VLOG 50. Explaining some of the features on the new greenhouse and sharing some ideas for reflecting light. Brian Callow of What The Fungus delivered me some awesome mushrooms!
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You could put a mirror perpendicular against the Basil bed 6"+ to capture more light. Possibly at an angle, no curves required. If it gets in the way of harvesting then make it removable or fold down. I say mirrors because I see the giant sliding mirror doors for free all the time on Kijiji. Just take a glass cutter to break it in half. You could easily test a small area with any mirrors you might have laying around. Any reflective material would work though.
Good idea for the mirror …. L'idée du miroir est belle. Un miroir pivotant sur un axe électrique qui suit le soleil toute la journée, serait une meilleure idée … J'ai souvent pensé à un " rotative electric mirror" à inventer ! … Miroir argenté si possible car le métal Argent est très pure alchimiquement parlant … Un miroir argenté reflétera + que la lumière du soleil …
Try a 12 inch square in several places to see where the reflectors work best. Reflectors are an awesome idea to try first then if that don't work put the lights in.
Are you going to use a glass patio sliding doors for your entry or a wood frame door?
Not sure about the regulations in Canada, or how strict they are about enforcing those regulations. But in the US you cannot store food (Vegetables) that are not approved for sale in a fridge with product you are planning on taking to market. Not sure if those governing bodies troll these social media websites for violations. Had a buddy who was a butcher got in trouble for that several years when he had some wild game stored in one of his meat lockers at work. He had posted a picture on a social forum and got visited by a local agent.
There's an insulation material called reflectix… Never used it before, but I have seen it used to reflect light in to a 600 gal tank of water to heat some green houses.
down here in Kentucky there is a company that sells a 24×48 Gothic kit for $1500 us. but I only can sell my arugula for $3 a lb. it's all relative to your cost of living.
Have you thought about solar tubes for your greenhouse?
Good luck with the electric heater in there. I thought about using a big electric heater in mine and a friend that owns a nearby nursery told me that it didn't work well for her. I am interested in seeing how it works for you! Please let us know.
Chuck
Get some Orca film in there. Very reflective and more durable than mylar.
I do not comment often, so first, I love watching what you are up to and your book. Thank you for those, I am a rural farmer but I share your info with all my rural friends. Secondly, I have experimented with mylar, mirrors, and a few other things to increase light to my plants. The good news is, I have had great success with doing this. Especially during the winter when the extra light is most needed.
With mylar which seems the most economical, I do suggest something solid behind it and the cheapest I have found it is in those emergency blankets even though it is not the thickest that has not seemed to make a difference in my experiments. However, I found that I had to have the mylar much closer to the plants than what you were looking at. An idea may be to hang it like a curtain right behind the bed during the day and then pull it up at night for circulation. It made a huge difference for me in my aquaponic beds, though I found the results required careful angling and being near the plants. I hope this helps.
Did you think about angling the beds to face the sun.
Now I use a mylar blanket which is an emergency blanket for those who are out in the wilderness. I use it to trap light and heat under my grow light which is in a cold garage. I love it. It allows me to grow tomatoes and peppers in my garage during the winter time. You can get the mylar blanket at Wal-Mart in the camping section.
Hey Curtis, where do your purchase the 24' lengths of spring lock channel? I can only find 6,8 and 12 ft for sale. You can fit two wiggle wires in a standard depth channel? Thanks!
How about a light tube above your Basil bed. You will need to cut a few holes in your roof.
Curtis, when using the carriage bolts did you also use washers or only nuts? If you used washers did you use them only on the head end, tail end, or both? Thanks.
healthier food is grown in a green house with all the chemtrails fall out these days…. 🙂
Great Job !!! I love your videos. Just about watched them all LOL. Here is an idea I have been kicking around. Since space in a green house is at a premium….what if you setup something like rolling hand crank storage. You know the things that very large companies use to save space for filing. Here is a link to a site that can give you a example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yleDTnNToUI. Company is called space-tracsolutions.com …….. I am sure you can build this yourself. I envision you growing your micro crops on shelves that have grow lights. Imagine your full length of your green house with this setup. You simple roll the row out that you want to work on and then close system back up. You could really get a lot out of a single green house this way. I would love to know what you think of this.
Can't locate Canadian source for hotspot tape to cover the pvc hoops on my 20 foot pollytunnel greenhouse. Most people say you must have it to stop corrosion of your greenhouse plastic cover where it rests on the pvc. Anyone in the toronto area know where to get it? Shrink wrapping boats with white plastic often has white tape for seams, vents and doors, would that tape do the job? B
Hey Curtis, just wondering what is the increased revenue potential for a greenhouse/hoophouse compared to field growing (e.g does a hoop house double potential revenue per meter square) – Mike, Victoria, Australia
Aluminum foil is very reflective and most likely cheaper than mylar. If you are careful with it you can make a cheap reflector that works really well with no seems. Use a back of 1/4'' board or even plexi and hang that. I used to make reflective sculptures with that and they produce a ton of reflection and some heat too.
I'm not a professional engineer, but mylar should work if you keep it wrinkle free. I think the hazard to avoid in using reflected light is in concave shapes which could concentrate too much light & heat onto particular plants. I read an article in recent years about some bad engineering in a particular skyscapper with a very concave shape which concentrated so much light onto a parking spot in one of the streets below it could melt cars that parked there! But if you avoid lensing effects on that light in your greenhouse it should be a fine passive solar technique. Gardeners have been using mirrors to bend light around shade, and to direct light onto corner-set house plants, and for many other aesthetic uses probably since they were invented.
I haven't used reflection in a greenhouse, but my garden is essentially in an alley, and I use mirrors to get light in there. Without the mirrors absolutely nothing would grow and now I've had a full garden for several years. I would be concerned that using the curve of PVC piping would concentrate the light like a laser.
Isn't it curious how people cling to old ideas, like a white wall, (from the 18th century). I have used reflectors to combat shade for over 10 years now…. I would recommend a flimsy wall, about four feet high, (4' above the plants). This could hang on the structure above, and be shiftable…try cardboard…unhook it and remove it to harvest. Use the wide sheets of tinfoil, (aluminum foil), and wallpaper paste (shinny side out)…slightly crinkled…impossible to mount it perfectly. You could use two sides sticky masking tape…you only need a few bits here n there. I currently have a small greenhouse on my deck; it faces south…not entirely cool…morning sun is shaded by my shop…afternoon sun is shaded by a tall pine tree, and the house that the greenhouse leans on shades the late sun…. I have coated the wall of my house with heavy duty tin foil. I also have some tin foil, crumpled, on my shop. I will shortly be adding a front reflector 4×8. Without the foil zilch garden.
you could hang the panels, foil, back of those rear planters. Then they would only shade the work aria….
You might try white landscape fabric instead of black. Reflects light up off the ground. Also heats up the inside of the greenhouse less in the summer (surprisingly big difference). I just found some this year, will be using it in the future for my summer lettuce outside also.
Gosh Curtis, you're so adictive ! You're my Netflix !! Thanks for sharing all this information with us ! Greetings from Quebec !
How do you feel about the woven poly fabrics, a green house store in my town sells 11 mil woven fabric, is it worth it to buy the best or get a standard 6 mil ir/ac poly, let me know
hi Curtis, we live on the East coast had hurricanes are a concern, how do you deal with high winds with these type of green houses? keep up the great videos!
Instead of a parabola made of Mylar, why not purchase some inexpensive full length mirrors (the kind with a wooden frame that you attach to a door). Start with one and play with the mounting angle to see if you can redirect enough light to make a difference in one section of the raised bed?