[Samper]

My mom wants to buy a greenhouse for my dad for Christmas. We live in Arkansas and every year we haul about 40 plants inside our basement for protection from the cold. Dad's tired of it and wants a Greenhouse. I don't know the first thing about them other than the little bit that I learned helping Rocky with his. I'm sure we need something different than the ones they use in FL since it gets so cold here. What do we need to look for?
10' X 16' would be a nice size for him but he may be able to do with a smaller one.

[Ninong]

I think 10'x16' is a great hobby size! Check out the 10'x16' model here.

[schrocat]

6K?
Ninong must have won the lottery.
Send me some cash bro...I'm jobless.

Texas Greenhouse Order Kit

[Samper]

Tell me about heating, ventilation and insulation. Are there different covers, materials used to insulate from the cold? It's been in the teens temp wise around here at night and that's not good for some of the tropical plants he keeps....the man has grown a pineapple tree that actually produces fruit here in Ar. That's a pain to move. He also has some ferns and such from a few tropical places. It's become too hard to move these around every year....especially the way his collection grows. Do the GH's around here need a heater? I've read that some people burn...I think it's propane for heat and that the plants benefit from the co2 produced. What are your thoughts?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Samper

Tell me about heating, ventilation and insulation.

If you follow the link I provided, they cover all of those questions.

Are there different covers, materials used to insulate from the cold?

Yes, but first you have to decide what sort of greenhouse you want to buy. They range in price from the very expensive Victorian conservatory types made of aluminum structures with glass panes to the cheapy aluminum poles covered with plastic sheeting. I sort of like the ones somewhere in the middle but I have no experience with them at all. I just keep that Cedar Built website in my favorites in case I ever hit the lottery, as schrocat puts it.

It's been in the teens temp wise around here at night and that's not good for some of the tropical plants he keeps....the man has grown a pineapple tree that actually produces fruit here in Ar.

Two points: Pineapples don't really grow on trees and they don't do well in areas that are too hot. That's why they are grown at higher elevations in Hawaii, not sealevel.

Do the GH's around here need a heater?

Yes, they need a heater if you're trying to keep the interior temperature above freezing in a part of the country where overnight temps drop below freezing. See the link in my first post for options on heaters. For example, if you were keeping orchids, you would want to keep the minimum overnight temperature above 60 degrees Fahrenheit for Phalaenopsis and above 50 degrees Fahrenheit for most Cattleyas.

Your choice of heater depends on your choice of greenhouse, the overnight lows in your area and the plants you are trying to protect. A small electric heater might work for a modest sized greenhouse in the Coastal South but a gas heater might be required in your area. A lot depends on the insulation properties of the materials chosen for the greenhouse.

Besides a heater, you will need automatic roof vents and fans to circulate the air inside the greenhouse. You may or may not need automatic misters depending on what you are keeping and the humidity in your area.

The cost of the greenhouse structure itself is just the beginning. You need some sort of foundation, you need electrical wiring, you need water piped in, you need ventilation, you need heating for the winter, etc.

Figure out how much you want to spend first because that will affect your options.

[Samper]

I wouldn't call it a tree since it's only about 2.5 feet in height but the pot that it's in is huge and a very heavy hard plant to move. I can provide you with pictures of it should you so desire as well as a blue ribbon at the state fair for the fruit.

[Ninong]

The pineapple plant is a bromeliad. In Hawaii, I saw plants that were three to four feet tall. I just wouldn't call it a tree just as I wouldn't call an artichoke plant a tree. Artichokes are not bromeliads, they're thistles, but they're not trees either.

[Samper]

Adequate George. You have accurately conveyed your position. I am unequivocally convivial as I compose.
I grasped long ago that to have a colloquy with you means austere contemplative and deliberate analysis on the motif intended. I have certitude that you can exonerate my deprivation of time as well as my flapdoodle exchange of gab.

[Ninong]

You should know by now that someone who freaks out when a lettuce sea slug is called a nudibranch is not about to let a bromeliad be called a tree and suffer in silence.

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by Samper

Adequate George. You have accurately conveyed your position. I am unequivocally convivial as I compose.
I grasped long ago that to have a colloquy with you means austere contemplative and deliberate analysis on the motif intended. I have certitude that you can exonerate my deprivation of time as well as my flapdoodle exchange of gab.

I almost fell outta my chair!

[charlie]

Originally Posted by Samper

Adequate George. You have accurately conveyed your position. I am unequivocally convivial as I compose.
I grasped long ago that to have a colloquy with you means austere contemplative and deliberate analysis on the motif intended. I have certitude that you can exonerate my deprivation of time as well as my flapdoodle exchange of gab.

Hey, I live in Montana, can you repat that in English for me?

[Reefland]

You guys are a riot.

[Samper]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed that.