I wouldn’t recommend these to most people as you need to bleed air out of the lines and they take a focused person to set up.
However I think these are right down your alley. You basically just need to keep your reservoir elevated over the top of the pots.
A couple photos of the in-ground trees now that they have some breathing room since I just moved out all the potted ones to start putting in drip lines:
Sorry to dredge up this old post, but I’m thinking of switching from a Thermocube to something like that Peco unit. Mostly my issue is on cool/overcast days like today, the 78/60 Thermocube keeps the exhaust fan running and doesn’t let the greenhouse warm to what would be a very reasonable low-80s temperature. Sometimes I manually override it, but here’s what it looks like when I forget to do that on an overcast spring day:
I have seeds in there trying to germinate, so 84° would’ve been much better than 65°!
There seem to be a ton of other brands that look pretty similar to the Peco device, including some that come pre-wired. Is there any reason why you specifically recommend that brand, @PatapscoMike, such as bad experiences with other versions like that? I’ve seen others suggest Dramm, for example:
And this JD is a lot more affordable and seems to have mostly good reviews, other than calibration issues:
I recommended that one because I have used it for years and it works flawlessly. I had terrible luck with the Rainbird sensors but other than that I haven’t tried very many kinds.
I may go with one of those others, then. Looks like Peco is out of stock (ships in “3 to 5 weeks”) on Amazon and most other places. I’ll post my thoughts on the one that I get here later, once I’ve had a chance to try it out for a bit.
Wow, Winn! What a decision to make. I vote for C. Close to the house and A/C power and it’s level.
Well the decision was made 3 years ago! I do have some regrets that I could probably summarize here to help other people trying make similar plans.
Really really really make sure that the panels are properly sealed on both ends. I regret hiring someone to install them instead of doing it myself, because they did a poor job of sealing them and now they are all full of algae and less sunlight gets through. I might go back and choose a different glazing entirely that doesn’t have that space in the middle where algae and insects can invade, even though it would mean a worse R value.
If I had it to do over, I’d find a way to use a metal frame instead of reusing the wood. It’s been growing moldy mildew and there’s not much I can do to prevent it, and cleaning the rafters of mildew is difficult now that the tree branches are starting to fill in that space.
The distance from the nearest water spigot means I have to haul an enormous hose across the yard when the rain barrels run dry in summer. In general, I think it would have been better to run a water line out and include some kind of expandable automated irrigation system. Watering is a chore and my various attempts to add pumps on timers to the rain barrels have mostly failed.
Yes, Winn. I realized that my response was to one that was a few years old. Just like you, I went through a few machinations with the water supply to my various needs locations about ten years ago. While the rain barrels are a great idea for stop gap watering they do tend to run out of water when we’re still in need. I finally hired out a local guy who extended our main trunk out into the front and back yard and he put in an anti flowback valve and a timing unit and we were finally fixed for water in the gardens. Best thing I ever did for my garden was to automate the delivery of just enough water to keep the garden going in the heat of summer. This photo is a panoramic view of the garden at our home in Nashville. Look closely at the boxes to see the half inch emitter hoses going up into the individual boxes.
By the way, I have still not done the truly best thing in developing a watering system that comes from a well. Big, big expense there.
I’m considering building a green house. I’d like to hear your opinions and experience on two things in particular:
I’m considering having the north facing wall be nearly entirely concrete block and have no glazing. I feel like most green houses I’ve seen don’t have this but I’m wondering why- almost no direct light would be coming from the north and it would make the green house warmer during cold nights.
I’m also considering placing it at the bottom of a small hill. Is the “cold air flows down” a really affect that would impact the green house? I can build a 1 foot concrete skirt to minimize it if it may be a problem.
Thank you!
I’m guessing it’s because a lot are kits, even many commercial ones and/or people don’t care about reducing energy costs as much as possible. I think it’s a great decision to do a solid north wall if you’re going to build from scratch. Mine isn’t solid so I’m planning to insulate it when I get a chance.
