Hello folks, I have this greenhouse lying at the West facing side of the home. In the winter right now, it get just enough heat and light to not burn the orchids. In the summer, there is almost no direct light hitting the tent, but I still want to reduce the intensity even more. I've looked up that many people use Aluminet shade. Which percent does everyone reccomend to get? and what's the best source. Thank You in advance ..read more

I need to replace the 4 4' lights in my greenhouse. At the moment I'm using regular florescent grow lights. Would it be better to change them to T5 or T8? TIA, LeeB ..read more

Okay... so I don't have a greenhouse, I have a grow tent in an unheated garage. I am heating it using a small ceramic heater and a temperature controller that has day and night settings. What temperature range do you set your greenhouse heaters at? Right now I have mine sent to turn on at 65 and off at 75 in the day, trying to keep it averaging near 70 without cycling the heater too often. At night 55-65. Is there any negative effect of the oscillating temperatures on the plants through the day, and if so at what extreme. Trying to balance this with not over cycling the heater. I am also c ..read more

So my 15 year old Champion swamp cooler bit the dust (fan OK but pump motor corroded and lifeless, not to mention corrosion thoughout basin) and I need a replacement cooling device. I have a 13 x 8 foot greenhouse and live in Pasadena,CA climate zone 9B/10A. It is usually dry in the summer but lately (?climate change?) humidity has not bottomed out as often lately. A traditional refrigerant type AC would pull 6 amps, about the same as a replacement swamp cooler, and less expensive to install. I'm able to maintain adequate humidity during dry spells - 35% is the lowest daytime (maybe 10 days du ..read more

I have a small hobby GH which I use for 2-3 seasons each year, depending on how early it gets cold in my area. I built a misting system with a timer to fog the inside two to three times each day (again depending on weather). I placed an Orbitz calcium inhibitor in line with the misters, but have been noticing once the leaves dry off, there's a white film remaining. Research shows it may be some of the chemicals in the inhibitor. Have or do any of you use a calcium inhibitor and if so, does it too leave a residue? If it does, is it detrimental to the plants? I occasionally spray manually with ..read more

We’re renting so spending a lot of money on a greenhouse isn’t in the cards at the moment, but I’m curious about this pop up style. Anybody using one of these now, or prior? If I’m careful to set it up correctly so it’ll withstand our windy conditions without blowing over, be careful with the plastic (etc.), and put it away for 3-6 months a year, how many seasons could I expect to get out of it before it’s so trashed that there’s not enough tape in the world to fix it? Two or three? Our summer and fall sun can be brutal but the greenhouse will be mostly shaded by the house in the late aftern ..read more

Hey all! I found a novel solution to a problem that I had, and perhaps a lot of you have, so I thought I would I would show you guys. Here was my problem: I was windowsill growing and it wasnt cutting it. I wanted a greenhouse but even if I sprang for one I was kinda paranoid about maintaining temperatures. One screw up and many years and dollars would fry or freeze. Thinking about it was a little anxiety inducing. The Solution: Make a small greenhouse which would attach to the house and share climate control with the inside of the house. I made a box that attaches to the outside of a windo ..read more

I posted a question on misting timers in the beginners forum. Maybe I should have posted it here. Please see the post, and if you have a suggestion, I'm all ears! Thanks all ..read more

My greenhouse has a gas furnace and thermostat that works on a millivolt system, that is they don't require mains electricity and will continue to function even if the power goes out. But since the thermostat is millivolt, it doesn't have the ability to run a schedule of "a bit warmer during the day and a bit cooler at night" It only has one set point. I was thinking that there might be a battery powered millivolt thermostat out there where the battery runs the clock for different day/night time settings. But I'm having a hard time finding that and most of them seem to be non-programmable ..read more

I purchased a glass Ikea unit to make into a greenhouse of sorts for my orchids. The temperature is a few degrees higher than in my apartment which I am sure the orchids are happy about. Now it's running about 73 degrees day time and 68 night time. My question is about humidity. I have a variety of orchids in this cabinet greenhouse....oncidiums, cattleyas, doritis, maxillaria, dendrobiums..... I have a fan in there that runs 24/7 for air circulation and I try to open it up for about 20 minutes a day to allow for some new air in the cabinet. How much humidity is too high? With the plants dry t ..read more