We put up the frame during a hotspell and draped it in shade fabric which helped extend summer growth. Now we put its plastic cover on to get through the winter and start seedlings in early early spring. Then the plastic will be removed again for summer.
Does anyone with experience think this plan is feasible? Will it start getting brittle and develop holes? I'm hoping it will last a couple of years.
by PerpetualStudent27
4 Comments
Depends on a lot of factors here. Do you have plants inside currently that need to stay above a certain temp?
What zone are you in/what are your average lows? Do you get a lot of snow? What is the frame constructed of?
I use a nearly identical one in part of my yard. It gets full desert sun and storms during the winter, then gets taken down in the spring and stored in a storage tub. The plastic does get more brittle over the years, but it has held up for at least a few so far.
I have a 12′ x 26′ version of this. You’ll want to weigh down the skirts on the outside, I used cinder blocks to start and eventually covered the skirts with dirt. It’s going to be very prone to wind gusts.
I use 1000g of water to provide thermal mass in Zone 8a, so the temps only got below 32F if I left a door or window open. This year, I’m getting a 1500w greenhouse heater to take the plants and fish through the relatively mild Texas Winter.
If you have significant snowfall, I would recommend cutting 1.5″ PVC pipes to fit from the ground to the center spar, with a notch in the PVC to fit the spar. Makes a lot of difference in stability
I had the exact greenhouse in Texas. Some lessons:
-it needs to be secured to ground well due to winter winds
– with the wind, it sometimes pulls or bends the support poles. These should be taped together
-because of airflow that gets inside of the frame- you may want a heat source for any deep freeze
Mine lasted a few years and did not tear but I only had in winter