Sunday, April 10, 2011

Finally, a lazy man's greenhouse


I spent the last two days getting the greenhouse in shape for this year's growing season. All of the major preparation is pretty much complete, with only a few minor chores remaining. I still have to install supports on the left side for the tomatoes and cucumbers. And, I still have to install the automatic vent openers and run the feed lines to the autopots.

As a result of someone giving up hydroponic growing, and giving me their autopots, I now have enough autopots so that I can use them exclusively. It will be a much neater operation, as all of the pots will all be gravity fed from the two large reservoirs on the top shelf in the back of the greenhouse. The only pump I will have to run is a two outlet air pump to aerate the nutrients in the reservoirs. There will no longer be a need for timers, or other electrical devices, which makes for a pretty energy efficient operation.

Each day I place the trays of seedlings in the greenhouse, and I return them to the indoor growing area before the sun sets. I will wait a little longer, until the night temperatures are running in the mid to upper forties, before I plant in the autopots and officially open the greenhouse for the season.

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