, mini-format greenhouses are often made from plastic containers.
Method 1. Greenhouse-glass for seedlings:
- Cut two bottles in half
- Put the upper part into the lower glass of the first bottle and fill with soil.
- Sow the seeds and close the bottle with the second top.
- Don't forget the drainage holes.
Growing in a bottle
Method 2. Seedlings in bottles:
- Cut a bottle of 6-10 liters lengthwise, leaving the thread intact.
- Drill holes in both halves
- Fill the bottom with soil and sow the seeds.
- Close and seal the cut with tape.
Plastic bottle greenhouse
Home mini-greenhouses are a good alternative to industrial polycarbonate and tunnel structures. It is easy to build them, and you can use them both in the apartment and in the beds, so show your imagination and be creative, then your harvest will always be rich.
The equipment and landscaping of a summer cottage is troublesome, costly, but with a competent approach it is very useful in many respects. Everyone wants to have a greenhouse on their site, or at least a small greenhouse, in order to harvest vegetables earlier than usual, but the family budget often limits summer residents in their desires. If there is no money to buy an expensive greenhouse, is it possible to make a greenhouse with your own hands? In this publication, we will deal with just this issue, we will tell you what they are made of, what form, how, and even attach a video, for clarity.
There is nothing super complicated to build a greenhouse with your own hands, you just need to want and start working. For the construction, you will have to find inexpensive improvised material, so that with your own hands, relying on your creative potential, using the experience of those who have already built such greenhouses or greenhouses, build a home-made "cottage nurse".
Forms and types of greenhouses
Greenhouses differ in shape, size, and coatings used in the construction of the greenhouse: glass, high-density polyethylene film, polycarbonate sheets and other light-transmitting materials.
First of all, small-sized greenhouses, usually used for growing seedlings of vegetables, deserve attention, such a greenhouse takes up little space, and copes with its task successfully.
Separately, it is worth remembering about home-made mini-greenhouses on window sills for growing seedlings, again made from improvised materials. Mini greenhouses are also used in small summer cottages, when it is simply difficult for a bulky greenhouse to find a place. Such miniature greenhouses can be of any configuration, among which are popular, "wigwams", "zucchini" and other small-shaped structures.
For example, a greenhouse-wigwam, which in its configuration resembles the dwelling of North American Indians. For its manufacture, ordinary improvised materials are suitable; to make the frame of a wigwam greenhouse, you can use inexpensive lumber or plastic tubes. The finished frame can be covered with ordinary transparent polyethylene, firmly attaching it to the support in case of strong wind gusts.
DIY greenhouse on the balcony
If you have an unglazed balcony and there is a need for home seedlings or growing vitamin greens, then you will be interested in the idea of a balcony greenhouse rack, where you can grow something all year round in a mild climate. The design of such a balcony greenhouse is a rack of several shelves that can hold boxes of soil. From all sides it is covered with a transparent material: polyethylene, glass and the like.
At the same time, one should not forget about the regular ventilation of the greenhouse space, so as not to acquire greenhouse diseases due to an excess of moisture. Given the functionality of the balcony, such a greenhouse structure should be fastened and assembled with increased requirements for the strength and safety of this device.
Do-it-yourself mini-greenhouse on the windowsill
Greenhouses-bottles on the windowsill, small-sized mini-greenhouses for seedlings and varieties of vitamin greens whimsical to heat and moisture can also be useful. To make such "greenhouses" with your own hands, you will need a light transparent plastic bottle from bottled drinking water with an open lid. You can make several holes along its outer circumference to enhance air exchange. The bottom of such a bottle is cut off evenly and such a bottomless container is simply placed, slightly deepening for stability, on the surface of the soil with plants.
You can use a transparent plastic bag with perforation for ventilation as a greenhouse cover, placing a container with a plant on its bottom and tying it at the top. This will result in a cone-shaped dome if the polyethylene is dense. For soft polyethylene, you can install an orchid support thin peg in the center of the container, on which the greenhouse cover will be held on the windowsill in the apartment or on the balcony part of the window.
We make a greenhouse with our own hands from window frames
The idea of \u200b\u200bmaking a greenhouse with your own hands from materials at hand and purchased for this occasion will itself tell you that dismantled old window frames with surviving glass can be used; balcony doors, various water pipes (both PVC and metal), glass, logs, plastic sheets, plastic bags and the like, which is usually found in the attic or in the storage room / garage.
Such a low-budget construction project will only require time and some installation and construction skills from you, and the old window frames can only be transported to the garden. It is necessary to start making a greenhouse with your own hands from window frames by calculating the free area on the site, and then calculating the design of a home-made greenhouse, depending on the availability of window frames and other materials. Once the calculations are completed, you can begin to prepare the foundation of the greenhouse, which must be strong and solid, taking into account the considerable weight of the window frames themselves.
For reliability, you can choose options for materials for the foundation of the greenhouse:
- strip foundation made of concrete;
- old concrete pillars;
- old bricks;
- wooden beam treated with an antiseptic.
There is a need to work with the old frames themselves: clean out the dilapidated paint, remove excess fittings, treat the wooden parts with an antiseptic against gnawing insects. Be sure to remove the glass before starting the installation and carefully place it in a safe place to keep it intact and avoid accidental injuries and cuts during the installation of the greenhouse structure.
So, the foundation is ready, the frames are processed, the glasses are taken out: the next step is to create a supporting structure for the greenhouse, for which you will need a building beam and the right size of the board, with a thickness of at least 20 millimeters. It is important to nail the prepared boards so that they bring the window frames close, and the gaps between them are usually foamed with mounting foam or glued with construction tape.
The wall of the frames and the docking board is ready, you can insert the previously removed glass, and seal the vents that will not be involved in ventilation around their perimeter with construction tape.
When the frame of the upper part of the greenhouse is mounted, it remains to cover it with a compacted plastic film. The roof of the greenhouse is ready - it will serve to protect against showers, hail and excessive overheating from direct sunlight during the temperature peak of daylight hours.
Is it worth it to build a mini greenhouse with your own hands?
A large full-fledged purchased greenhouse is undoubtedly functionally attractive, but it costs a lot of money. But why pay for something that you can do with your own hands from improvised and, again, inexpensive materials.
Such a mini-greenhouse can be made optimally voluminous even at small sizes in order to successfully grow a rich early vitamin crop of greens and vegetables, even in a small area.
Of course, for a good harvest in a mini-greenhouse, it is necessary to be based on the correct agrotechnical measures, as well as timely and plant pests.
The indisputable advantages of mini-greenhouses, assembled from improvised do-it-yourself tools, are their mobility, saving space in small summer cottages, the availability of working with planting material and the convenience of ventilating and sheltering their space from external adverse weather conditions.
How to build a mini greenhouse from improvised means?
- Before proceeding with the construction of the frame of the mini-greenhouse you have designed from improvised means, the plot of land necessary for the area should be cleared of weeds, the soil should be leveled and covered with a strong film.
- To create a greenhouse with your own hands, cheap building materials are suitable: nails or self-tapping screws, boards of suitable size and several meters of plastic wrap. Of these, we will create a frame half a meter high.
- At the bottom of the resulting box, pour a two-centimeter drainage layer of gravel. On it is a 15-centimeter layer of nutrient soil, based on garden soil with the addition of peat, compost and humus.
- Install strong pegs along the perimeter of the box at a distance of 35-50 centimeters so that the film covering the greenhouse does not sag.
- After that, we nail the crossbars onto the pegs, which will become the roof of the structure, it is on them that the plastic film will be held.
- It remains to fix a durable film coating on the installed crossbars, leaving access from one or both of its longitudinal sides for ease of work on its surface and for ventilation.
This video clearly shows the process of creating a mini-greenhouse frame and covering it with a film.
Such home-made and inexpensive do-it-yourself greenhouses from improvised means can be of different heights and will make it possible to make them in such a quantity that will satisfy your needs when growing different vegetable crops.
Basic rules for operating a mini greenhouse
- A do-it-yourself greenhouse made from improvised means, as a rule, comes into operation in the spring at the climatic time for sowing vegetable seeds for seedlings. The main thing is that such a mini-greenhouse provides the plants with a sufficient amount of sunlight and an optimal temperature.
- In such a greenhouse there should be no rodents and plant pests. It is important that easy access be provided to control weeds should they occur. It is easy to ventilate it, but it must be done periodically and without direct drafts.
- Depending on vegetable crops and greenhouse fungal diseases accompanying them, carry out treatment with permitted fungicides according to the instructions in a timely manner.
- It is necessary to open the film in warm, low-wind weather so that the seedlings harden and easily survive or continue to develop in greenhouse conditions in areas of short and cool summers.
As you can see, sometimes there is absolutely no need to spend extra money if your farm has improvised materials that, in skillful hands, can turn into an inexpensive but effective mini-greenhouse that can solve the problem of growing not only seedlings, but also the vegetable crops themselves with an excellent harvest!
A greenhouse, like a greenhouse, is an integral part of every summer cottage. In our region, it is not possible to grow vegetables and herbs all year round, so summer residents prefer to purchase or make various types of such structures on their own. And it is not always necessary to purchase expensive materials for this. Most craftsmen solved this problem by starting to use various improvised means, from which you can easily and quickly make a greenhouse with your own hands at minimal cost.
Variety and choice of improvised materials for the greenhouse
Currently, there are a large number of improvised tools that are ideal for building a greenhouse. You can build a temporary structure where you can grow seedlings, vegetables and herbs only in certain months, or you can try and make good lighting and heating in the greenhouse, and then it will turn out to be a winter option that will allow you to have fresh salads on your table throughout the year.
Pallet greenhouse
Building a greenhouse from wooden pallets is quite simple, since it is wooden structures that can be found everywhere in summer cottages. Usually, a certain number of pallets are dismantled for construction, and then a frame with a shed or gable roof is assembled from the resulting individual boards. Also, the structure can be assembled from whole pallets using metal plates and self-tapping screws.
For greater strength, a chain-link mesh or an ordinary mounting metal mesh is fixed inside the frame. As a sheathing, an ordinary dense polyethylene film or a more durable reinforced and light-resistant film is often used.
Advantages:
- Quick assembly of the structure;
- Long service life with proper care of the wooden frame;
- The ability to make a greenhouse of any shape;
- Strength;
- Good thermal insulation characteristics;
- Excellent light transmission ability;
- Cheapness of materials.
Flaws:
From old window frames
Old window frames can be a great building material. To build a greenhouse, you only need to collect a certain number of windows of the same size. Despite the seeming simplicity of building a greenhouse from such improvised material, complexity is still present. For a greenhouse from windows, it is necessary to make a foundation or a special supporting structure, clean all wooden frames from old paint and cover them with various antiseptic and antifungal agents.
Advantages:
- Long service life;
- Ease of material selection;
- Structural strength;
- High thermal insulation properties;
- High light transmittance;
- Attractive appearance.
Flaws:
From plastic bottles
Plastic bottles have become an excellent building material for summer residents. Of these, you can build various architectural forms, including greenhouses. To build a greenhouse, you only need a certain number of bottles, frame material and a minimum of tools.
Advantages:
- Perfectly transmits light to plants;
- Does not let snow through and is resistant to strong winds;
- Can be used throughout the year;
- Does not need heating and artificial lighting;
- Quickly built;
- You can grow plants from March until the end of November. Even in December, when the temperature is right, vegetables can be grown.
Flaws:
Made of metal mesh
A greenhouse can be made from a simple construction mesh, wire or mesh - chain-link. As a basis, wooden boards and metal supports are used here, on which a mesh or wire is stretched. A regular plastic film is stretched from above. For such a greenhouse, no foundation is required. This design is quite simple, but short-lived.
Advantages:
- assembly speed;
- Cheapness;
- Minimum materials;
- Ease of construction.
Flaws:
From sleepers
Very often, when building a greenhouse, it is necessary to make a solid foundation. And many summer residents choose such durable material as railway sleepers for this. When does a greenhouse need such a foundation?
- When the soil condition is low;
- The frame is deepened into the ground to a level below its freezing;
- Has a wooden frame
- Built on a slope, near buildings or vice versa, too far away;
- Provides year-round use;
- Has too large dimensions.
All these factors speak in favor of such material. But the fact is that for durability, the sleepers are treated with creosote, which is a substance hazardous to human health and at the same time exudes a very unpleasant odor. Therefore, it is best to purchase such materials that have already "served their time" and have been removed from use. Naturally, the air and the sun will not make the sleepers environmentally friendly, but after a while the pungent smell may disappear and then the railway elements will be suitable for the foundation.
Preparing to build a greenhouse from plastic bottles: drawings and dimensions
We will build a greenhouse from plastic bottles, as they have become the most popular and cheapest material at hand.
In this case, a special project and complex drawings will not be required, since we will only have to make a wooden frame, and for this we need to know the height, width and length of the structure.
The length, width and length of the greenhouse will be 3x4x2.4 meters with a gable roof. Such a roof will not linger on snow and rainwater.
We will need about 500-600 plastic bottles, peeled of labels. It is necessary to collect both transparent and colored containers in order to be able to use them from the north side of the greenhouse.
It is necessary to decide on a place for a greenhouse, as it is very important for the development and proper growth of plants. Usually a greenhouse is built in the south, southeast or southwest of the rest of the buildings. This is necessary to ensure maximum lighting inside the structure and protect seedlings from cold winds.
The area must be cleared of excess vegetation, debris and leveled. The clearing area should be slightly larger than the area of the future greenhouse.
Calculation of the required amount of plastic containers
- For a greenhouse, we need about 500-600 plastic bottles of 1.5 or 2 liters, depending on the thickness of the walls.
- Wooden board or timber - two pieces of 3 meters each and two pieces of 4 meters each (section 10x7 cm). Railway sleepers can also be used for the base.
- Beam - 4 pieces of 2 meters.
- Mounting rail.
Tools
- Construction knife and cutter;
- Thin awl;
- A hammer;
- Electric or cordless screwdriver;
- Screwdriver Set;
- Nails and screws;
- Thick fishing line, strong nylon thread and fittings;
- Any sewing machine (you can use a manual one);
- Building level, corner and tape measure 10 meters.
DIY step-by-step instructions for building
We will consider two types of plastic bottle greenhouses that have become the most popular among summer residents.
Greenhouse from whole bottles: instructions and step by step photos
- Since the construction of the greenhouse is quite light, we will not make a monolithic foundation, but will stop on a conventional foundation. Supports for it can be made from cinder blocks, bricks, foam blocks, gas blocks so that the greenhouse is slightly raised above the ground.
- Next, we make the base itself from wooden boards, timber or sleepers. It must be said that sleepers can make the base more durable and reliable, but it is necessary to take only those materials that have not been used for their intended purpose for a long time. We knock down a rectangular structure 3x4 meters in size, and then install vertical supports from a bar in increments of 1 to 1.5 meters.
- We assemble the frame of the greenhouse completely and tie it in the center with a beam at a height of meters from the very base. This is necessary in order for the greenhouse to acquire greater stability and strength in the future.
- Now we are starting to build walls out of plastic bottles. To do this, cut off the bottom of each bottle with a knife so that they can be easily put on each other. It is necessary to cut off at the transition point from the bottom to the wider part.
- We make the first row from bottles in which only the neck is cut off. We install all the bottles on the base next to each other very tightly so that the wall turns out to be “monolithic”. We fasten each bottle with self-tapping screws around the entire perimeter.
- Then we begin to string rows of dense columns of bottles using fishing line or strong nylon thread.
- In order for the posts to stand evenly, it is necessary to stretch the fishing line well between the supports and nail the wooden blocks.
- Then we fix each post to the top beam of the wall by stretching the fishing line and fixing it to specially driven nails or screwed screws. The resulting “wall” of bottles should stand straight and not sag.
- We will make a gable roof from plastic bottles. To do this, we knock down rectangular frames (2 pieces) 3x4 in size and triangular (2 pieces) 3x3x3 in size from wooden boards. In each we make a frequent crate of wire or mesh so that the bottles do not sag under gravity.
- We also attach pre-prepared bottle posts to the frames. You can string bottles on thin fittings or bamboo rods and then the roof will be more reliable.
- When the roof is assembled, we install it on top of the greenhouse and fix it with metal brackets or in another convenient way.
- For greater reliability, we cover the roof with a plastic film so that rainwater and melted snow do not leak through small gaps between the posts.
- We assemble doors for a greenhouse from boards. Everyone chooses the width of the door at their own discretion. We knock down the frame and also string the bottles on the fishing line and fasten it to the structure. You can simply sheathe the doors with plastic wrap. We fasten the hinges to the loot and hang the doors. The greenhouse is ready for use.
Greenhouse made of plastic plates
- You can make a greenhouse from plates that we cut out of bottles. The dimensions of the frame are similar to the first option.
- We cut off the bottom and top of the bottle, and then we cut the resulting cylinder in width. It turns out a rectangular plate.
- You need a lot of such rectangular elements based on the area of \u200b\u200ball the walls of the greenhouse. We make four canvases for an area of \u200b\u200b4 walls of 12 square meters. meters.
- You can even out all the plates with a warm iron, ironing them through a cloth or paper. We sew all the rectangles with an awl, nylon thread or fishing line. But you can sew everything with a sewing machine. We must flash all the elements with a slight overlap.
- After the frame of the greenhouse is fully assembled, we lay the canvas on one of the walls and attach it around the entire perimeter using wooden slats. They can simply be nailed or screwed with screws.
- The roof can be made in the same way as in the first version and plastic sheets can be fixed on all elements. And you can just pull tight polyethylene. The roof will require two canvases, an area of 12 square meters. meters and two - an area of 3.9 square meters. meters.
- In order for the greenhouse to last as long as possible, it is necessary to treat all wooden structural elements with special antifungal and antiseptic agents and paint with any oil paint.
- It is advisable to stretch an inexpensive welding mesh on all the walls of the greenhouse so that the structure is more durable.
- All doors, windows and the roof of the greenhouse can be made simply from polyethylene film, which can be replaced if necessary.
- Each seam of the plastic sheet must be treated with a sealant so that they do not disperse over time and do not begin to let in moisture and cold air.
Video: Overview of greenhouses and greenhouses from plastic bottles
A greenhouse made of plastic bottles will be a great option for your garden in order to grow various vegetables, herbs and even fruits for your family in it for a long time. You will not need to make great efforts or purchase expensive materials for its construction, but you will get a wonderful greenhouse for many years.
1. Greenhouse house
From window frames you can build charming houses that will help not only provide plants with comfort, but also become a stunning decoration for your summer cottage.
2. Dome
A large polygonal greenhouse, the frame of which is built of wood covered with ordinary oilcloth. Despite the complexity of manufacturing, such a domed structure has an attractive appearance, stability and excellent illumination.
3. Plastic cap
A mini greenhouse that can be made from an ordinary plastic bottle by simply cutting off the bottom from it. Such a greenhouse is best suited for cucumbers and zucchini, as these plants do not tolerate transplantation well and spend a lot of effort on adaptation. At the beginning of the landing, the cap should be covered with a lid; later, when the daytime temperature reaches twenty degrees, the lid should be removed, and later the bottle should be removed altogether.
4. Caskets
From four boards and a window frame, you can make an original small greenhouse for flowers and plants. First, the lid from the window frame should be kept closed, and when the plants grow and get stronger, fold it back.
5. Foldable design
A convenient, practical folding greenhouse that can be made from PVC pipes of small diameter and ordinary polyethylene.
6. Umbrella
A small greenhouse made from a wooden barrel and an old oilcloth umbrella or an ordinary umbrella frame covered with polyethylene.
7. Cozy tent
A greenhouse-tent, which can be built from a children's tent, equipping its walls with oilcloth or polyethylene inserts, or buy a ready-made film greenhouse tent. The advantages of this design are its compactness and mobility.
8. Plastic house
Plastic bottles can make a wonderful open or closed greenhouse. The creation of such a greenhouse does not require large expenses and special skills, and you yourself determine the size and design of the structure.
9. Lifting cover
The original greenhouse with a lifting lid, made of wooden boards, thin PVC pipes, polyethylene and metal chains. This design is quite simple to build and very convenient to use.
10. Flowerbed
A small greenhouse that will require a wooden frame of the desired size, two thin plastic pipes and a piece of oilcloth. The beauty of this design is that when the plants get stronger and the night temperature rises, the oilcloth can be easily removed and thereby turn the greenhouse into a neat flower bed.
11. Mini house
This charming greenhouse made from plastic CD boxes is perfect for growing indoor plants and will be a great balcony decoration.
12. Pallets
A small greenhouse can be easily built from old pallets and plastic wrap. Such a greenhouse is great for growing seedlings or indoor flowers.
13. Container
An ordinary plastic container will make an excellent greenhouse, which is suitable for growing seedlings on the balcony.
14. Reliable boxing
Large greenhouse made of wood and polycarbonate.
A large and reliable polycarbonate greenhouse attached to a wooden frame, which, despite the difficulties of construction and some investments, is perfect for growing any crop and will last for many years.
In continuation of the topic to the attention of readers for proper disposal.
A greenhouse is a predecessor and a simplified seasonal analogue of a greenhouse. The design of greenhouses varies greatly, from those that do not need anything but a film for shelter, to structures about which you can’t exactly tell by the look whether it’s still a greenhouse or already a greenhouse. Having made a greenhouse with your own hands, you can first supply the family with early / late vegetables and herbs and at the same time master the intricacies of the greenhouse economy, without risking losing a lot of initial investments due to mistakes due to inexperience. And if things go well, then build a real all-season greenhouse and get vegetable delicacies to the table all year round; possibly establish a profitable business.
PC greenhouse
Currently, light-transmitting coatings for greenhouses are made almost exclusively from polycarbonate (PC). This material was developed for this, and only later did its advantages appear in the construction of gazebos, canopies, shelters, porches, pools, etc. However, you need to build a homemade polycarbonate greenhouse with an eye to the following circumstances:
- PC is sold only in whole sheets from 2x6 to 2x12 m; do not cut it into pieces.
- Cost per 1 sq. m of the cheapest PC structure 2R with a thickness of 4 mm is less than that of glass, and is comparable to the cost of agrofilm, see below.
- Without fairly expensive complete fittings (standard fasteners with thermal compensators, edging profiles, aluminum tape, filter tape for ends), outdoor PC will last no more than 3-4 years.
- The installation of a PC is most often carried out with prestressing due to the bending of the sheets. This gives the structure greater strength, but requires a reinforced (and, accordingly, more expensive) frame of a special design; see e.g. .
Based on this, it is recommended to make a greenhouse under polycarbonate either if there are scraps remaining, for example, from, or using a single flat sheet in a fairly rigid frame, see below. It is better to design your first greenhouse under the film, especially since there are options for which nothing but it is needed.
What's going on in the greenhouse?
A greenhouse with plants in it and the soil in which they are planted is a rather thin biosystem. Its main difference from the natural ones is in the forced change of biorhythms for the sake of the speedy development / maturation and greater productivity of greenhouse crops. From the point of view of biology, a greenhouse is not a greenhouse at all; in that biorhythms are close to natural, only intensified. Therefore, this section outlines the basic information necessary to properly make a greenhouse.
Plants
The biorhythm of plants in a greenhouse generally corresponds to the natural one, see fig. on the right, but with some differences that speed up their "growing up", see below.
In the world:
- Vegetative parts - leaves, green stems - absorb carbon dioxide and water from the soil with minerals dissolved in it;
- Produce metabolic oxygen. Oxygen for breathing is absorbed as always, but much more metabolic is released;
- As a result of photosynthesis, dissolved organic, so-called. plastic, substances necessary for the growth and development of the plant;
- Plastic substances partially enter storage (tubers, bulbs, rhizomes, chlorophyll-free parts of stems) and generative (flowers, ripening fruits) organs, and are partially deposited in the so-called. depot - special cells or cell structures of vegetative parts.
At night or in the dark:
- The vegetative parts and roots take in oxygen for respiration and release carbon dioxide;
- Green leaves, in addition, allocate excess water in the form of water vapor through the stomata or, more rarely, in the form of drops through the water stomata - hydathodes;
- Depots of plastic substances are depleted, spending a day's supply;
- Plastic substances also enter the roots, ensuring their growth. The roots grow mainly at night.
Conclusion #1: during the day, when it is warm enough outside to ensure at least minimal plant life, the greenhouse needs to be ventilated. Plants consume little oxygen for breathing, but it should still be enough for the night, otherwise rot and disease will go. It is desirable to ventilate until noon, when the sun warms up, so that the nightly excess of CO2 and H2O immediately disappears.
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse coverings are made of materials that transmit visible light well, but reflect as well as possible, directly or diffusely (diffusely) thermal (infrared, IR) rays. So the greenhouse effect in greenhouses is different from what is in the earth's atmosphere and everyone is talking about, see fig.
Afternoon:
- Some of the visible light is used by plants for photosynthesis;
- Another share is absorbed by the molecules of greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide and water vapor - transferring them to the highest energy level;
- Another part of the light is absorbed by the soil, which immediately re-radiates it in the IR, warming the air and the structure of the greenhouse;
- Part of the IR from the soil is re-reflected from the coating (on the left in the figure, for simplicity, only 1 branch is shown) and ultimately also heats it, the air, and the structure. IR practically does not interact with greenhouse gas molecules;
- The temperature of the soil is sufficient for root activity, but may be lower than that outside, directly heated by the Sun.
Note: CO2 molecules, which are heavier than air, are concentrated mainly in the lower part of the greenhouse, and H2O, which are lighter - under the roof.
At night:
- The temperature of the soil in the greenhouse is higher than it is not only outside, but also the air temperature in the greenhouse, which spurs the growth of roots and sap flow in plants;
- The soil gives off the stored heat both directly to the air by convection and by illuminating IR;
- Greenhouse gas molecules are also emitted by IR, warming the air and promoting sap flow in the aerial parts of plants;
- There are heat losses through the coating;
Conclusion #2: thus, greenhouse vegetation "works in 3 shifts", which ensures the fastest growth / maturation.
The soil
Fertile soil (we do not touch hydroponics) is the most complex biocenosis, inhabited by an innumerable multitude of the smallest living beings that cannot live anywhere else. Therefore, there is a whole school of biologists who classify the soil, along with anthills, termite mounds, coral buildings, as “superorganisms”. In this case, the soil cover is the largest living formation on Earth.
In the greenhouse, the soil is also forced to work in 3 shifts. Moreover, in spring and autumn - in antiphase with the natural rhythm of heating / cooling, and the soil in the greenhouse is quickly depleted. Hence the 1st consequence of the main difference between a greenhouse and a greenhouse: it cannot work on the same soil for more than 1 season, even with its reclamation. That's why greenhouses according to the nature of soil use are divided into:
- Ground - the simplest of the film alone. They are satisfied when there is no need for a strong greenhouse effect, for example. under seedlings in the regions warm enough.
- Mobile - the upper structure of the greenhouse, as the soil is depleted, is transferred to a new location.
- Bulk - they can stay in one place for a long time, but natural soil is not used: special soil mixtures are poured into the greenhouse formwork, which are changed at least once a year. These are built most often on junk lean land.
Note: The most effective way to get the most out of the greenhouse land and at the same time leave it (under ground or mobile greenhouse) reclaimable is soil heating, see below.
After the first 2 types, it is required to restore soil fertility. Most quickly, but not completely, this is done by sowing next year with nitrogen-fixing crops; primarily legumes - peas, beans. The following year, flowers, cabbage, greenery, plant berry bushes can be grown on this area.
For complete natural reclamation, before sowing nitrogen fixers, the land is allowed to rest for a year under fallow, and only then legumes are sown. In this case, the reclaimed soil is suitable for any crops, incl. strawberries and root vegetables. With the constant use of the greenhouse, then you need 4 identical plots of land:
- under the greenhouse;
- Resting under steam;
- Planted with nitrogen fixers;
- Under open ground crops.
Conclusion #3: to build a greenhouse is still half, or even a third of the case. The main thing is to find and allocate a suitable site for it, taking into account the circulation of crops on your land and the availability of free space.
How to warm the earth?
Since ancient times, the land in greenhouses, as you know, was heated with manure. If the harvest went to the table, then exclusively horse. Others heat worse and oversaturate the soil with nitrates; the effect of their excess on health was noticed long before the development of scientific agrochemistry and the very concept arose.
Horse manure was valued as a biofuel even then, and if you think about its availability now, then an American joke comes to mind: Joe, did you hear? Tomorrow, a completely naked Uma Thurman (Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Angelina Jolie, etc. - all the same) will ride along Main Street on horseback! Wow, I'll definitely go check it out! I have never seen a live horse in my life!”
- The steam comb is simple but least effective. It is used mainly in more or less warm places on cow dung for seedlings.
- Steam furrow - uses the heat of the fuel more economically. It can also be arranged on cow dung, and crops that accumulate little nitrates can be grown on the sides.
- Steam ridge - nitrates almost do not diverge to the sides, it warms the furrows better. It is used in combination with both film and hard cover. The disadvantage is that a lot of space is lost, because. nothing can be planted on the ridge itself. The steam bed is mainly framed by warm pits, see below.
- Warm furrow - warms for a long time, but weakly. Most often it is made with onions and greens.
- Seedling steam bed - seedling seeds are sown in the gaps between the ridges. On top you can plant onions, sow dill. If the seedlings are ready, and the biofuel has not yet decayed, ordinary garden cucumbers can be planted in between and lashes can be put on props on the ridges.
Technoheat
In Runet, they write a lot about electric heating of the soil. But, firstly, nothing of the kind is provided for by any electrical safety rules and electrical installations for household appliances, and this is not a purely formal ban, but caused by a lot of lost human lives. An electrical cable in the ground is not a warm floor in a house with thermal insulation. Secondly, electric heating is rarely used in large commercial greenhouses, it is uneconomical. And in small greenhouses, the ratio of the area through which heat is lost to the volume in which it is released is tens and hundreds of times higher. Here, in order to raise the temperature of the soil by 1 degree with an outside temperature of -5, it will take approx. 800 W/sq. m. How much you have to pay - consider yourself at your own rates. If the circuit breaker, meter and wiring can withstand such a current at 220V.
Meanwhile, with the same -5 “overboard”, the simplest, most primitive area of 1 sq. m in the middle latitudes will ensure the heating of the soil to a temperature at least allowing to save the plants, in an area of approx. 3 sq. m, if you use the scheme shown in Fig. In this case, you can use old heating radiators: thin-walled steel collectors are used as a heat sink, and cast-iron "accordions" are best suited for heaters.
The heaters are installed before backfilling the pit (depth approx. 1 m) with sand on supports so that their warm edges are 15-25 cm higher than the cold ones. The supports must be strong, otherwise the heaters may sag and the circulation of the coolant will be disturbed. The presence of a filling pipe is mandatory; without it, the system will become airy when heated due to the release of gases dissolved in water. Please also note that the return is also insulated, although not as thick as the supply. The temperature of the water in it is higher than the ground, and this heat must be preserved.
Note: in case of long cloudy weather, with the possibility of frost, it is better to fill the system with antifreeze. The collector will also work from scattered light.
Land for backfill
To do away with the soil, we give 3 more well-known recipes for soil mixtures for bulk greenhouses. They are also in other sources, but their qualities do not change from this.
No. 1, general purpose:
- Peat land (rotted peat) - 6 parts.
- Garden, leaf or sod land - 1 part.
- Humus (can be from a compost heap) - 2 parts.
- Calcined or washed river sand (can be building) - 1 part.
- Slaked lime - 3 kg / cu. m.
No. 2, for bulbous, root crops, greens:
- Sawdust (not resinous) - 5 parts.
- Wood ash - 1 part.
- Straw chaff - 1 part.
- Peat land - 3 parts.
- Immediately before landing, add 1 sq. m 20 g of potassium sulfate and 30 g of superphosphate or 10 g of wood ash.
No. 3, self-heating for flowers and seedlings:
- Nearly matured peat - 2 parts.
- Horse manure - 1 part.
- Straw chaff - 1 part.
- Contribute before landing on 1 cu. m mixture of 300 g of urea, 2 kg of potassium chloride and 3 kg of superphosphate.
Conclusion #4: depending on the presence or absence of additional heating of the soil, greenhouses are divided into warm and cold. Greenhouses backfilled with self-heating earth are among the latter. Warm greenhouses are able to ensure vegetation and fruiting at a consistently sub-zero outside temperature, and cold ones can be built when the tubercles wither after the snow melts.
How to build a greenhouse?
Coatings
The light-transmitting coating is the main structural element of the greenhouse, which mainly determines its effectiveness. Hard coatings are mentioned above: glass is more durable than PC, but it retains heat worse. In addition, the PC from ultraviolet (UV) deteriorates, so it is produced covered with a protective film on one side. During installation, it must be protected from damage and the sheets must be mounted with the protected side out. Greenhouses are lower than porches, gazebos and, therefore, the probability of damage to the protection of the PC is higher here, at least from grains of sand carried by the wind. The material under the damaged film becomes cloudy and cracks.
Films
For covering greenhouses, films with a thickness of 120 microns or more (in extreme cases, from 60 microns) made of polyethylene (PE), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyisopropylene (PP) are usually used. The latter for greenhouses are produced in the form of non-woven material under the names of agrofiber, agrofilm, strapbond, SKF-(numbers indicating the brand). Comparative characteristics of films for greenhouses are as follows:
- PE- cheap and bad. Light transmits little, IR reflects unimportantly. Almost does not keep heat, does not save from frost. Serves 1 season; most often - in the spring to summer.
- PVC- a little more expensive than PE, but in terms of optics with thermal engineering it is satisfactory. Provides plus in a cold greenhouse at - (3-5) outside. From UV becomes cloudy, becomes brittle. Serves 1-3 seasons depending on the insolation of the place.
- EVA- a little more expensive, but quite resistant to UV. Optics and heat engineering like PVC.
- PP- is produced milky white, but the light transmission is high, and diffuse, which excludes plant burns by direct light. Excellent reflects IR, also diffuse; this gives the maximum greenhouse effect. It allows moisture to pass through, so that soil greenhouses and pits (see below) under agrofibre can be watered through the film. It also selectively passes gases, so it is not necessary to lift the cover for ventilation. Resistant to UV and mechanical damage, serves more than 5 years, up to 10-15 years. Allows sewing on Velcro, buttons, zippers, installation of eyelets and other accessories. Quite expensive, almost like PC, but agrofibre is an ideal cover for a greenhouse.
Note: for the installation and repair of agrofilm, a special agroscotch is produced, which is kept in the open air for a long time. In addition, it is widely used in the construction of greenhouses.
Varieties
The main structures of greenhouses are shown in fig. Pos. 1 - primer film. This is the simplest greenhouse from only one film. It is built mainly for seedlings or, when using biofuel devoid of excess nitrates, for low-growing crops - radishes, lettuce, onions. The width of the ridges along the bottom is 20-30 cm. The height is either 35-40 cm if the film is laid directly on them, or 25-30 cm if the coating is supported by trellises on flyers, as on the right in fig. with heating circuits. Advantages - simplicity and cheapness; disadvantages - poor use of light, difficulty of care, and barely 1/4 of the total area under the greenhouse goes directly under the plants.
Note: the first 2 shortcomings of the soil film greenhouse can be eliminated by covering with agrofilm.
Pos. 2 - warm hole. Surrounded by a steam bed, can be covered with both film and glass / PC in the frame. Suitable for any undersized crops. The disadvantage is the poor use and high consumption of biofuels, because. more than half of its heat goes to the sides. Use is expedient as a help in commercial meat and dairy farming on cattle or goat manure. Sheep is not suitable for health indicators and heats very poorly.
About Russian pits
In this case, not about the pits on the domestic routes of communication, which are the talk of the town from Trediakovsky to Pelevin, but about the Russian in-depth greenhouse. At one time, the Russian greenhouse was a revelation for European farmers. It was from the “Russian pits” that the nobility of that time received a green onion, lettuce, dill, parsley, radish, strawberries to the table in winter.
The device and drawings of the Russian greenhouse are shown in fig. Greenhouse pits were usually made 3-4, which ensured year-round use: while 1 pit was warmed up after refueling, the rest produced products. An indispensable condition for the successful operation of the Russian greenhouse is the lining of the entire complex of pits with a clay castle with a drainage ditch, otherwise the biofuel will turn sour.
Note: instead of log cabins, it is now possible to lay concrete lintels for window-doors, trellis posts for grapes, etc. Instead of glass, insert a PC into the frames, this will allow you to raise the northern edge by 35-40 cm above the ground and grow tomatoes. And instead of silver-plated mirrors, use any flat shields pasted over with aluminum foil for baking. The earth above the biofuel is poured No. 1.
Pos. 3 - film tunnel on a collapsible frame. For beginner farmers, this is by far the best greenhouse:
- Simple and cheap, requires little or no building/carpentry work; see below for Snowdrop.
- Keeps enough fresh air for the plants to breathe at night.
- A large volume of air over the shelter gives a strong greenhouse effect, which makes it possible to build cold greenhouse tunnels, ready for action immediately after the snow melts.
- Allows you to grow quite tall crops, up to long-fruited cucumbers.
- It is easily transferred to another place, and the possibilities of land turnover are limited only by the available sown area.
About "Snowdrop"
The film-tunnel type greenhouse of industrial production "Snowdrop" is probably the most popular in the Russian Federation and the CIS, and for good reason: retail purchase of components for a home-made analogue can cost more than buying a ready-made kit. Just in case, in Fig. a diagram of its device and installation is given.
Greenhouse "Snowdrop"
Please note that:
- The advantages of "Snowdrop" appear only when covered with agrofilm;
- If you bend arcs from water pipes of a standard length of 6 m, the span will be 1.9 m, and the height under the ridge will be 0.8 m;
- You can connect the arcs with a ridge beam by tying it crosswise with a flexible wire or wrapping it with agroscotch.
Pos. 4 - cassette greenhouse or greenhouse-box. It is made exclusively for seedlings ground or bulk, because. completely depletes the soil in 1-3 months. Another drawback - poor use of light - can be eliminated with agrofibre coating. But in 1 sq. m cassette, you can grow seedlings for 12 even 20 acres.
Pos. 5 - greenhouse-house or butterfly. These are made either adjustable with an established turnover of the land (see above), or under intensely breathing crops: tomatoes, eggplants, vegetable (sweet) peppers, because. a film without a frame quickly deteriorates from frequent lifting and refilling.
Note: vegetable peppers from the nightshade family are not related to real peppers from the pepper family. So named because of some similarity in the shape of the fruit.
Bulk greenhouses, pos. 6 and 7 are most often built stationary on a solid frame. The coating is respectively durable, agrofibre or PC. Soil drainage is required; visible in pos. 6. In addition to the butterfly, other designs are possible, see below.
About greenhouses for cucumbers
Recently, in private farms, ordinary garden cucumbers with recumbent lashes are increasingly being replaced by greenhouse long-fruited ones: they need less land, they are high-yielding and never bitter up to the very “ass”. However, the cultivation of long-fruited cucumbers in open ground in most of the territory of the Russian Federation is impossible without shelter, they are thermophilic and cannot tolerate frost, therefore they are cultivated in greenhouses.
The greenhouse for cucumbers must, firstly, be high enough: the “long-fruited” lashes reach more than 1.5 m in height before they can be launched horizontally, see fig. Secondly, greenhouse cucumbers do not like to “steam”, this causes powdery mildew and other cucumber ailments to start on them. Therefore, the roof of the cucumber greenhouse should be flat so that the cool nighttime steam cushion from under it is weathered through the cracks here. In addition, horizontal rods are attached under a flat roof; cords hang down from them, for which the cucumbers cling with their mustaches.
As a result, a greenhouse for cucumbers turns out to be approximately the same as in fig. top right. However, less time-consuming variants of the tunnel type on lancet arcs are also possible, see below.
About the orientation of the greenhouse
Ridges of soil greenhouses lead along the north-south line. Tunnels, cassettes and butterflies are also oriented. As for the pits and single-slope structures (see below), they are oriented with a slope to the south or south-southeast, because. plants work most actively in the morning, using the nightly excess CO2.
Frames and structures
materials
Wood in a greenhouse rots quite quickly, so wood for building a greenhouse must be treated with environmentally friendly, i.e. purchased with a certificate, water-repellent compounds - water repellents. Popular for sheds, utility blocks, arbors, garden benches and country furniture, free mining is not suitable: additives introduced into engine oil should not get into food.
Note: when making a greenhouse frame from improvised materials, wooden structures must be disassembled and the parts must be impregnated separately. At the same time, you will sort it out with the replacement of unusable fasteners, so that it is stronger.
Stationary greenhouses are best done on a frame made of plastic pipes, they will ensure strength, durability and environmental friendliness. We will return to them, but for now let's see what we can do in a hurry.
Whatever
Finished, and very good, translucent coating give window frames. The greenhouse is small, so you can get by with 1-2-3 windows. However, unlike a greenhouse, it does not have high transparent walls, so it is better to make a greenhouse out of old window frames oriented to the south, to the left and in the center in fig. The second circumstance is that no matter what frames are at your disposal, the transparent roof must be made folding (lifting up), and not hinged or folding, as on the right in Fig. Through any vertical gap, all the warm air will instantly escape and the plants will be hit by cold, and the horizontal one can be adjusted with props according to the weather and local conditions.
Note: the optimal slope of the roof slope of a shed greenhouse from the vertical (90 degrees) -φ, where φ is the geographical latitude of the place; and (90 degrees)–φ is the angular height of the Sun at noon of the spring/autumn equinox. See below for a greenhouse with a heat storage.
A successful simple greenhouse; more precisely, its frame made of industrial wood waste is shown in fig. Its highlight is visible in Fig. slope of the ridge beam to the south by about 10 degrees. This gives, firstly, a better use of light. Secondly, the entrance must be made from the north side in the form of a vertical slot in the canopy with fasteners or Velcro. Then, by slightly opening the slot, we get effective ventilation, and there is no need to raise / lower the film on the sides. The struts are also set correctly, from the west, and the eastern slope is more gentle.
A very good greenhouse covering material is polyethylene terephthalate, PET. As you know, bottles and other containers are made from it. Relatively few bottles are required for a greenhouse, so it is better to use them as a whole, stringing them with “kebabs” on “skewers” made of steel rod. How to do this (the technology is simple) is described.
As for the design, the best plastic bottle greenhouse is a clamshell, or a book greenhouse, see fig. left. Shields from PET bottles are excellent light concentrators, they reflect IR well; you need to cover the openings with a film only at night and in anticipation of frost. And during the day, the plants will be warm anyway, plus free gas exchange is provided.
For a long time on the frame
A long-term greenhouse is built, as a rule, on a frame made of plastic pipes. This frame is strong and lightweight; it is carried uncoated by 1-2 people assembled, if the greenhouse is mobile. The frame is placed on the ground, putting the ends of the pipes on pins driven into the ground; driving depth - from 40 cm. The formwork for bulk soil is attached to the pipes with clamps.
Pipes for the frame take plumbing PVC or propylene. The former are cheaper and serve in a frame for up to 10 years. However, arcs from PVC pipes can only be bent semicircular or, to increase the height by reducing the span, parabolic, pos. 1 in fig.
PVC is quite plastic and not very strong, and the roof ridge is the most loaded. If PVC pipes are connected here with a break, the fastening will not last long.
The most durable, durable, and gives more choice of options for building a frame made of polypropylene pipes. From them you can collect lancet arches, pos. 2 in fig. And their use, in turn, provides the following advantages:
- Using a simple plumbing right angle and self-tapping screws (item 1 in the figure below), arches can be made collapsible into corners and long parts that require little space for winter storage.
- From segments of 3 m each (halves of a standard 6-m pipe), an arch is obtained with a span of more than 1.7 m and a height of under 2 m, pos. 2. That is, it will be possible to enter the greenhouse, as in a greenhouse.
- The lancet arch ensures a high use of light, as a flat strip of coating on the roof, giving a large tangential (lateral) reflection, is absent. But on the slopes of the arch there is always a wide strip, which gives optimal refraction at any standing of the Sun.
- The high elasticity of PP makes lancet arches prestressed, i.e. increased strength. This makes it possible to use also prestressed PC for coating, as for greenhouses.
- A ridge beam from the same pipe is fastened from the inside with clamps, tying with wire or agroscotch, also pos. 2.
- In general, the frame comes out very durable and resistant to rain loads: there is nowhere for snow piles and storm flows to linger.
- The high height not only facilitates the care of plants, but also allows you to grow long-fruited cucumbers simply on stamens in combination with other crops, pos. 3, or low-growing valuable varieties of the same cucumbers, for example. gherkin, pos. four.
About PC Coatings
In some regions, depending on local prices, polycarbonate for coating can be cheaper than agrofibre for a greenhouse of the same area. In such a case, in Fig. - device of a sub-fence / wall greenhouse under a PC for tomatoes:
1 solid sheet goes to the roof, no special fasteners are required. Height and width are given taking into account PC waste for processing and fastening. Where higher, tall varieties are planted, for example. pink, ordinary in the middle, and small, but very tasty (and expensive on the market) cherry tomatoes will fit below. The height and width are given approximately for the latitude of St. Petersburg, calculated for the summer. To the south, the height can be taken equal to the width, and vice versa.
However, PC is more suitable for covering "long-life" greenhouses on a steel frame with flaps. In this class, the usual butterflies, pos. 1 next. fig., are gradually being replaced by greenhouses-bread boxes, pos. 2. A greenhouse-bread box is better than a butterfly, not only and not so much as a great ease of care. In it, at any position of the valves under the arch, a cushion of warm greenhouse gases is retained for quite a long time, which greatly reduces the likelihood of plants catching cold during airing.
When planning the purchase or independent production of a greenhouse-bread box, you need to be aware of its weak points. The first is a hinge with fixation of the valves. This is a technologically rather complex assembly that requires precise manufacturing of parts while maintaining the resistance of the entire hinge to contamination. The second is the junction of the valves. A gap of 2-3 mm is enough so that the warm pillow does not hold, so the gap in the joint should be of a minimum width and sealed.
Bread boxes, as you know, are not only with flaps. At pos. 3 shows a greenhouse-bread box in the form of a chest. He holds a pillow under the arch in the same way, but for home craftsmen, his design is preferable, because. does not require special care in manufacturing. Therefore, on the trail. rice. drawings of a simple greenhouse of a bread box-chest are given.
Breadbasket for the North
According to the scheme of another type of household breadbasket, a greenhouse with a heat accumulator can be built for a particularly harsh climate. It is suitable only for pot-container culture, but in places with soddy-podzolic or tundra-gley soils, it is not possible otherwise. In contrast to a heat-retaining greenhouse with lighting in the dark, the air circulation here is semi-closed, for which the heat accumulator itself (rubble stone, broken brick) is placed in a steel rod crate raised above the greenhouse floor, see fig. During the day, the lid is slightly opened, the flow of fresh air provides ventilation. At the same time, plants do not catch colds, because. cold air immediately mixes with the warm, heated Sun through the lid. The battery gains heat and releases it at night with the lid closed.
The slope of the lid from the vertical is equal to the angular height of the Sun at the noon of the equinox, pos. A, where φ is the geographic latitude of the place. It is not necessary to make a heat storage device from a seemingly quite suitable solid hollow red brick. As seen in pos. B, there will be no horizontal air circulation in such a storage tank, it will warm up unevenly and at night the cold part will take the heat to itself, but the plants will not get it.
The traditional design of a mini-greenhouse repeats that of a mini-greenhouse. But the modern mini-greenhouse is already different: it is either a light space frame covered with PET or EVA for flowers or a small amount of seedlings, or an individual greenhouse-umbrella for elite garden specimens, see fig.
Both designs are easily reproducible at home: a three-dimensional frame can be made from scraps of a metal-plastic pipe fastened with agro- or ordinary adhesive tape, and an umbrella can be made from any hard rod and fiberglass ends of rods or pieces of elastic steel wire, for example. bicycle spokes. In any case, it is better to dissolve PET bottles into sheets for coating.
Easier than a steamed turnip ...
...which can also be grown in a greenhouse. Finally, we will give options for greenhouses, as they say, completely out of nothing and for nothing. On fig. on the right is a mini-greenhouse from a barrel. How to do it, see the video.
