greenhouse with Earthbox

[Oldgrowth]

Hello!  I have been following Earthbox Forum for over a year. I have three EBs, only one of which I've had the pleasure of using as I am currently an unhappy dweller in "human shelving" (apartments) and have no real room to do much of anything. I have a one-shelf light garden and until the blight hit, I had a tomato and a bell pepper growing beautifully indoors under a HID in the EB. Both plants purchased locally, both Bonnie plants...'nuff said.

I have been gardening since I was 12 (won't say how many years since) suffice it to say, all in ground and I, like many others, stumbled and machetied my way along that path until the day I discovered sub-irrigation, passive hydroponics and I have since repented of my weed-hacking ways and rejoiced in my new found freedom!

I have lurked in the shadows of the Earthbox Forum, Inside Urban Green, Green Roof Growers and others for sometime now and have stored away a wealth of valuable information, like a tree-rat stores nuts for future provision.

I was on another such forum recently and came across a picture of a greenhouse, outfitted in EBs, all growing beautifully and I yearned for more feedback on this subject. As the forum talks about EBs heavily along with other sub-irrigation practices, and the greenhouse showed only EBs, I didn't think it would do harm to post the link to that particular page: http://www.insideurbangreen.org/2009/08/campbells-greenhouses-earthboxes-.html

I see the beautiful, lush growth in those Earthboxes and I am VERY interested in having a greenhouse with my boxes protected from rain, hail and with netting used on that structure under the greenhouse film. so that, when the sides are rolled up for ventilation...no critters can get in either, ie...."tree rats"! I would like to know if others have done this, their successes and how they feel, in general, about growing under protection. I personally think it's a wonderful idea considering how rain and over-wet conditions can cause problems with container plantings.

Any feedback is appreciated and as of late, have only seen one posting of EBs in a greenhouse on this Forum and as I am moving to Brooklyn in a few months, am intending to put in a Hoop House in the backyard and contain all the EBs and sub-irrigated pots I will be purchasing and making.
I will be posting my progress as it unfolds...for all others who may be interested in this.

Thanx, y'all!

[MacSmiley]

Welcome to the EarthBox forums... officially so!  I don't know anything about greenhouses (except that there's a company called 4 Seasons in your neck of the woods that makes them).

I look forward to your adventures in gardening in Brooklyn!


Melanie

PS. Have you been watching the brownstone renovation they're doing on This Old House?

[Fldeb]

welcome to the forum!  Thanks for the link.  I would love to know more about using a greenhouse.  I would want it for growing things in the winter.  There is something in the rain though that really makes your plants happy, so I rather have them outside during the rest of the year.  Deb

[Oldgrowth]

Thank you!  I haven't watched This Old House for YEARS! I stopped watching somewhere around the time The Victoria Garden got really old!

Hoop House has the product with plastic film so I can roll up the sides for maximum ventilation during the warm months. With weather of late being so wishy-washy and odd, (72 degrees in the middle of summer, cooking hot or pounding rain and hail) I just feel under some protection is the way to go. Also, I learned with a white polycarbonate enclosed greenhouse I had outside of Houston, plants just grow better under that diffused white light.  No sunburn or scald.

By the way, how do i get my zone to show up???

Well, Deb...Hi!  But it's what IS in the rain (especially in the cities) that bugs me! Junk and dirt, soot, acids...blagh!

[Fldeb]

I live in the country so its pretty clean around here.  It is amazing how the rain will just perk everything up, even in the earthbox.  This fall I'm only using rain water that I have collected to water my earthboxes with.  We have had a lot of rain so all my rainbarrels are full (340 gallons).  Deb

[dancing lemons]

Welcome Oldgrowth!!  That link you provided is very interesting.  DH has promised to put a "hoop house" rig up for me soon.  The key word there is 'soon'.  It will not be a commercial greenhouse - just a cattle panel covered with clear greenhouse film.  It will be very small at about 4x4 square and 6 feet tall.  I have provided a link with some photos.  These are not my pictures but pictures from other places on the web.  Link:  http://www.ericsprojects.com/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=1

I think a greenhouse (hoop house) like this would be great for a few EB's. 

If anyone is interested - GardenWeb has a forum on greenhouses - Link: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/strucs/?11270

DL

[Oldgrowth]

Thanks to Always Learning...I hope i did it right this time and the zone populates! Just in case I still have to try, try again...I'm in Zone 8 anyway!

DL...I checked out the DIY site...good info and NORMALLY, being a CHRONIC DIYer, I'd go that route as the greenhouse I had in the country was a "home built" and worked fine with an automatic vent fan and roof vent.  BUT that was in my younger days and I'm not sure I'm up for that anymore.
I'll think about it however as it would save about $300 off the cost of the Hoop House!

I thought about saving water in a rain barrel BUT being city rain, especially NEW YORK RAIN...I dunno.
When I lived in the country...ahhh, the well water! There is NO comparison to the stuff we draw out of the faucet in the cities, BUT an RO unit gets a close second and I will be using one in Brooklyn, but to save water I MAY do the rainwater thing for the garden.

The MAIN reasons for the Hoop House: extended season growing, protecting my plantings from hail, hard rains and of course, the DAYS of rain in the summer. Primarily, the diffused white light for the plants with no chance of sun scald and such.

Oldgrowth

[MacSmiley]

I'm no meteorological expert, but the first time I ever saw hail was here in South Dakota. I don't remember ever seeing rain with hail when I lived in New York, on Long Island (35 years).

Don't forget to check with local zoning regulations before putting up your structure. (Zoning laws on LI were a real pain, and a potential weapon estranged neighbors can use against the estrangee.) 

Also, in some states like Colorado, it's against the law to collect rainwater. (Crazy, I know.)

Not sure if sun scald is a problem at New York's latitude. The sun is definitely less intense than it is in Texas.

Extending the growing season... Amen to that! If I had more room than a balcony, I'd consider a greenhouse for myself