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runfox
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Posts: 69
Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:41 pm
Location: Central Florida

Want to start an Ochid Greenhouse

I'm in a new phase of our lives. My wife and I raised Jack Russell Terriers, and chickens, but we are all done with that. I may put in a vegetable garden again, but I can buy them just as nice and cheap at the local farmers market.

We are in the grand baby mode and don't want to be tied down so the dogs and chickens are gone.

I have a perfectly good 12 x12 building, that used to be a dog house for my supplies, and a nice 27 x 12 or so concrete slab that used to be dog runs for a base. So now I need some help finding plans and info on how to build an orchid greenhouse, specifically in Florida. Not a glass house, or fiberglass panels, ill build a tube frame with plastic shade material.

We have commercial greenhouses like this all over central Florida, with tube frame, plastic shade cloth, and all. Ill set it up with an automatic water and fertilizer set up and it will be good to grow. This is not commercial, just for our own enjoyment.

imafan26
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Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Well, to start with you need to check out what your building codes say about permits for structures. If you go over a certain size you may need a permit.

I took a beginner orchid class. When the subject of building a shade house came up. The instructor said whatever your thinking of, it is not enough.
Unless you specialize or restrain yourself, orchids do end up filling every nook and cranny.

The simplest benches I have is to use bench masters (Which I bought) they last for years and they don't rot. Or they can be made with wood and screen. Eventually they will rot.

The easiest frame is to go to Omar the tent man and buy the pieces for a tent frame and use that for the start. We anchored the ends of the tent pole connectors in cement blocks. the blocks can be buried.

Depending on the kinds of orchids you choose you will need 37% to 67% shadecloth. What most of us do since we have to buy shadecloth in rolls is to buy the 37% to 47% shadecloth. If the orchids need more shade. Double up the shadecloth instead of buying different degrees of shading.

Some orchids like to hang so building racks or lines over the benches that can support the weight of hanging orchids saves space and gives orchids like vandas and some of the nestor and nobile type dendrobiums the air they like to have.

What kind of orchids are you growing? The best ideas and deals you can get will be contacts from your local orchid society. They will know what orchids do the best in your area and can point you to suppliers and sources for orchids and orchid accessories. They may even have pointers on building a shade house.

Most people here who are serious orchid growers have shade houses that are 15 ft high. Orchids need to be about 5 ft below the shade cloth to get the shade that is rated by the shade cloth. The only way to know how much shade you are actually getting is to use a light meter. Shade houses often are 30ft by 40ft, essentially taking up the entire back yard. The posts are usually metal 3 inch pipe. The roof is rectangular and flat. Shade cloth is doubled for about 1/2 the house to accommodate the orchids that need more shade. Steel wires are stretched and screwed into the metal posts to hang orchids like vandas. Anthuriums sometimes share the space with orchids since they like pretty much the same conditions. These houses can hold close to 10,000 orchids.

I have fewer orchids now, but I did have over 300 orchids. It doesn't take long to build up a collection.

A narrower shade house usually has a hoop roof, making it look a little like a Quonset hut. If you want to start with a small house, the hoop roof will give you the best height.

https://www.orchidboard.com/Build-Orchid ... with-plans

Depending on what your growing conditions and the type of orchids you are growing, some of them may not need to be in a shade house.

https://everything-orchids.com/outdoor-orchids

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tomf
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Posts: 3233
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 8:15 am
Location: Oregon

26, I take it that is your web site? Nice site it looks like you grow a large number of orchards, do you sell them? My ex's steep mother raised orchards, I Don't, but I think they are beautiful flower.

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ElizabethB
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Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:53 am
Location: Lafayette, LA

Have raised and killed many orchids. Not on the scale you are talking about. Maybe contact your local orchid society for advice. IDK - just a thought.



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