Holy work just to have greenhouse batman!

[mupcycledcouture]

So my greenhouse has been built for nearly a month now. Or just over a month. Holy cow! Keeping it cool enough to grow stuff in in the summer has been a huge challenge, and it is not even summer here yet. 

First I got the automatic window vent. That way I dont have to be out there opening and closing the vent window 5x a day. That was not enough to keep it cool so I put a shade up inside to block some of the sun it is getting. Still not enough! So I ordered an evaporative cooler to keep it cool. Except it didnt have any cool air to suck in, just the hot air inside the greenhouse. So I ordered another window for the side to have at the bottom, but the cooler in front of that so I could get a circulation happening. 

finally, success. It has stayed fairly cool in there. I even started my summer seeds out there today! 

The positive side is, I should be able to grow melons and cukes in there this summer. those both have trouble growing here in Colorado because it doent get warm enough for long enough. 

The other positive side is next winter, it should stay fairly warm and with insulation and passive solar I may be able to grow tomatoes year around. Definitely will have fresh lettuce in the winter! 

[val2525]

Yay!

So grow cactus there in the summer.

[mupcycledcouture]

Maybe the artichoke will like it?

[Deleted]

Sounds like you figured it out and are going to have so much fun figuring out what you can grow in there! I have just a small green house tower and it gets really hot but it's got a huge zippered panel on one side I can open up.

[Deleted]

Mup - would love to see a picture.

Everything here is still so barren.  I was clipping the one butterfly bush today and i did see tiny green shoots on it.  I think we are going to go from winter to summer quickly.

[mupcycledcouture]

the HOA wants photos too. LOL I was waiting until I got my patio cleaned up, which I did on Sunday. I will post some photos tomorrow.

My lemon and clementine tree are nestled in it at night and out in the sun stretching their legs during the day. It is supposed to snow Thur-Fri so I will see how it holds up in the cold.

[denise15601]

Congrats! Hope it all works out!

[Shirley U Geste]

Sounds like you are getting it all worked out.

Summer heat may be a challenge but it will be fantastic to have fresh veggies in the winter!