Roof Vents vs Exhaust Fan

[MoonShadows]

The floor is "screenings" which is the tiny rocks and dust left over when crushing rocks for gravel. I laid a bed of it before I put in the GH foundation. The foundation is 6 x 6 Tamarac wood sitting on 16 x 8 x 4 concrete blocks, so the screenings base is about 12" deep. I did have 16 x 16 pieces of slate down to increase the heat sink, but I took them up (at least for now) since many of them will be covered by the raised beds. No point in wasting slate under raised beds. Not sure if I will put them back down or just leave the floor like it is now.

 

[MoonShadows]

Was able to get some more work done today.

I had a heck of a time trying to level the concrete blocks. I had a few 2 x 10 pressure treated boards, so I cut them into 3 ft lengths and used them as a base for the concrete blocks.

I put one of the raised gardens on the blocks.

Then, I decided 3 blocks were a bit high, so I took it down to 2 blocks and built the frame for the top.

Tomorrow, I am hoping to add the 2nd raised bed. After that, I will build the covers for the top and then cover both beds with the clear greenhouse film.

BTW...you can see my new Lasko Blower Fan in the back door. The temperature in the greenhouse was up to 120 F this afternoon, but this fan moves a ton of air. I plan to mount it near the ceiling and hook it up to a thermostat, so when the roof vent opens, the fan will exhaust excess heat.

More pics to come!

 

[MoonShadows]

This was a very productive weekend!

I finished the framing of my cold frames in my greenhouse.

Got the "floors" down which are the old slats from my greenhouse benches.

And, covered the floors with weed block...not for weeds, but to keep all the soil inside.

If all goes according to plan.....tomorrow I will fill them with Mel's Mix (1/3 peat moss, 1/3 perlite, and 1/3 compost. I want to plant scallions, spinach & salad mixes. Hope I'm not too late. But, if I am....I'll be ready for a late winter planting.

 

[MoonShadows]

Another good day...I dug out 50 gallons (2 garbage cans) of black gold from one of my compost piles and mixed it 1/3 with 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 peat moss to one of my new cold frames in my greenhouse. The other can will be mixed with the same formula for the other cold frame.

 

[CanadianLori]

Just curious if you put a waterproof membrane under the soil. If you did, the area in between those columns of bricks would make great storage areas for pots and such

 

[MoonShadows]

Good idea, @CanadianLori,l but I just put weed blocker.

 

[Gardening Girl]

This is kind of back to the beginning of this thread where you were talking about your solar powered roof vent openers. There is no need to "seal off" this part of the greenhouse. You can remove the wax cylinders for the winter. I would also come up with some kind of plan to secure the roof vents so that they don't blow open with the wind. To remove the cylinders you usually just unscrew them using the thumbscrew, but check on the specific brand that you have.

 

[CanadianLori]

All of the greenhouse vents come with manual openers which I place directly beside the automatic heat activated openers. The cylinders are not pv powered. You can simply disconnect the bottom arm and leave it hanging unless you are in a harsh environment.

I have three greenhouses. All hobby size which build up heat pretty quick under a clear sky and nothing has been more effective than using louvers in combination with vents. The air flow on a hot day will impress you.

 

[Mike Allen]

I have to say. Reading posts from our cousins across the pond, I find so interesting.

 

[ncbrink]

Hello all, new to this forum. Have to say I really enjoyed reading this thread. Moon your GH is awesome! Looks like you are well on your way to a successfull thumb of green. Nice pics and very informative posts. Thanks. I'm a GH beginner and will need lots of advice. Assembled a Palram unit (6 by 10) the deck is firmed to posts at the corners concreted in the ground. Steel cable over the peak in two places to anchor it to the deck. It gets quite windy here in Nazareth. So far so good. The polycarbonate panels flop in the wind so I plan to clear silicone caulk each panel in its track. Already have light and outlet in there. The roof vent is a joke. Will have to figure on how to cool it down over the summer. I'll have plenty of questions as time goes by. Seedlings are coming up in the house. Looking forward to transplant time.