Some questions about greenhouse growing

Discussion in 'Greenhouses' started by Pacific NW Grower Girl, Sep 9, 2013.

  1. #1 Pacific NW Grower Girl, Sep 9, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 9, 2013
    Hi! Me and a few friends with medical cards are looking into buying a good chunk of land out in Northeastern Washington, the only problem is, the area is a bit cold to be cultivating the 75 plants we can legally grow with a conventional outdoor grow.  So we've been looking into putting together a greenhouse.  One of the problems is that we are off the grid, and have a solar system, so we are worried about the power usage of a propane heater along with ventilation fans.
     
    I was looking at the greenhouse panels from Farmtek and wanted to use a polycarbonate wall system.  We will be able to spring for four solar panels, and the batteries necessary to generate and store about 60 KWH of electricity each month, which should be enough to cover the heating/fan 'costs', and can later be upgraded to allow per-plant lighting.
     
    The heating is probably necessary because if we want to start growing up in the mountains (2400 ft) in April, we would have to heat the greenhouse by night, because the temperatures can get into the 30s there easily.  I am a bit worried about all the costs and such, but my main question is as follows:
     
    We are still in the planning phase of our little venture, and we were thinking that a 24'Wx36'Lx15'H (after doing a little bit of math) would be able to have about 20 plants at a 5'x5' per plant spacing.  Now, if this works, then I am only wondering if we could do two more with these dimensions while sparing on using the expensive polycarb walls and only using a wooden frame with film and potentially using a fireplace like Spidermit3 did with his greenhouse grow, only we would start in April because supplemental lighting isn't practical for us right now.
     
    Another option was looking into starting the plants in April in the greenhouse, and moving them out at the beginning of July (Just after the 'safe date' for frost in the area), and leaving them outdoor in eventually 40 gallon pots after that, which seems like the most practical option, then when we have the cash going for the more fully automated systems later.
     
    Edit: We are looking into something similar to http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft_greenhouses-ft_professional_greenhouses-ft_500_series_extra_tall_greenhouse;pg50035gh_GS053548GDCD.html

     
  2. I spoke with a nursery / dispensary in our area, and they said that placing the 1ft tall clones in a smaller greenhouse until the end of June when it's safe from frost would be ideal and still result in monster plants, so maybe that would be the best option in this case.
     
  3. I have a 10wx12dx10h greenhouse and have put a lot of time into researching heating.  In my opinion unless you are going to cash out at harvest it will cost way to much to keep warm in the earlier months. Having a heater for cold nights is a must or you will be starting over before it gets warm out. 
     
  4. Would love to hear your progress!
     
  5. But yea, was going to post this same topic with very similar specs so it would be awesome to get any tips on local laws, permits, greenhouse tech, etc.
     
  6. I was thinking about land around the town Packwood. Looks beautiful and a river is running through the land so I'm very pumped!
     
  7. #7 orellej, Oct 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 22, 2014
    nice greenhouse... how about building a small living space that is attached? you could then use a propane or better, wood for the heat source and quarters for the security people/person and dogs. put in a nice wood stove and you would have my idea of a dream house with excess cabin heat keeping the plants happy at night and the gh heating the cabin when needed.
    i have a 16' by 12' hoop style gh and use an electric oil filled heater that has a thermostat and i put it on a timer to come on at midnight, off at 8:30 when the sun hits. am using an evaporative cooler during the hot days, all summer. my electric bill has actually gone down the last few months but just started using the heater last week. sounds like a great adventure, good luck, j
     

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