2.5sqm per person to be fed +seedling area

Produce grown = 4Kg per sqm

Insulated slab and perimeter walls

80% humidity (More for seedlings) Therefore, do not attach to a house.

Calcium Chloride as desiccant to absorb humidity. Hang a pillowcase of it above a bucket to collect the water. Could also drip into a gutter.

Automated window openers offer the ability to open and close windows into the desired position at any given time for improved convenience, comfort, safety, and security. Linear electric actuators can often be found in buildings providing linear motion as the driving force when changing window positions. With all the different control boxes available, options such as the PA-35 WiFi Control Box enables the use of smartphones to control the actuators that raise and lower windows.

Use for Kingspan window shutters over sliding windows. Progressive Automations latest project from AutoWindows autowindows.org

youtube.com/watch?v=0tSg-LbNRrk

Raised beds – Gabion wall exterior, lined with weedmat (Preferably outside too)

‘C’ channel and ‘Wiggle wire’ to hold polythene ‘Spring wire and lock channel’. $7AUD Fix every 300mm. Plastic or rubber coated wire (NOT plain steel)

‘Reinforce’ corners of greenhouse with a layer of polycarbonate underneath the polythene to prevent wind ingress.

Double layer of poly, inflated 300mm between layers. Same R value as polycarbonate. 100w, 1amp blower

24v motor on thermostat to roll up the lower sides to let in cool air. 27c set point youtube.com/watch?v=nlwdzf-bk90

Chinese Greenhouses are oriented on east-west axes to better capture the low-angle “winter sun”— increasing heat gain in the late fall, winter, and early spring and reducing heat gain throughout the rest of the year. (USA orientation) Design and Build a Low-cost, Passive Solar Greenhouse with Dan Chiras

Design evolution:

In modern greenhouses, operators aim to have a CO2-level at least three times the level outdoors to increase crop yield. This CO2 is produced as a byproduct of the fossil fuel-based heating systems inside the greenhouses. However, when no fossil fuels are used, another source of CO2 has to be found. A greenhouse can be entirely heated by compost if it is well-insulated, and that the method drastically enriches the CO2-levels in the soil and in the greenhouse air. To add to this, the compost also serves to increase soil fertility.

Ideal glass angle = Latitude + 20 °

.

Ultimate Winter Greenhouse for -40o

How to build a winter greenhouse for -40′ climates that can grow in cold weather 4 seasons year-round things like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, strawberries etc. Things like insulation, C02, heating methods and greenhouse types like passive solar greenhouses and Chinese greenhouses are discussed in this video.

Ground source heat youtube.com/watch?v=ZD_3_gsgsnk

Temp 10-12c at 1m in NZ (Same as Montana)

Montana uses 7 tubes of 150mm at 2.4m deep each 70m long

The greenhouses are 5m wide. Most kits we sell are 24m to 31m long. Greenhouses less than 18m long are less cost effective than bigger greenhouses. Lexan brand, twin wall polycarbonate. Lexan warranties their twin wall polycarbonate with a 15 year extended warranty. 100mm HDPE Plastic Corrugated Pipe for Geo-Thermal Tubes. Distilled water prevents machinery breakdown.

100mm tube at ceiling height to gather heat and move it 300mm under the walkway. Delays fans starting and does not waste heat.

Twinwall polycarbonate roof with polythene stapled to underside of rafters to make a double glazing effect. Collect condensation into gutter for watering.

20c degree spread before ventilation/heating starts

Use water in black painted steel 200l barrels to store heat (Put against insulated back wall so they radiate at night)

  • water = 4186 KJ/m3K
  • concrete = 2060 KJ/m3K
  • sandstone = 1800 KJ/m3K
  • compressed earth blocks = 1740 KJ/m3K
  • rammed earth = 1673 KJ/m3K
  • brick = 1360 KJ/m3K
  • earth wall (adobe) = 1300 KJ/m3K

750MM Wide x 50M (Long) Giant Large Bubble WRAP Large Bubbles Greenhouse Packing amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LWLCR1V

Chinese greenhouse:

Use 200l black steel barrels for thermal mass.

AliExpress – Solar Heat Sensitive Greenhouse Automatic Window Opener Auto Vent Kit $30USD

AliBaba greenhouse kitset

alibaba.com/product-detail/Chinese-Greenhouses-Chinese

Have an airlock entry to prevent heat loss

Closed loop system

  • Favourable ground conditions: Sandy loams, sandy clay loam and loam; moist soils with high solar radiation
  • Normal ground conditions: Humid, silty-sandy ground with average solar radiation exposure
  • Poor ground conditions: Dry, coarse-grained soils (e.g. pumice, stony ground) and areas shaded from solar radiation

You can find out the soil temperature at your location using the NIWA ground temperature mapping tool.

CO2 production youtube.com/watch?v=OtpfltN15-8

How to make this low budget CO2 system:

1. Get 2 bottles, 1 larger and 1 smaller

2. Make 1 hole in the large bottle cap and 2 holes in the small bottle cap

3. Connect the bottles with airline tubes and make sure the tubing that goes from the large bottle into the small bottle is longer so it can sit underwater.

4. Seal the tubes and caps with silicone glue. (IMPORTANT)

5. Connect a diffuser to the tube that comes out of the small bottle

6. Warm up 250 gr sugar in 250 gr water.

7. Soak 3 sheets of gelatin (4,5 grams)

8. Add the gelatin to the hot sugar syrup

9. Turn of the heat and set aside to cool off

10. Once cooled add to the large bottle

11. Store the bottle in the fridge to set the gelatin

12. Add 1 or 2 grams of dried yeast together with a teaspoon of sugar to 1 liter of lukewarm water and mix.

13. When the gelatin is set you can add the yeast water

14. The bottle is now ready and your DIY CO2 system can be installed on your tank.

15. It can still take up to 24 hours before there is enough pressure in the bottle

16. Shaking the bottle gently will speed up this process

17. After 5 weeks or so you will notice the CO2 output decreasing

18. Prepare a new bottle 1 or 2 days in advance

19. Change the new bottle in the evening after your tank lights go off

20. In the morning you should have enough pressure in your new bottle.

21. Doesn’t work? Check for leaks in your bottle caps.

Water tubes are made of inert Teflon, which won’t degrade, not even in sunlight.  They are sealed so no algae grow inside.

Solar Powered Greenhouse

Passive Solar Greenhouse Webinar

The first crops of tomatoes and cucumbers grown inside electricity-generating solar greenhouses were as healthy as those raised in conventional greenhouses, signaling that “smart” greenhouses hold great promise for dual-use farming and renewable electricity production.

“We have demonstrated that ‘smart greenhouses’ can capture solar energy for electricity without reducing plant growth, which is pretty exciting,” said Michael Loik, professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and lead author on a paper that appears in the current issue of the American Geophysical Union’s journal Earth’s Future.

Electricity-generating solar greenhouses utilize Wavelength-Selective Photovoltaic Systems (WSPVs), a novel technology that generates electricity more efficiently and at less cost than traditional photovoltaic systems. These greenhouses are outfitted with transparent roof panels embedded with a bright magenta luminescent dye that absorbs light and transfers energy to narrow photovoltaic strips, where electricity is produced.

WSPVs absorb some of the blue and green wavelengths of light but let the rest through, allowing the plants to grow. WSPV technology was developed by coauthors Sue Carter and Glenn Alers, both professors of physics at UC Santa Cruz, who founded Soliculture in 2012 to bring the technology to market.

Loik’s team monitored photosynthesis and fruit production across 20 varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, lemons, limes, peppers, strawberries, and basil grown in magenta glasshouses at two locations on campus and one in Watsonville, California.

“Eighty percent of the plants weren’t affected, while 20 percent actually grew better under the magenta windows,” said Loik. Tomatoes and cucumbers are among the top greenhouse-produced crops worldwide, he said.

In additional experiments, small water savings were associated with tomato photosynthesis inside the magenta glasshouses. “Plants required 5 percent less water to grow the same amount as in more conventional glasshouses,” he said.

“I thought the plants would grow more slowly, because it’s darker under these pink panels. The color of the light makes it like being on the Red Planet,” said Loik. “Plants are sensitive not just to the intensity of light but also to color. But it turns out the plants grow just as well.”

Reducing the energy consumed by greenhouses has become a priority as the global use of greenhouses for food production has increased six-fold over the past 20 years to more than 9 million acres today—roughly twice the size of New Jersey, according to Loik. “It’s big and getting bigger,” he said. “Canada relies heavily on greenhouses for vegetable production, and their use is growing in China, too.” Plastic greenhouses are becoming popular for small-scale commercial farming, as well as for household food production, he added.

Greenhouses use electricity to control temperature and power fans, lights, and other monitoring systems. “This technology has the potential to take greenhouses offline,” said Loik, who specializes in climate change, plant physiology, water resources, and sustainable technologies. Cost per panel of WSPV technology is 65 cents per watt—about 40 percent less than the per-watt cost of traditional silicon-based photovoltaic cells.

“If greenhouses generate electricity on site, that reduces the need for an outside source, which helps lower greenhouse gas emissions even more,” said Loik. “We’re moving toward self-sustaining greenhouses.” (via University Of Santa Cruz)

The core LUMO technology is a light-altering dye that converts green light to red light. Red light has the highest efficiency for photosynthesis in plants. The absorbance of chlorophyll a and b, two pigments found in plants that are critical to photosynthesis, highlights the fact that plants absorb in the blue and red portion of the spectrum, and not in the green. In extensive plant trials, crops under LUMO have experienced positive growth responses, including increased yield, faster time to maturation, and disease resistance.

Check it out in the video or video

Attached Greenhouse

Ceres Greenhouses ceresgs.com/the-vesta-kit-house

SPECIFICATIONS:

  • 2 sizes available: Vesta (960sqft), Vesta+ (1480sqft) house
  • 12×40 attached greenhouse/mudroom
  • Galvanized structural steel for greenhouse and house
  • Vinyl windows for greenhouse & house
  • Exhaust & circulation fan kit for greenhouse
  • Pre-engineered insulated raft slab with radiant air heat (optional)
  • R2.3 walls
  • Double-pane glass windows on South, East and West (East and West windows are operable). Standard glass.
  • 16mm Triple-wall polycarbonate roof, fastening system (creates water-proof seal) and aluminum trim
  • Ground to Air Heat Transfer (GAHT®) system, the greenhouse is also naturally heated and cooled year-round by storing excess heat in the soil underground. (Climate/Earth battery)
    youtu.be/o2NtBCS2_WQ
  • Use a 450mm diameter central plenum to feed the underground tubes. The plenum is essentially lossless up to 1650cfm although I seldom go higher than 900-1000cfm. If I used a single 100mm tube of the same length for the intake, it would limit the systems maximum (essentially lossless) flow rate to around 110cfm in total. This wouldn’t provide anywhere near the required greenhouse air turnover rates for effective cooling in the summer.
  • 150mm tubes underground

Solar powered greenhouse auto vent opener $60

Automatically opens and closes the roof vent/window when temperature changes in the Greenhouse. The opener has a metal cylinder containing a mineral which expands when heated. This pushes a piston that opens the vent. As the temperature cools, the mineral shrinks and a spring closes the vent and resets the piston. The opening and closing of the vent is gradual, allowing just the right amount of air flow for cooling.

  • Starts to open at 16-23 o
  • Fully open temperature 35o and above
  • Open temperature can be adjusted
  • Fully open distance 45cm
  • Maximum open weight 7kg