Greenhouse cam & Conditions

THE GREENHOUSE

For several years I had wanted a greenhouse. I had several orchids that I had abused over the years that suddenly started blooming again. That was enough for me to seriously consider it. I visited a number of website forums and kept seeing a lot of mostly positive comments about Rion Greenhouses. So I started pricing them and the Rion seemed like the choice for me. I selected the site and after almost 6 months of delays due to weather, bad knees and repeatedly redesigning the base, the greenhouse is up as of Labor Day. I've still got a few minor things to do, but the final big thing is getting an electrician to come out and wire an outdoor circuit breaker in the greenhouse along with installing a few plug ins (including a 240V outlet for a heater). For an overview of the greenhouse click here.

On September 13 I decided to make use of the existing wiring and start moving plants into the greenhouse. Maybe not the best of weekends to move things since what was left of Hurricane Ike blew through Memphis on September 14. At any rate even with the strong winds, the greenhouse seemed sound so I'm relieved that it could handle those intermittent wind gusts.

The surprise was how many orchids I had and how rapidly they were filling up the greenhouse. My plans for a 6' L x 2' W x 2.5' H water feature (like an indoor koi pond) are either on hold or completely out of the question. The way things are now there is just no way. If the shelves I had were 2' wide instead of 18", I might be able to do it by getting rid of 2 sets of shelves. Another option is to place it on the back wall on the opposite end from the door. I don't consider this a viable option as there will be the Aqua-fogger and the heater (both are electric) directly over it. I would prefer to have this closer to the door and on the side opposite the sink.

After a week I've noticed that the roots of many of the plants are already responding positively. The green root tips look longer and on a number of stubborn purchases root tips are beginning to grow (my Pseudolaelia corcovadensis and Cattleyopsis cubensis in particular). Other plants that were slightly dehydrated and lacked tugor have plumped up and are no longer limp. There are still a few plants that do not look that good that are still status quo...no better, but no worse.

Around Thanksgiving (2008) I put up bubblewrap on the inside of the greenhouse. This seems to really help and I'll be using this the year round. I've found that it also helps to soften the light in the summer.

2010 - A POND!!!! This year I'm working on putting in a pond next to the greenhouse. I am hoping that it proceeds as I plan and I don't go too far over budget on anything. I'll update info on the pond as it progresses...right now it's really a mess and temps are starting to get in the 90's. When it's that hot, I only work on it in the AM.

EVAPORATIVE COOLER: Also this year I decided to try an evaporative cooler. I'm in Memphis and we have a nasty combination of heat and humidity. I honestly thought it would not work too well (in some ways I am correct). The humidity outside can be 50% - 70%, but as the greenhouse heats up the relative humidity inside falls. Sometimes this fall is way below 50% and the inside gets over 100 deg. F. So what I've been able to do is run the evap. cooler 24/7 and maintain higher humidities and keep the temps at least close to the outside. The forcast called for a cloudy day and temps in the upper 80's. I thought I'd give the cooler a rest....BAD IDEA!!! I turned it off, sprayed everything really good that AM and opened the doors wide open. The forcast was wrong! It turned into a bright, sunny day and the temps were in the low 90's (around 92 or 93). I left work about 30 minutes early and the temps had gotten up to 103 deg. F and the relative humidity was around 47%. A quick spraying (almost instant 10 degree drop in temps) and turn on the evaporative cooler and the temps came back down to something I think the orchids can tolerate better. So even if it can't get the temps down as low as I like, it keeps the humidity up and circulates the air (mixing inside air with the outside air). We will see how well it performs in the worst part of our summer on those excessively hot and humid days. BTW, I can easily go through 8 gallons of water on a day that hits the mid-90's.