Market Farming

["Shelly Elliott" <shelly AT idlethyme.com>]

Marcy,
I am in SE Wyoming and have both a tunnel and a greenhouse with only single
layers and no wind protection. 40mph winds here are normal and 80 mph gusts
happen regularly. I use a U-channel and wiggle wire system and have never
lost the plastic. Could you tell me more about the construction of the
greenhouse you lost?
Shelly
Zone 5 SE Wyoming
----- Original Message -----
From: "marcy" <marcy AT aculink.net>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 8:29 AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Re:seed starting & greenhouse


> I'm bewildered and hope some of you can help me!
> I've been starting seeds inside for years and years. I've never had a
> greenhouse before and only one year had a cold frame to use. We finished
the
> greenhouse 3 weeks ago and last week it got torn apart in the wind and
> that's another story  - and more questions actually.
>
> Anyway, I got a heat mat (set at 80 degrees) and had 8 flats of tomato
seeds
> planted. After the poly tore apart last week I moved the flats in the
house
> and they still haven't germinated. Some of the seeds looked a bit swollen
> but nothing else. I thought that tomatoes liked light but then another guy
> told me they put theirs in the darkness to germinate. The week before the
> poly tore we had a power outage and it got down to 30 in the greenhouse
that
> night. Could that have been enough to kill the seeds?  Or could the
problem
> be when it got hot in the greenhouse during the morning? Didn't have
> automatic vents installed and we opened the doors. Too much light? We're
> having a barnraising this Sunday to rebuild the greenhouse but I'm
concerned
> about these seeds and nervous about planting more till I figure out the
> problem.
>
> Now on the greenhouse...
> I see all the high tunnel pics and catalog pics. This was a frame my
husband
> had built 6 years ago. He'd never built a greenhouse and since left. I'm
> trying to use the basic frame which had big timbers in the center
supporting
> 2" PVC hoops 5 foot apart. People in the area had told me the only way to
do
> a poly covered structure is to use a double layer and inflate it. So we
did
> the double layer and installed the fan. When I talked to the salesman to
> reorder the poly he asked me about adjusting the blower. The installation
> instructions didn't mention adjusting it. When I went out to check it I
> found out the air intake was totally closed - so no wonder it didn't
inflate
> the layers! On frosty mornings when it looked like it was blowing air it
> must have just been the heat from the motor.
> We get pretty gusty winds around here but I still think there has to be a
> way to make this work. I'm hopeful that the inflation will make a
> difference. Does anyone have experience both ways?
> The wind was from the north and it tore the south side loose. It was
really
> bending the hoops on the north side. I don't know if they need more
support
> or none - I see pictures with no bracing under the hoops at all.
> Does anyone use the 3" strapping over the poly? We had attached it under
the
> 2x10 on the bottom and around the pipe underneath. I'm thinking that the
> straps shouldn't be attached to the structure because that just helped
pull
> the board and poly up...
> Thanks for any advice!!
> Marcy
> SE Colo
>
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