Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi All,

So I have been off this forum for some time, and my AP kit (5000L System) been laying dormant (Empty ) as I have been trying to get the backyard in order over the last couple of years (along with the rest of the house!)

Well the retaining wall post went in on the weekend, and that means the new backyard level is almost complete for building on, which means I can order my Greenhouse!

So, I have looked online at a few kits, but wanted to open the floor up to BYAP's comments and feedback on kits that offer good value for money.

Size required: It must be at least 4M wide which pretty much cuts all the ebay kits out of the question.

Pricing: Would not want to spend more than $3000, and obviously the cheaper the better.

Cheers!

G'Day Mate, Sunbury Victoria?
if so, this is the mob for you.
http://www.sproutwellgreenhouses.com.au/
http://www.sproutwellgreenhouses.com.au ... model.html
or http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aluminium-Po ... 46020503a0
(see my link to see what they look like.!!)
We are stoked with ours.
Wrapped!

Hi Adzza, I have a 10m X 5m (2.4m rising to 3.4m high) green house for my system. In a previous life it grew tropical plants.
If you have the time and skills I would build your own out of timber and solarweave or something similar. My solarweave has been on my greenhouse over 20 years and still going strong. It’s cheap and easy to use.

In my experience (growing plants in greenhouses 30+ years) the 2 things that are critical in any greenhouse design will be air movement and getting rid of excess heat.

The other things you may need to bear in mind is that mites will be a major problem so you will have to deal with them (predatory mites work well but can be expensive - don’t use too many as they will eat all the 2 spotted mites and then die from starvation). You can also use misters to make the environment wetter to slow the 2 spotted mites down but that can lead to fungal problems, but at least you can spray to some extent.
The other problem you will need to keep in mind is that if you get pests in your greenhouse the predators that can deal with them will often be excluded so that can be a major headache. Also if bees can’t gain entry you will need to hand pollinate many plants
(these have all been challenges I have had to face and deal with myself).

My solutions has been
- to use predatory mites but make sure you keep some infested plants so the population of predators can be maintained all year (I use celery damages the leaves but not the stalk and grow well all year round).
- open at least 1and a half sides to let the hot air out, cool air in and more importantly to let the predators in. Alternatively use roll up sides. Faye’s setup is the best. Looks great and from what you can see on her blog, works very well.
- use the yellow and blue sticky traps
- monitor frequently and use your fingers to kill pests in the early stages (or a jet of water)
- I spray with eco rose fortnightly and Dipel (Bacillus thuringiensis) weekly while host plants are growing
- I also have 2 (and soon to be 3) beds outside of the greenhouse as some vegetables grow better outside. By having both inside and outside available I increase the options available to me.

You may also need to think about roof height. If too low the plants will touch the roof and run out of space and perhaps more importantly get cooked as that is where a lot of the hot air is waiting to be expelled. (I also have my air pump up near the roof so warm air is pumped into the tank to increase the temp)

Also my water temps seem to be much lower than an outside system during late spring, summer and early autumn. Rarely does my 5000l system (2 tanks - 4000l and 1000l) get above 25C and that was with the outside beds. Before that they never got above 25C.

Now your question was, what greenhouse to buy? To answer that question you really need to know how you intend to deal with the problems that will come with greenhouse growing. Knowledge of that will allow you to make a better and more informed decision on what will work best for you in your climate and situation.

Cheers
Marc

I've been drooling over the Growfresh range mainly because for almost the price of the Sproutwell's you get 6mm double wall units. Not sure if they do 4m wide though - mind you I don't think sproutwell does either...

will check and come back

Both sites offer larger sizes so you might have to talk to them. Both sites have 3 levels of quality for hobbyists through to professional level. The more expensive ones are touted as more weather proof.

Mind you I do not yet have a system so I'd be talking to Marc if I was you. I'm a noob to all this.

yes mate, they definately do the 4mm

Is that a stutter on the m?

I'm kinda leaning towards the Growfresh 6100 unit. I figure it gives me room for everything plus expansion later once the system is running and has auto-open vents as well as a decent shade system available. Not sure about the shade system yet as Sproutwell have a roll-up one for theirs.

I'm thinking the double-wall system of Growfresh would be a better bet than a single wall from sproutwell, but I need to check if the GF one is 6mm total thickness or 6mm of polycarb with a gap as well.

So much to learn...

And there's why this is such a great place - while looking for info to provide I discovered the Garden Pro series on sproutwell also has the double wall set up...

hi Guys, re twin skinned/double wall. Bear in mind the possible loss of light with the extra layer (Will depend on the product used and how much loss of light will occur over time). I have a twinned skinned (solarweave) greenhouse and it significantly reduces the light (significant in the context of vegetables) so I cant use shadecloth to reduce the heat. I would only get a twin skinned green house if you really need the heat retention.

Basic shadehouses, very easy to assemble and very secure. mining companies are using their larger versions in the north of WA in cyclone zones.

Length (m): 7.1
Width (m): 3.66
Height (m): 2.6
$1100.00... with either plastic or shadecloth cover, other cover only about an extra $300 from memory.
http://www.shelterstation.com.au/product.php?pid=3

Length (m): 5.1
Width (m): 2.77
Height (m): 2.3
$880.00... with either plastic or shadecloth cover, other cover availabe for a bit extra (same as with the one above)
http://www.shelterstation.com.au/product.php?pid=21

The double polycarbonate is almost glass clear and blocks most UV. That may make it less than optimal for plants needing high sunlight exposure I guess.

Other than that, for me (& I presume for adzza) the ability to control the environment to keep it constant for optimum year-round growth is important - even more so now I have read of some of the problems people have faced with open-air systems.

With the ability to have constant cool or constant warm conditions I don't have the concern of changing species or losing a generation to accident or capricious weather, PLUS I can run a variety of species of fish that, for me, is a high value part of having the system.

Mind you, I wouldn't mind le Petit Garage for my car - bloody birds like the tree above my car...

.
Their greenhouses do have weather proof ends on them, they show them in the Le Grande photo's, but not in the Le Pettite photo's.

One of my customers has his AP system set up in a Le Grande version and he was able to over-winter his Barramundi here in Perth last winter.
The Greenhouse warmed up nicely during the day (in fact most days he had the ends open) and when closed up in the afternoon it held the warmth well into the night. He has a reasonable amount of water in his system (1000L FT, 1000L ST and 1100L GB) so that may have helped hold the system water temp up for longer during the night.

Cheers

hi i have a question regarding shadecloth and this seems like a good place to ask
i am currently building a 11m x 6m greenhouse to house my growbeds and tanks, i live in the perth hills and it can get quite cold here in winter. So my question is what UV rated shadecloth should i use? should i even be using shadecloth? there are lots of commercial grade coverings and before i invest the money in something i want to make sure i am using the right product for the right purpose

Thanks for the advice and feedback so far. The issue with a lot of what has been suggested so far is that they are not wide enough. It must be at least 4 meters wide to support mu layout and large fish tank. My main tank has a 2.4 meter diameter (3000L).

The closest thing I have found so far is this:

http://www.ghco.com.au/category.asp?id=11

Issue is that its a little pricey for what it is, and does not have auto opening vents, etc to help maintain temps. But something that size would be ideal for me so if anyone has found anything else please let me know!

Cheers!

One thing to consider is what the council requirements are too. My council (and it is my understanding that most are the same) treats greenhouses the same as sheds. i.e. If it is over 10 square metres, it requires a permit. This off course adds to the cost and time of implementation substantially. I ended up building 2 greenhouses each 9.9 squares metres. They said I could have as many of these as I can fit (as long as they are separate to each other) without a permit. These each accommodate two growbeds. The fish are external to the greenhouses.

Good point fb. For us the height can be an issue as well. Hard to believe you can't do better pricewise for a poly tunnel but it does include doors ...

What about building a tunnel style greenhouse? That's what the one you are considering looks like. I don't know if you have galvanized fence railing in the correct size and gauge or if these benders are available to you.

http://www.lostcreek.net/

You could get a bender for the 20 ft greenhouse, make it whatever lenght you want and have room to spare. Later on you could extend the greenhouse just by bending another hoop. I noticed one vendor on ebay said they ship to Australia - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Model-DY-20-Quick-Hoop-Bender-/350488318559?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item519abb525f

The fence rail is around 11 or 12 US dollars per 10' 6" section (17 gauge) and it takes 3 to make a hoop on a 20 ft greenhouse.

You should be able to source all the other greenhouse components. More work but might be worth it in quality and/or savings if it's allowed.

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

After much deliberation, redesigning, and negotiation with the wife, we decided on a SproutWell Prestige 3M wide X 9 M long.

We feel this offers not only a pleasant looking addition to the yard, but a highly functional greenhouse with plenty of room for system growth and ground dwelling veggies also.

We have started a blog so everyone can keep tabs on our progress.

http://organicaquaponics.blogspot.com.au/

Cheers!