Agricultural Extension Service The University of Tennessee PB1068 Hobby Greenhouses inTennessee 1 TableofContents Introduction 3 Pros and Cons of a Hobby Greenhouse 3 Greenhouse Size 4 Greenhouse Type 5 Frame Materials 7 Foundations 7 Floors and Walks 7 Benches 7 Covering Materials 8 Utilities 8 Drives and Walkways 9 Aesthetic Value 9 Locating and Orienting 9 Heating Considerations 12 Size of Heaters 13 Type ofHeat 13 Ventilation 15 Cooling 15 Managing a Hobby Greenhouse 18 Organizations and Further Information 19 Appendix 19 Use Heated Growing Frames to Produce Early Plants 19 A Plastic-Covered Greenhouse, No. 5946 23 Plastic Covered Greenhouse, Coldframe, No. 5941 24 2 HobbyGreenhouses inTennessee Mary Lewnes Albrecht, Professor and Head Originally developed by James L. Pointer, Professor Emeritus Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design Introduction For the avid gardener or plant lover, a hobby greenhouse can be like the icing on the cake. A greenhouse allows you to extend the gardening season by growing plants inside when outside weather conditions make plant growing impossible. It will also provide many hours of pleasure and relaxation while growing your favorite plants. There are other factors you should consider. Does your plant growing interest span the whole year, or do you get excited about growing plants only during the spring gardening season? If you are only interested in growing annual flowers and vegetable plants, you may want to consider a hot bed or a coldframe. They are cheaper to build and maintain, yet a good quality plant can be grown with little difficulty. ProsandConsofaHobby Greenhouse If you want to grow plants all year, consider the Will county and city building codes permit you to following: build a greenhouse on your premises? Are there any An adequate greenhouse structure may cost from a restrictions as to type of house, covering or materials? few hundred up to several thousand dollars, depending Check with your insurance agent to determine the on the type of house, covering materials, heating, impact on your home-owner’s insurance. Can you cooling, ventilation and other equipment. afford the increase? A greenhouse used for year-round production can Will it affect the real estate appraisal upon which be time consuming. Plants should have daily attention. taxes are based? Who will look after your plants when you are on After considering all these factors, if you are still vacation and during other absences? enthusiastic about building a hobby greenhouse, look A hobby greenhouse, like many other hobbies, at some other important factors and study how they can be expensive to operate, especially heating and relate to your particular situation before you purchase cooling. or build a greenhouse. A hobby greenhouse should have a minimum of 100 square feet (Fig. 1). Can a greenhouse be added to your landscape without detracting from the aesthetic value of your property as well as your neighbors? Will neighborhood covenants allow you to build a greenhouse? 3 GreenhouseSize The specific size of a hobby greenhouse depends on each individual’s need. Most hobby houses are arranged so that about 70 to 80 percent of the total floor area is devoted to benches or growing area. Most annuals can be grown in bedding plant trays (about 11/2 square feet per tray) or 3- or 4-inch pots (about three to five pots per square foot). A larger area is needed for pot plants. For chrysanthemums and poinsettias in 6-inch pots, a space of about 11/2 square feet is needed to finish the plant to full flower. Ten-inch hanging baskets grown on a bench will need about 2 square feet. Multiplying your desired volume of plants by space required for each plant will give you the total size house needed. A house of less than 100 square feet would probably not be economical to build and maintain. If you need less space, you should Figure 1. Lean-to greenhouse. A greenhouse may consider a window greenhouse (Fig. 2) or a lighted be from 6 to 12 feet wide and suggested minimum plant cart (Fig. 3). area of 100 square feet. Figure 2. Window greenhouses Figure 3. A lighted cart for plants. Fluorescent lamps can supplement indoor lighting to make an area of the home an attractive greenhouse. 4 GreenhouseType The type of house that would be desirable for you may not be suitable for someone else. Many homeowners design and build their own greenhouses by using materials that can be secured at bargain prices, Figure 4. Straight side such as old picture windows, sliding glass doors, etc. lean-to This is not the best way to build a greenhouse, especially greenhouse if the aesthetic values are considered, but can be done if planned properly. The following designs or modifications are the norm in greenhouse designs: Lean-to or attached greenhouses (Figs. 4 and 5) suit many people, especially where space is limited. They can be designed and built onto a new home or added to older homes to fit into the landscape. If they are attached to a wall with a doorway, entry into the green- Figure 5. house can be made conveniently without going outside. Slant side lean-to Water, electricity and heating from the house greenhouse usually can be shared at a moderate cost. The cost of heating an attached house is cheaper than a free-standing greenhouse of the same size due to the attachment of one side of the greenhouse to an existing wall. Pit houses (Fig. 6) are unusual in Tennessee, yet have some very definite advantages. They are built partially below ground (usually 3 to 4 feet), often Figure 6. attached on the south side of another building and are Pit houses: normally used like a coldframe with only bottom heat (a) gable design, provided.They are less expensive to build and require (b) slant frame. less heat if you want to maintain a constant temperature. Pit houses require proper drainage for the pit or trench. Ventilation needs can be taken care of by provid- ing end windows or a roof that will open. If a pit house can be connected with a doorway from the basement into the pit or trench, it adds convenience and is easier to heat by hooking into the existing heating system. A-frame houses (Fig. 7) have too many disadvan- tages, except in very unusual circumstances, to consider for plant growing. If protection is desired for a special plant such as camelias, gardenias, or hibiscus, an A-frame house may be considered due to its simple frame design, good head room and easy construction. They are not unattractive, but do not readily blend into the normal surroundings. The side walls are hard to reach, and the growing area in relation to the Figure 7. A-frame greenhouses. outside exposed surface is small. 5 Free-standing greenhouses (Fig. 8) can be purchased or built in many different dimensions and designs. These houses allow more flexibility because they can be of any size desired and placed where they receive more sun, or be sheltered from the wind. They can be screened off from the home and therefore will not interfere with existing home landscaping. There are several different designs of free-sanding greenhouses: A-frame (Fig. 7), gable house (Fig. 9), Figure 8. Slanted free-standing greenhouse. slant leg (Figs. 8 and 10), quonset (Fig. 12) or combi- nations of some of these. Attached greenhouses (Fig. 11) can be of any of the previously-mentioned designs or adaptation of them. Quonset greenhouses (Fig. 12) are popular as hobby- or commercial-growing structures. They are the cheapest per square foot to construct. They may be covered with fiberglass or polyethylene. Double- layered, air-inflated polyethylene is the covering most used. A quonset greenhouse can be built to the size that meets the need of the builder. A cheap-and-easy- to-construct quonset plan may be found on page 26. Figure 9. Gable roof. Figure 10. Slant leg. Figure 11. Another version of attached greenhouse. Figure 12. Quonset 6 FrameMaterials FloorsandWalks A few years ago, framing materials for green- A solid floor in greenhouses is not necessary and houses were exclusively wood. Now most green- in many cases may be undesirable, unless attached to houses are framed with metal — aluminum, galva- the home and used as a sunroom or solarium. nized pipe or tubing — and PVC pipe. Any one of A 2- to 4-inch layer of 3/4-inch crusher-run stone or these materials will make satisfactory frames if they pea gravel up to 3/4-inch in diameter makes a very are built strong enough to withstand the wind, snow desirable greenhouse floor. It does not hurt your feet to and the weight of hanging plants which in many cases walk on, yet allows excellent percolation of water. are hung from the frame. The weight of hanging Flat stone, concrete stepping stones or brick laid baskets in many greenhouses exerts more load on the on sand also makes a good floor but may eventually frame than snow or wind. But when the forces of all become uneven due to water eroding the sand base. three are combined, damage or collapse of the green- The idea of having a surfacing material on top of the house might occur unless this is taken into consider- soil is for sanitation purposes, and to keep the walk- ation in planning or selecting a greenhouse. ways free of mud. Covering only the walk areas and using gravel under the benches provides both conve- Foundations nience and good drainage. Foundations for greenhouses covered with A solid concrete floor is very easy to keep clean, fiberglass or plastic are usually unnecessary (see helps reduce weeds, insects and disease problems and anchor detail, page 27).