The Greenhouse Effect

Stephanie and her brother set out to have a grow-off recently.  They bought several different types of herbs and vegetables and wanted to see who could grow them faster, bigger, tastier, and all around better.  When I finally left Philadelphia and moved back to Missoula during the summer before ending up in Spokane, I saw how their plants were doing.....not great.

They had to bring the plants in every night so the deer didn't eat them while we slept. Also, they would forget to put the plants outside sometimes, or they would just shine some halogen lights on them to keep them warm.  I looked at this and set out to build a better solution for them.

My thought was that if I could help them out by building a place for the plants, I could also create a nice place for the plants to grow and hopefully will also enjoy the harvest once they are finally ready. So off to Home Depot I went.

Greenhouse Sketch

$40 later, one 10' 2x10, one .25" 2'x3' plywood, two 10' .5" PVC pipe, several pipe fittings, and tiny sprinkler heads later I came up with an idea. The goal.....2'x3'x10" box with PVC pipe "house-shaped" frame above it that would connect to the water hose and create a low-maintenance green-house that would keep the plants watered and safe from the deer. Now 20 feet of PVC pipe was waay more than I really needed, actually I only needed about 12 feet, but you can buy the stuff in 10' sections for around $1.50/ea.

With the 2x10 we want to cut four sections. 2 at 36" and 2 at 20.75".  Once they are screwed together, next you can add the 2'x3' plywood by screwing it to the bottom of the 2x10's.

The challenge was getting all the PVC setup so that water could fill the pipes, and utilize the sprinkler heads to water the plants gently and evenly.  Ultimately I used eight 12" pieces,  and one 32" piece.  In the longest one I mounted four tiny sprinkler heads that spray 180 degrees.  Also, I added a water hose connection on the outside of the box and a water valve to allow me to control the water flow through the tubing. Turns out, the sprinkler heads don't require much water flow at all, ultimately I have the valve just barely opened to let a small amount of water through.

Finished Box

The last things that need to be done are:

   1. Add dirt and plant the herbs and veggies

   2. Get some plastic to wrap on the top and sides to keep the heat from the sun inside the box to promote growth

   3. Enjoy the harvest

Once we have plants in the box, I'll add pics to this post.