Proper arrangement of the greenhouse inside means comfortable work and a rich harvest. How to build a greenhouse with your own hands: instructions from A to Z Which greenhouse is better to make with your own hands

If you want to get a good harvest, you should be concerned about the inside. In this case, everything is taken into account: heating, soil, location of beds, watering and much, much more.

Soil: clean and disinfected

The primary task is to develop the soil. What conditions must be met for this?

1. Provide the soil with good air permeability and moderate humidity.
2. Add nutrient supplements to the soil.
3. Clear the soil of weeds. Carry out disinfection using special antimicrobial agents.

Arranging a greenhouse involves proper design of the beds. Some people think that it should, first of all, be convenient for the gardener. But that's not true! Improper placement of beds will result in no harvest.

The most effective way is. The bottom line is that for optimal plant life, the arrangement of the beds should be as follows: width - 45 cm, passage around the formed bed - 90 cm. The presented option allows the plants to receive the optimal amount of air and light. He will tell you about the foundation.

In this case, the beds of the polycarbonate greenhouse should go from north to south. Of course, a high yield depends not only on this, but also on the timeliness of watering, fertilizing and other things.

How are beds arranged according to the cardinal directions? It turns out that the standard north-south placement does not suit all plants. The most favorable arrangement is the method from west to east. In this case, the sun illuminates the plants from morning to evening, which means they will develop much faster. "Volya" will tell you about the types of greenhouses .

Satellite beds - path

If you have laid out the beds, it’s time to arrange the paths. There are several options: in the center or several parallel ones.

What is needed to make a path in the center?

• if the greenhouse is small, measure the distance from one wall of the greenhouse to the other and lay a passage exactly in the middle;
• Accordingly, the beds will be located on both sides of the path:
• The passage width must be at least 500 mm.

Parallel tracks

• It is recommended that the parallel paths of the polycarbonate greenhouse be made of non-slip material. This could be gravel or brick.
• If the greenhouse is large, it is better to make several paths. The beds will be located between them.

Fencing paths inside the greenhouse

Ventilation inside the greenhouse

Almost every greenhouse has windows and doors. This means that ventilation can be done manually, the main thing is to open and close the windows in time. This method is good because it does not involve large expenses for the purchase of equipment. All you need is a hydrometer and a thermometer. But if you do not expect to constantly look into the polycarbonate greenhouse, the method is not suitable for you. You'll have to turn to an automated system.

Installing an automated system inside is actually not that difficult. At the same time, it becomes possible to regulate the microclimate depending on the conditions required by the crop being grown.

You can equip polycarbonate greenhouses with the following automated ventilation systems:

• bimetallic systems;
• electrical installations;
• hydraulic ventilation.

What is needed to get a good harvest in a greenhouse? (video)

Heating system

A greenhouse made of polycarbonate can be heated using solar heating. But sometimes this is not enough and stove heating is used. An original and modern way is to install heated floors. It will maintain the general climate in the polycarbonate building and heat the beds. You can make a greenhouse heating system yourself, knowing about.

Irrigation system

A polycarbonate greenhouse may have one of the irrigation systems. A barrel and a hose are also a device for irrigation, but using them is not very convenient and not at all modern. So, if you have the opportunity, install a drip irrigation system. He will tell you more about the system.

So, arrangement inside the greenhouse involves observing a large number of nuances. Only well-organized space and equipment with care systems will allow you to get a good harvest. You can find out about an interesting greenhouse option - .

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Every gardener is attracted by beds with vegetables and other types of plants. And, probably, each of them dreams of greenhouses. In this article we will look at various options for greenhouses and study the materials from which the greenhouse is made. Let’s raise the question of whether it’s better to build it yourself or buy a ready-made kit. So, how to make a greenhouse with your own hands? Let's get started.

Materials such as polycarbonate, glass, and polyethylene film are used to cover structures for growing plants.

The frame of the greenhouse is mainly made of metal profiles or wood, and polymer pipes can also be used.

Depending on the type of construction, greenhouse structures are of the following types: arched, gable and single-pitch. A greenhouse is most often installed as a free-standing structure, but an extension to an adjacent building can be made.
Greenhouses are divided into winter and summer. In most cases, a winter greenhouse is a greenhouse.

In order to grow seedlings for flowers or early vegetables, summer residents use a frame made of metal profiles, wood or metal-plastic pipes to build greenhouses. And depending on thickness preferences, cover with plastic film. To preserve the film for more than one season, it is recommended to remove it in the summer. The film does not need to be removed if it is made of reinforced film.

If an all-season greenhouse is installed at the dacha, then it must also be additionally equipped with systems such as microclimate control sensors, a heating system, irrigation, and ventilation must also be installed.

DIY arched summer greenhouse

Let's look at how this type of greenhouse is built. In order for this structure to be manufactured quickly and efficiently, it is necessary to prepare the material for it in advance. It is recommended to use a U-shaped metal profile. To do this, you first mark the shelves on the frame, and then bend them at your discretion. After that, you will need cling film, leftover corners, thick reinforcement, and an edged board.

To build a support for attaching a greenhouse or greenhouse, scraps from metal pipes are used. To do this, first mark the place where the building will be installed. After this, the pipe sections are driven into the ground, with a margin of approximately 30 cm above the ground.

There is not much difference between a greenhouse and a greenhouse. They differ from each other only in size. Greenhouses have a maximum height of one meter. Greenhouses can be of different sizes, depending on how and for what it will be used.

After the supports are installed, pre-bent metal elements are attached. To make the frame more durable, the arches are secured with longitudinal rigid material. A metal profile or reinforcing rod is usually used as such material. It is attached to each arch. Boards are laid along the entire greenhouse; they will serve as a boundary between the beds. Then the film is stretched onto the finished frame. It is recommended to additionally secure it with something heavy so that in a strong wind it will not be torn off the greenhouse.

Attached greenhouse and thermos greenhouse

If you have a limited amount of space in your dacha, it is logical to use an attached greenhouse. Since one side will be the side of the house, the temperature in the greenhouse will be much higher, and accordingly the plants will grow faster.

These types of greenhouses can also be used as a greenhouse. To do this, it is recommended to install it on the southwestern or southern wall of the house. Thanks to this, a lot of daytime sunlight will enter the greenhouse and with it warmth.

Another advantage of an attached greenhouse is the ease of installing heating and electricity. The rest of the structure can be made of materials such as glass, polycarbonate or special film.

A distinctive feature of the greenhouse - thermos is that it is installed almost completely in the ground. First, a pit is dug about two meters deep. Then the foundation is made. After this, the walls are built. You can also choose the wall material. It is better to use wood, brick or foam blocks. As a result, only a small part of the roof will protrude above the ground. The roof can be made of the same materials as conventional above-ground greenhouses: polycarbonate, film or glass. To prevent snow from settling on the roof, it must be made gable.

In winter, the ground at such a depth does not freeze, so you don’t need to install additional equipment in the thermos greenhouse to keep the temperature at a constant level. If you cover your roof with a special reflective film, this will give you the opportunity to collect and transform solar heat.

Many summer residents believe that an arched greenhouse is unstable. And then some of them decide to build a frame made of wood. In order to build a wooden greenhouse, a number of conditions must be met. The durability of such a greenhouse will be ensured if a good foundation is made for it. To prevent rotting of the wooden frame, it must be treated with an antiseptic.

A wooden greenhouse is also chosen for the reason that almost anyone can build it without special skills. Woodworking is much easier than, for example, metalworking. When using metal as a frame, basic knowledge of metalworking and welding is required. To protect the greenhouse from freezing, it is recommended to use. This will be more reliable and additionally protected.

Making the foundation

The first step in building a greenhouse is making the foundation. To do this, a trench is dug around the perimeter of the greenhouse. The depth is about 20 cm and the width is about 30 cm. Pegs are installed along the entire length of the trench, to which formwork boards are nailed. After this, a frame of reinforcement with a diameter of about 10 mm is installed in the formwork. It is believed that this particular diameter is well suited for making a frame. The frame parts are fastened with wire and then welded. When the frame is made, concrete is poured into the formwork along the entire perimeter of the trench.

To fill the entire void with concrete, you need to use a vibrator; if you don’t have one, you can make punctures in a spiral from the edges to the center to release air bubbles from the solution. The concrete mixture becomes strong after 3 weeks. However, if the outside temperature is high, it is recommended to place a film on top of the solution.

How to make a wood frame

If you lay roofing felt on top of the foundation, the wooden frame will last much longer. Next, the tree is tied. To make it you will need a beam of 10 by 20 cm section. Its lower part is attached with self-tapping screws to the foundation. Then all this is united by metal plates.

Then vertical posts are installed to the bottom frame along the entire perimeter at a distance of 75 cm from each other. The upper part of the vertical structure is fastened with wooden frame. For reliability, it is recommended to install spacers and struts.

A wooden greenhouse, like a thermos greenhouse, is covered with a gable roof. In winter, snow will not accumulate and the roof will not sag under its weight. A gable roof is easier to install. To attach the material (glass, polycarbonate or film), you will need rafters. They are quite easy to make yourself from wood. You will need a beam with a section of 10 by 4 or the same board. The structure is assembled on the ground, and then installed on top of the greenhouse.

First, a structure like the letter “A” is made from two beams. And only then identical circuits are gradually attached to it. Then they are all connected together with ridge boards. These boards are attached to both sides of the roof. The rafters are sheathed with sheathing onto which the roofing material is attached.

Roofing material

Why do many people make greenhouses themselves? Most will answer that it is much cheaper. And this is actually true. The advantage of making it yourself is that you are your own designer. Choose your own size, shape, material, type of greenhouse. You also do the internal filling of the greenhouse yourself, as is more convenient for you. And if you use ingenuity and engineering skills, you can make automatic watering and ventilation.

When building yourself, you choose the material for making the greenhouse. Depending on the purposes for which the greenhouse is installed, the material is selected accordingly. In order to grow vegetables and seedlings, you can use film. Polycarbonate or glass is needed if you want a smart greenhouse. And in this case, vegetables and flowers will always be on your table.

Everyone knows that the harvest of vegetables and fruits is many times greater than the yield simply in the ground. But not everyone has the opportunity to purchase. Therefore, making a greenhouse yourself from film and wood is a very cost-effective step.

Film is used as a material, since it does not require an additional foundation. The advantage of film is that it is transparent.

Let's look at each material in more detail.

List of tools: axe, hammer, level, welding, knife, screws, nails, cord. This is a basic list of tools, but others may be needed depending on the type of structure.

Greenhouse with a wooden frame, covered with film

First, we take the bars, pre-soaked with an antiseptic and dried. Section approximately 50 mm. The concrete base is made first. First, a trench is dug, sand is placed at the bottom and filled with water. After some time, the trench is filled with cement mortar. It is better to observe the following proportions by analogy: 10 buckets of crushed stone, 6 buckets of sand and 2 buckets of cement mortar.

Next, the racks are made. You need to make 6 of them. 4 pieces for the side parts, about 2 m high, and 2 for the doors. To make the bars correctly, they are placed on a flat surface, the necessary measurements are taken, and only then they are attached to the base with screws or corners with nails. Using a plumb line we measure the level.

Ridge beams are used at the top of the greenhouse. Fastened with nails. Then everything is covered with polyethylene. Cover with film with a small margin so that you can correct it later. Then the lath is fastened with nails to the beam.

DIY greenhouse with a metal frame

Metal arches with an approximate diameter of 30 mm are used as the base for such greenhouses. You can also take tarred timber, a metal corner or a sleeper, for example. Holes are drilled in the tree, 10 cm deep every 150 cm for arches.

The slats - purlins - are attached to the side. They are connected at the top by a ridge strip. The brackets are welded from the inside, slats are inserted into them and tightened with bolts.

Greenhouse with two frames

In such a greenhouse, the sides are wooden frames. For their manufacture, a 3 by 4 rail is used. The height is usually from two meters. The width is about one and a half. The film is stretched over the frames in 2 layers and only then the frames are installed in a finished wooden frame, selected to the size of the frame.

Scheme of a gable greenhouse made of frames

The scheme is the same as for a conventional greenhouse with two frames. The only difference is that the rafters are attached to the top.

To do this, we take slats, one side is the ridge, the other is the top of the structure. After fastening, the excess slats are sawed off.

Holes are made in the wooden beam for fastening the frame with nails. Part of the frame will be the side walls of the greenhouse, and the rest will be installed on hinges, like doors.

The greenhouses that we have now considered are summer ones. Various vegetables, fruits, and flowers are grown in them during the warm months to provide solar warmth and light. There are also winter greenhouses, they have a more complex structure, but they also have more functions.

Gable winter greenhouse with greenhouse frames

In this design of a gable winter greenhouse, polyethylene or glass is used as side walls.

At approximately a height of 40 cm, a foundation is installed in a 40 by 40 section. Next comes the brickwork. Beams are placed on the brick, in which holes for the frames have already been made. The beams are pre-treated with resin.

Beams with a diameter of 10 cm will serve as rafters. They connect the ridge beam and the wall beam.

Then you can start decorating the interior of the greenhouse. For example, you can install shelving. To ensure air circulates well, leave a small hole between the rack and the wall. The areas between the frames are sheathed with slatted boards.

Single-pitched winter greenhouse made of greenhouse frames

In order for the corridor inside the greenhouse to be about 80 cm, you need to make a pit according to the following dimensions:

• depth 85 centimeters;
• length 11 meters;
• width 3.5 meters.

If the frame is wooden, then the lower part of the beam must be treated with an antiseptic. The installation of such a greenhouse is no different from a gable one. To ensure that the stove chimney is used as efficiently as possible, 10 frames are installed.

• The greenhouse must have ventilation.
• The entrance should be on the east or west side.
• Roofing felt and boards are used as materials for the ceiling.
• The entrance to the greenhouse must be additionally fenced.
• Upon completion of construction, metal materials must be coated with paint.

Those new to greenhouse construction may want to try making a lean-to greenhouse or greenhouse first. The main difference between a greenhouse and a greenhouse is that the ventilation of plants occurs due to the opening of part of the greenhouse. The greenhouse is easier to use; it can be disassembled and moved to another place at any time. You just need to keep in mind that short plants can be planted in a greenhouse. Most gardeners use a greenhouse to grow seedlings. Simply put, a greenhouse is a miniature greenhouse.

Single-pitched pit greenhouse made of film

Let's start with the size of the pit. The width is about one and a half meters, the depth is up to half a meter, the bottom is about half a meter. The logs are laid along the northern and southern walls. To prevent the frames from slipping, a groove is made on the south side or additional beams are nailed. Along the width of the greenhouse, frames with film with an area of ​​1 m by 1.5 m are placed. And depending on how many frames there are, this will be the length of the greenhouse. Welding can be used to connect frames.

Gable film greenhouse

First, the box is made. Dimensions:

• Height – 20 cm.
• Width – 1.6 meters.

Rafters are nailed to the sides every 3-5 cm. On top everything is connected by a beam, which also forms the ridge. The height will be about 75 cm. Every gardener can make such a miniature greenhouse. It is very fast and does not require large investments.

Rules for placing greenhouses and greenhouses

The location for installing a greenhouse or hotbed must be chosen correctly. There should be plenty of sunlight and no wind from the north. The best option would be a small area on the southern part of your site.

You need to pay attention to the condition of your soil. If the soil contains a lot of clay or a lot of moisture in it, then such land cannot be used for a greenhouse or greenhouse. The best option would be soils that have been treated in advance against pests and diseases.

Let's look at how to make a winter greenhouse with your own hands? Almost every site has a greenhouse or greenhouse. These designs can be purchased ready-made. In our article we will look at how you can make a greenhouse yourself, what materials you may need and, in general, types of structures.

Types of greenhouses

One of the main advantages of homemade greenhouses is that you are your own designer and can think through and choose the design you need.

But before you start building, you need to carefully consider a number of details.

1. Select material.
2. Consider the irrigation system.
3. Do you need a foundation?
4. Ventilation system.
5. Dimensions.
6. Heating system.
7. Frame type.
8. Interior decoration.
9. Working space.

Addition. Structures, depending on their features, can be wall-mounted or stationary.

Characteristics of different types of structures

Before building a greenhouse with your own hands, a mandatory step is choosing a construction model. If the greenhouse or hotbed is adjacent to the house, then it will be economical in space and heating costs.

Most use solar heat for heating.

There are polygon greenhouses. They are distinguished by their uniqueness and complexity in manufacturing. Accordingly, prices for such structures are higher. But you will have a beautifully decorated garden plot.

Sizes of structures

Before you start building a greenhouse, you need to understand what size it will be. In this case, you will need to take into account the area of ​​the site and the size of the proposed space for the greenhouse.

Let's look at what you need to consider when choosing a size:

• If you plan to grow only seedlings, then you can use the smallest size.
• If the plant will be grown entirely in a greenhouse, then a more voluminous structure is needed.
• When choosing a size, you need to take into account that the larger the area, the higher the cost of heating.
• The height of the structure directly depends on the height of the owner of this greenhouse and on the interior decoration (shelves).

Building a winter greenhouse: foundation

If the greenhouse or greenhouse is small in size, then a foundation is not necessary. However, many professionals in this field recommend using it during construction. Since the foundation protects the greenhouse from groundwater and dampness.

Types of supporting base for greenhouse structures:

• Wooden beams.
• Foam blocks.
• Brick.
• Concrete.

In most cases, homemade greenhouses are made from a wooden frame.

Greenhouse materials

An important quality of wood is its environmental friendliness and thermal insulation, which is very important for seedlings. A negative feature of using wood is its tendency to rot. Therefore, now they prefer to use galvanized steel as a frame.

Any beginner in this business will be able to independently assemble a metal frame. You just need to take into account that the thermal insulation may be deteriorated.

Building a winter greenhouse: materials for construction

Before you start building a greenhouse, you need to select a material. When choosing it, you need to focus on such qualities as strength, light transmission, and good thermal insulation.

Materials such as wood, glass, polycarbonate, metal arcs, polyethylene pipes have all of the above properties.

Consider the quality of materials:

Glass is environmentally friendly and transparent. Cons - it breaks easily and weighs a lot. And also in terms of price - this is not the most economical option. Glazing will require a lot of time.

Polycarbonate, like glass, is environmentally friendly. Retains heat well and is resistant to mechanical damage. This is a very important characteristic, since the structure will not collapse under the influence of hail and stones. Its strength compared to glass exceeds 100 times. It comes in two types: honeycombs and sheets. They differ from each other in structure and manufacturing process.

Cellular polycarbonate has greater light transmission, since its material and structure scatter light across the glass.

The sheet is similar in structure and characteristics to glass.

Winter structures are more complex in themselves, since during their construction it is necessary to think through heating and heat distribution systems. Many experienced gardeners recommend, or rather, believe that a biofuel-powered polycarbonate greenhouse is the most optimal for winter. When building a wall-mounted greenhouse, you can consider the option of connecting it to the heating system of the whole house. It will also be beneficial from an economic point of view.

What is biofuel?

• Household garbage.
• Compost.
• You can use manure.
• Horse manure is the most valuable fuel.

Advice. Horse manure is mixed with household waste - garbage and evenly distributed over the peat litter.

The main feature of this greenhouse is the huge savings on maintaining the temperature - utilities. Plants can be grown all year round, even in the most severe and frosty winter. Excellent level of light penetration, which is not always the case in conventional greenhouses.

Main features of this greenhouse:

The main advantage is that starting from a depth of 2 meters, the soil maintains the same temperature constantly: in winter, in summer, in frosts, and in rains.

Note. There are slight changes depending on the groundwater level; the closer they are to the surface, the more noticeable the temperature fluctuations.

A good example is a well. In the well, both in summer and winter, the temperature is constant, above zero.

At a depth of approximately 1 meter, temperature changes are noticeable: in winter +5, and in summer up to +10.

The base of the greenhouse can be heated to such temperatures using a heated floor. And to maintain air and soil humidity, it is necessary to use drip irrigation.

Note. A thermos greenhouse can be built in just one season, without using any special equipment and without high costs.

Digging a pit. Land work for a greenhouse

Since the greenhouse goes into the ground, the main part of it, you need to dig a hole of at least two meters. Only then will the soil not freeze, but give off its heat.

The underground part can be as long as you like, but the width is limited - only 5 meters.

Note. You can make the width larger, but then the natural heating and reflective properties will be worse.

The shape can be any, the main thing is to orient it to the west-east side. One side will be thoroughly insulated with foam plastic or glass wool, and the second should be well lit by the sun.

The foundation will be poured along the edge or concrete blocks will be laid, so the edge must be well leveled.

Construction of the wall

When the foundation is completed, you can begin to lay out the walls. On the concrete base there will be a metal frame on which the thermal blocks will be attached.

• The best roofing material is polycarbonate.
• Installation takes place on a metal structure with lathing.
• It is necessary to thoroughly strengthen the attachment points.

How best to make thermal insulation and heating:

A special film is attached to the inside of the wall; it retains heat perfectly.

Advice. In regions with very cold climates, a foil-coated film and a double base layer can be used to retain heat; in relatively warm regions.

The main function of reflective insulation is to maintain positive temperatures and, as a consequence, humidity and carbon dioxide levels. That is, everything that is important for the normal growth of any plants.

Even inside the greenhouse, it is necessary to provide “heat accumulators”.
Note. “Heat accumulator” - this can be any container with water, for example, bottles; they heat up well and quickly and gradually cool down over time, maintaining the temperature.

The base will be heated using underfloor heating. When using it, it is very important to protect the wires from damage by garden tools and moisture. To protect against both aspects, you can lay it in concrete; an easier way is to cover it with a mesh - but this is only from garden tools.

Heating of the floor in a greenhouse is often done under tiles, and plants are planted in pots, tubs, and lawns.

Note. For plants, the main thing is to maintain the optimal temperature of 25-35 degrees Celsius and humidity level.

How to build a roof in a greenhouse with your own hands

When the walls are completely ready, you need to prepare the roof for the greenhouse. The best option for a 12-meter structure is polycarbonate.

It is necessary to provide when constructing a roof:

• Heat retention inside the greenhouse is achieved through the use of double polycarbonate (cellular) coating.
• To connect 2 polycarbonate sheets, each 4 mm thick, take a profile pipe gasket.
• The snow itself will not melt on such a double coating, so you need to use a thermal circuit; it will turn on and off using a timer.
• The use of double coating reduces heat loss during heating, but light transmittance is reduced by approximately 10%.
• We prepare the rafters in advance - we impregnate them with protective agents.
• The connection occurs in 1/2 of the tree, and the jumper is attached so that the length at the lowest point is up to 5 cm.
• The rafters prepared in advance will serve as a support, the lintels are removed, and a ridge beam is placed under them.
• The outer rafters are nailed to the ridge beam using ordinary 20 cm nails.

Once the roof is assembled, it can be painted; after the paint has completely dried, the polycarbonate is attached. For fastening you need to take wood screws. Therefore, an iron corner for the roof is attached along the beam, and a special gasket made of heat-insulating material is also used.

The junctions between the polycarbonate and the roof parts must be well taped with adhesive tape. After all the preparatory work, you can mount the polycarbonate roof in place and secure it to the walls. Then you can move on to arranging the interior space.

Our main goal is to build a greenhouse for the winter period and provide heating in it with little money and labor costs. In this article we will consider the most economical ways to maintain heat and heating, and the choice of materials that best minimize losses.

The design must be solid, designed for long-term use, as inexpensive as possible, economical in terms of heating.

How can you achieve savings?

Let's divide the question into two parts. We have to:

• Build a structure that will absorb maximum heat on sunny days and release minimum heat due to radiation and concept.
• Choose the most inexpensive method of heating in winter (and not only) - taking into account how it will be done and how much operation will cost.

Construction

First, we sweep away greenhouses using film or made of wooden frames, with glass, in one or two layers. Why?

In the first option, you can forget about heat conservation in principle. Losses due to convection are very large; and this material is also too easy to accidentally damage. In winter, all these facts will definitely lead to the destruction of the crop. Such a greenhouse is inexpensive in terms of financial costs. But its thermal insulation properties are practically zero.

In the second option, there will also be a practically unsolvable issue - heat leakage through the holes between the glass and the frame. Wood can dry out or change shape when humidity changes. Also, due to the effects of snow and rain, the frames must be coated with protective compounds, for example, painted, every year.

What remains?

Can choose

• Metal-plastic greenhouses, with several layers of glazing.
• Greenhouses on metal structures with polycarbonate.
• Metal-plastic.

In this case, there are many ready-made structures and all we have to do is choose it and pay for the material and installation.

Basic principles to consider when designing

If we consider the amount of solar energy that can be obtained, then the best option would be with a pitched roof directed to the south. In this case, the sun will almost constantly shine on it at almost a right angle.

The northern wall is being built opaque. It also needs to be insulated from the inside with foil insulation - foil inside. With such a construction, the heat and light entering the greenhouse will be reflected from the foil and hit the beds at right angles. Since from the physics course we know that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

Attention: you cannot make a roof with a slope of less than thirty degrees. In winter, snow can accumulate, which is undesirable for obvious reasons.

What do we get? The advantages of this solution are durability, wear resistance and good thermal insulation. The main disadvantage is the amount that will have to be spent on purchasing such a greenhouse. The price of 1 square meter starts from 2,500 rubles; if you plan a large area, you will end up with a substantial amount.

Polycarbonate

Cellular polycarbonate gained popularity very quickly after its appearance due to the combination of its beneficial properties. Even when used in one layer, good thermal insulation is provided due to the cavities inside. Air is one of the best heat insulators.

Polycarbonate is almost 15 times lighter than glass, which practically eliminates the question of structural strength.

This material is easy to bend and give the desired shape. Polycarbonate can be used together with an arch-shaped frame without any difficulties or problems. By the way, this design eliminates the problem of snow; the arch does not trap snow and it does not accumulate. Simple fastening, with self-tapping screws to a metal structure, and ease of processing.

The simplest recommendations are possible due to the characteristics of polycarbonate and the type of metal structure. The strongest frames are made from profile pipes. The arch is formed using a pipe bender, and the structure is assembled by welding. The cross-section of the pipe for the arch is 20*40 mm, the corner posts are made of pipes with a diameter of at least 40*40 mm.

Ventilation windows are a must; they will help plants survive sunny days. Greenhouse using prof. pipes, with a pitched roof - simply assembled with bolts. Slopes at the corner posts are needed only during the assembly of the structure; in the future, polycarbonate will provide rigidity.

Even cheaper and easier to manufacture is a galvanized profile, which is used when working with drywall, but it is not so resistant to lateral loads (in the wind). When using it, you need to make the roof slope 45 degrees; even minimal accumulations of snow are undesirable.

At the end, polycarbonate sheets with open honeycombs must be sealed using special strips or sealant. Thus, we will reduce heat loss due to convective flows inside the cells.

Heating

How to start heating inside the greenhouse yourself? Let's consider the most affordable solutions for small greenhouses. We will consider only air heating, because the use of radiators, their installation, pipe routing, all this will not be cheap. And there is a high probability of freezing this system in winter.

Gas

Heating using a main gas pipeline, how to do it correctly? A simple solution is a convector; how many of them are needed will depend on the area of ​​the greenhouse. Thermostats that are used in the design of this device allow you to get results without having to worry about adjusting burners and other issues.

The combustion products will go out into the open air through the pipe, and air will flow through it to maintain combustion.

If the size of the greenhouse is large, you can install a gas boiler. The heat exchanger can be blown with a fan; if necessary, warm air is distributed using aluminum hoses. Thermal insulation, as when using a boiler to heat a house, is not needed, we have one room.

With the onset of cold weather, work in the garden and vegetable garden comes to an end. And summer residents have to leave their plots with regret. Despite the fact that growing fruits and vegetables only becomes interesting towards the end of the season. But if you build a heated greenhouse on your summer cottage, you can grow anything you want even in severe frosts in winter.

Construction type

First you need to choose the type of greenhouse, and only then begin calculations and construction. The choice options depend on the purpose of the site and its features, on the location. Avid gardeners recommend designs using polycarbonate as a material. This is the easiest and most popular option. Another good option is a thermos greenhouse. It is erected in late spring or summer, because it is necessary to have time to prepare the soil for planting. Polycarbonate structures can be made at any time of the year. This material is very popular because it has a number of useful qualities from the point of view of greenhouses.

With a small thickness, polycarbonate creates the necessary thermal insulation in winter. It has a honeycomb structure, and the honeycombs are filled with air, which has better thermal insulation properties.

The weight of polycarbonate is 15 times less than glass, so a reinforced frame is not needed. It is very easy to make an arched structure from this material; it bends easily.

Paperwork

If you have a greenhouse for the winter period on your own site and you do not want to create a large-scale production, and accordingly use the labor of hired workers and sell the products of a legal entity. persons do not need to prepare documents. To sell on the market, you only need a certificate stating that you grow them on your own plot.

The owner of a large greenhouse farm using hired labor, the harvest of which is sold through shops and in cafes and restaurants, needs to register a legal entity. You can also register as an individual entrepreneur or private agricultural enterprise. This will allow you to achieve tax benefits, although all this is difficult.

Where should we build?

The greenhouse must be placed so that most of the sun's rays reach it. It is necessary to ensure that shadows from houses, buildings and trees do not fall on it. The sides of the greenhouse should be oriented north and south. Also keep in mind that wind significantly increases the heat loss of the structure.

By placing the greenhouse in the wrong place, you will get the exact opposite effect from what you expected - in the form of high heating bills and poor growth of the vegetables and fruits you grow in it. When building a winter greenhouse with your own hands: covering materials, types of heating, location on the site and type of structure, you need to choose based on what plant crop you will grow. An important fact is financial capabilities that need to be taken into account.

Features of construction

Many amateur gardeners, when faced with this question for the first time, wonder what the differences are between a regular greenhouse and a winter greenhouse. But the differences between them are significant.

Before you start building a winter greenhouse, you need to carefully familiarize yourself with all the important points and its features. Temporary structures are assembled from separate frames. Since the weight of this structure is light, it does not require a foundation. Greenhouses using polycarbonate as a covering can be mounted on posts made of ordinary brick.

The winter greenhouse is a solid construction. It has electricity and heating. The rigid and heavy frame allows you not to worry about the loads arising from wind and snow. But for it it is necessary to make a solid foundation.

An ordinary greenhouse can be small in size. It all depends on how many and what crops you will grow in it. Growing vegetables in winter in most cases occurs for further sale, therefore the requirements for the greenhouse area are completely different, they start from tens of square meters.

The material for covering this structure can be absolutely anything. But the best, most affordable and reliable is polycarbonate.

Before you begin building a winter greenhouse, you need to consider the possibility of severe frosts and, as a consequence, the need for additional thermal insulation.

The location of the greenhouse must be chosen very carefully, because this is a capital building for more than one year. It’s good if it’s a flat area, well lit and without buildings nearby. You also need to take into account the humidity of the ground on which the building will be built; it should be within normal limits.

The foundation for the greenhouse can be made using a finely buried reinforced concrete strip. Since the foundation must be solid, not for one year, when pouring it, you need to do everything in accordance with the requirements.

When the base is ready, you can assemble the structure frame onto it. Factory-made structures are usually supplied with drawings and photographs that will greatly help during installation. Polycarbonate sheets are attached to the frame with rubber washers. To ensure a tight seal, their edges can be sealed with tape. To ensure the flow of fresh air into the greenhouses, several windows are made. If you have a desire to grow vegetables, but you don’t know how to build a winter greenhouse yourself, you need to contact specialists or buy a factory-made structure.

Heating type

The type of heating used must be selected based on the usable area of ​​the greenhouse. Small spaces can be provided with heat using a stove. If the areas are large, then you need to choose from:

• Water heating.
• Electric heating.
• Biofuels.

To use water heating you will need pipes, a tank and most importantly a boiler. The pipes can be buried in the ground or placed directly under the racks.

Electric heating can be air or underfloor heating. Infrared heating is also very often used. The “warm floor” system is similar in design to a water system. A system consisting of heating cables is installed in a small recess. And then it is covered with layers of sand and fertilized soil. Air heating can be organized using fan heaters. Infrared heating is provided by IR heaters located on the ceiling.

Biofuel is the most inexpensive heating method.

Biofuel can be: manure of any cattle or horse, decaying wood and bark, hay or straw.

Biofuel is located under a layer of fertile soil. For proper heating of this type of heating, it is necessary to have a constant flow of air and maintain the required level of moisture in the air.

Only you decide which type of heating to use in your greenhouse. Each option needs to be considered from a financial point of view. You now know how to build a winter greenhouse for growing plants. You need to figure out how to place everything in it correctly - the layout of the internal space.

How to arrange the beds?

If you will grow plants of the same type in a greenhouse, you can arrange the beds in parallel. Keep in mind that different cultures may not get along next to each other. To breed them together, you need to use division into separate zones. For example, it will not be possible to grow tomatoes and cucumbers side by side, because they require different watering methods - tomatoes need to be watered directly at the root, while cucumbers need a drip irrigation system.

Finance, profit, payback period

Correctly calculating the income from a winter greenhouse is very difficult, and sometimes impossible. The calculated profit and profitability of this entire enterprise greatly depends on the distance, the city, markets and the harvest obtained. A more or less realistic return on investment period is two or three years.

Sales channels

Fruits, vegetables and herbs are products that are in constant demand during the warm season, and especially in winter. Growing food in winter has the best profitability because prices for fresh herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers are very high.

Sales market

Grocery chains and small shops, and even supermarkets. They sell a very large volume of vegetables every day, so concluding supply contracts with them is very beneficial for you as a farmer. But it will be necessary to register a legal entity, and these are costs that need to be taken into account. Although, if the crop that turns out to be grown is large, you can think about this sales market. Market, all beginning gardeners sell herbs and vegetables here. Rent a kiosk or tent or place and you can start selling your harvest.

Direct sale of herbs and vegetables. You can place advertisements on highly specialized websites, forums, and message boards on the global network. And there will be buyers very soon.

One of the lightest and easiest to install and assemble is a greenhouse using a wooden frame, which is covered with a special greenhouse plastic film. The main advantage of this structure is the availability of materials, speed and ease of installation. Disadvantages: fragility of the coating, which can be easily damaged.

Another design came to us from Soviet greenhouses. Glass is used as a covering material. Its advantage is the possibility of operation all year round, if heating is installed and double frames are made for the winter period. The light transmittance is ideal compared to any other material. The disadvantages are the complex construction and the fragility of glass as a material.

The type of greenhouse that is worth paying attention to is the increasingly popular structures coated with cellular polycarbonate. The advantages include long service life, low weight, wide temperature range, excellent rigidity and strength parameters. The disadvantage compared to glass is that light transmission is about 90 percent.

To install a polycarbonate greenhouse, you need to pay special attention to the foundation. How to make a foundation? You need to dig a small ditch with an approximate depth of 10 to 30 cm, and the length and width are calculated based on the required area. The base must be protected from moisture - apply waterproofing, this can be roofing felt. If there is a strip foundation, then it is necessary to install formwork from any materials remaining on the garden plot. The fittings can be replaced with any other metal; remnants from old pipes and pieces of steel wire are also suitable.

Since the length of the brick is 25 cm, the width of the brick foundation will be the same.

The height of the foundation will be about 20 cm above ground level. The height of the foundation will need to be increased if you use high beds. Recommends an increase of up to 50 cm. This will result in a small wall. It will also be installed in it.

We've sorted out the foundation. Now you need to make a choice between finished material or rough material.

What is rough material? These are various types of rolled metal for the frame, polycarbonate, gaskets, etc. A greenhouse made of such materials can only be of a certain shape, since they narrow the list of shape choices. At first glance, it will look like a small house with a transparent roof and walls. This is due to the fact that in houses without certain skills and the necessary equipment, it is difficult to make arcs from a power frame.

A greenhouse made from this type of material has an advantage - it is economical to build. There is no need to draw up a project, you do not need to buy materials and tools for installation, and you can install the greenhouse yourself without hiring contractors. For construction you will need the following tools: a drill, a hammer, screwdrivers and a hacksaw for working on metal.

On the sheet you make a drawing with the dimensions of your building in order to have an idea of ​​​​the general appearance of the greenhouse. It is not necessary to comply with GOST standards; your drawing is enough. The most important thing is that you yourself understand what to do and in what sizes.

Recommendations for installing this type of greenhouse are not practical, since each gardener has different types of plot. And everyone will adapt to their own layout, and take into account all the aspects and features of their site when designing a greenhouse. The material from which you decide to build the greenhouse also matters during production.

Positive characteristics of this type of greenhouse:

1. Saving your time. Since the manufacturer himself calculated everything and did the design work.
2. The kit contains all materials for installation. There is no need to search for materials.
3. The finished kit already contains a diagram for assembling a greenhouse. After carefully studying it, you can easily assemble it yourself.
4. All elements have a specific size, as they were manufactured at the factory.

The negative point is that they are the same type. The market now offers arches in the form of a tunnel (arched type). The advantage of this design is that, due to its arched shape, it has greater light reflection. And also, water from rain will not accumulate on such a surface. The downside is that it is less durable and rigid.

Assembly should not be difficult. We take out the diagram, look at the drawing and clearly, following the instructions, assemble the structure, almost like assembling a construction set.

The most difficult thing when assembling a greenhouse is installing the polycarbonate. The most important thing is to strictly follow the instructions. The only recommendation is that if one person will assemble the greenhouses, then you need to prepare supports in advance.

Since it is quite soft, caution is required when working with it. And also during the assembly process you will need to cut and drill the material. The main thing here is to prepare in advance by marking with a construction marker.

When cutting material, we recommend using a utility knife approximately 3 knife segments long so that the knife does not go to the side.
Since polycarbonate is a ready-made structure, it has stiffening ribs inside. Therefore, cutting may be difficult. The main thing here is experience. You can start by taking a small piece of polycarbonate and working with it, so to speak, to get a feel for the material. And if you have a jigsaw, then, of course, use it.

Another important point during assembly. The set includes a vapor transmission tape. Be sure to use it. It will protect your greenhouse from excess moisture and dirt.

So, we have looked at several types of greenhouses. Each of them has its own special and distinctive characteristics. And when building a greenhouse with your own hands, the best projects for yourself will be those that will allow you to focus on your goals, tasks and capabilities. After all, it doesn’t matter at all what kind of harvest you have, the most important thing is that it was made with your own hands and will delight you and your loved ones with a wonderful harvest.

The greenhouse is as much a symbol of the modern era as space flight, computers with the Internet, robots and nuclear energy. This is not an exaggeration. According to WHO data for 1975, then 3/4 of the world's population lacked animal protein (without which a person, roughly speaking, becomes dull and stupid), half was chronically malnourished, and a third, in addition, had never tasted either meat or food in their lives. fish, no eggs.

We still feel the consequences of insufficient and malnutrition on a global scale today, but the situation, if not radically improving, is at least not significantly worsening, although there is less than 0.5 hectares of farmland left on Earth per person. Greenhouse farming helps you survive until better times (while you’re still alive, hopefully!): the yield of fruits and vegetables in a greenhouse can exceed that in open ground by several times(see figure), and the harvest is not harvested in one gulp on market day, but gradually all year round; this makes it possible to stably meet demand and free up land for livestock farming.

Note: from UN things. Also in 1975, UN experts zealously promoted vegetarianism. And last year they recognized him as having a mental disorder.

In turn, greenhouse agricultural technology was completely transformed quantitatively and qualitatively by a polycarbonate greenhouse. It is simple, cheap, durable and technologically advanced. In addition, if in the same 1975 expert tasters accurately separated greenhouse fruits and vegetables from ground-grown fruits and vegetables by taste, now in about 50% of cases they are confused. This means they don’t feel a noticeable difference and speak at random. Under an indispensable condition: the test samples were grown in modern greenhouses using modern agricultural technologies. Which, in turn, in old greenhouses are either ineffective or simply not applicable. For example, A greenhouse made of wood and glass becomes completely unusable in 2-3 years due to drip-fog irrigation.

Polycarbonate is a type of organic glass that reflects infrared (IR) rays well and thus can create a strong greenhouse effect. But it did not transform greenhouses on its own, but only after they learned to produce it in the form of sheets of a honeycomb structure. This made it possible to create strong and durable prestressed greenhouse structures on a lightweight frame; You can build a polycarbonate greenhouse in almost any climate, from the Sahara to the Putorana Mountains and from the Mojave Desert to Northern Labrador. Thanks to this, greenhouse farming has also become a public resource: a greenhouse on a quarter-acre plot of land can provide a family with fruits and herbs all year round and even provide a marketable surplus for sale.

Polycarbonate is easy to process, and the technology for creating structures from it with functioning cladding is simple. With the widespread use of pipes made of structural plastics and methods for quickly and firmly connecting them, the construction of a frame has ceased to be a serious problem. Currently, there is a wide range of kits of parts for assembling small garden greenhouses on sale, but demand dictates prices! Therefore, those who want to build a greenhouse with their own hands are constantly arriving: in the Penza region alone. number of self-made private greenhouses for 2009-2014. increased by more than 20 (!) times.

Note: Structural plastics are those that are capable of bearing mechanical operating loads for a long time. PVC, for example, for all its advantages, is not a structural plastic, although it can be very useful in the greenhouse business, as will be discussed below. Of the structural plastics, polyisopropylene (PP) is most commonly used: it is not expensive, and its mechanical properties are comparable to steel. Further, unless otherwise stated, plastic will always mean PP.

There are different ways to build a greenhouse from PP, at least this:

Video: greenhouse made of polypropylene pipes

But we will further try to tell you not only how to make a greenhouse yourself, but also how to construct it, without complex calculations, and during construction to avoid excessive costs and labor. Ready-made sets of parts are designed for all occasions and therefore are not cheap; a design well worked out by others in these specific circumstances may turn out to be unsuitable for some reason, and we will create our own greenhouse to suit our own local conditions, making do with the minimum necessary.

We will focus primarily on greenhouses made of polycarbonate on a tubular plastic frame, as they are the most universal. But there are a number of garden crops that can vegetate and bear fruit all year round at relatively low above-zero temperatures and relatively low light. These are natives of the tropics who have taken root in temperate latitudes: cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, sweet peppers, zucchini, and squash. In our country they are cultivated as annuals, but in general they are evergreen and with minimal heating costs they can produce marketable products 9-10 months a year, and the demand for them is always good.

Such crops do not require high agricultural technologies, but they are afraid of overheating in the summer; here they need fresh air and coolness more. Therefore, as well as for a number of other reasons, a good old wooden greenhouse is better suited for their small-scale production and cultivation for personal consumption, so we will also deal with them. Let’s not ignore mini-greenhouses for table greens, flowers and seedlings, especially since you can set one up in a city apartment.

Finally, greenhouse business is being improved not only by seasoned specialists in large research centers. Craftsmen sometimes come up with designs that are surprisingly effective and promising; some of them will also be discussed.

Greenhouse or greenhouse?

Greenhouses with greenhouses are usually differentiated by size. Like, the greenhouse is big, you can go into it and work there like in a garden. And the greenhouse is small, you can only climb into it with your hands, and then squatting, so you have to do pruning, hilling, etc. uncomfortable. But this is only a visible difference, but the essence is much deeper: a large structure can be a greenhouse, and a small box can be a greenhouse.

Note: about appearance and essence. The famous ancient Greek sophist philosopher was once asked: “What is man?” After thinking, he replied: “A biped without feathers.” The next day, the students shook out of the bag in front of him... a plucked chicken.

The greenhouse creates the so-called. spring awakening effect. To do this, the soil in it is mulched quite deeply with manure; the best is horse. As biofuel decomposes, it warms the earth from the inside. Root heating of plants at a lower air temperature than on the soil surface, combined with excess nitrogen, primarily stimulates the rapid growth by vegetation of its nutrient factory - green mass. If plants have their own depots of supplies (bulbs, rhizomes), then these are primarily used for this, and the root system still lags behind in development. Plants, figuratively speaking, do not yet think about fruiting in such conditions.

Greenhouses are used primarily for forcing and growing seedlings. Forcing is a process of controlled acceleration of vegetation; in some species - up to flowering. By forcing, for example, you can get onions, fresh watercress and lilies of the valley by a predetermined date: New Year, March 8th. Plants are so exhausted from forcing that they either die or require a long rest in the vegetative phase. Forcing table greens produces products of excellent quality if the planting material is environmentally friendly, because The plants take very little from the soil.

Note: The simplest full-fledged greenhouse for seedlings and forcing onions into greens can be built in half an hour to an hour, see fig. The fertile soil layer is removed with a bayonet and piled into a pile. Another half bayonet is selected and a layer of manure is laid down. Put the soil back on top, make a cover out of film - and you're done! In central Russia, such a greenhouse produces products from approximately the end of March to mid-October or early November.

In the greenhouse, root heating occurs, but it is moderate. The main thing here is that the plants must feel the influx of warm air, warmer than the soil, from above and/or from the sides. This gives the “mid-spring effect”: plants tend to bear fruit as quickly as possible to begin storing nutrients for the winter or dry season. Well, if they have a paradise with eternal spring, then they can “fatten” as much as they want without depleting themselves, as long as there is enough soil nutrition: the root system is now working with all its might. This is the basis for the high productivity of greenhouse farming.

Note: A greenhouse cannot be a greenhouse, but any greenhouse can become a greenhouse. In general, for this you need to increase soil heating and weaken air heating. But the subtleties of handling forced crops are a topic from agricultural technology, and not from the construction of greenhouses.

About refraction

Polycarbonate and silicate glass have a refractive index of light significantly greater than 1. That is, the slopes of the greenhouse direct the sun's rays falling on them inward at a steeper angle. On the one hand, this is good: in winter, the stingray works as a light concentrator - it collects oblique winter light over a larger area and directs it inside to a smaller one, see figure:

On the other hand, as the slope of the slope decreases, the degree of reflection of direct rays also increases. If the angle of their incidence decreases to critical, the so-called. angle of total reflection, then only half of the scattered light will pass inward, and the direct light will be completely reflected. Based on this:

• In mid-latitudes, the angle of inclination of the slopes should be chosen within 30-45 degrees from the horizontal.
• The further north the greenhouse is located, the steeper the slopes should be.
• Greenhouses of conventional design must be gabled and oriented with the ridge of the roof from north to south, i.e. slopes to the east and west. In this case, the angle of incidence of most of the light transmitted inside onto the surface of the shadow slope will be less than critical and it will be reflected back inward.

Note: Cellular polycarbonate has an additional advantage over glass in this regard - light is refracted by each layer of its structure and the degree of light concentration is higher. But polycarbonate layers are thinner than the thinnest glass, so its light transmittance is almost the same as single-layer glass.

How do plants sense light?

The refraction in the greenhouse covering has another important meaning: it smoothes out fluctuations in lighting and temperature in it during the day and season. Most garden crops are quite tolerant of light and temperature levels, if they remain more or less stable or change smoothly. But a sharp jump in any of these parameters is understood by plants as a signal that unfavorable conditions are approaching. At the same time, their physiology switches from growth and fruiting algorithms to survival and accumulation of their own reserves: yields fall, product quality deteriorates. A classic example is cucumbers. Even if it didn’t last long, it suddenly got colder or felt hot – that’s it, they became smaller and went to bitterness.

Own greenhouse

The first thing we’ll start with is why do we need a greenhouse? What do we, speaking in Odessa, want to get from it? According to marketability, greenhouses are divided as follows:

1. Winter, or year-round, allow you to grow any crops all year round. Today, only durian and cherimoya are not physiologically amenable to greenhouse farming.
2. Seasonal capital, or semi-winter, produce marketable products from Central Russia for 8-10 months. per year. In these, either annuals or plants with physiology that require/tolerate a dormant period at sub-zero temperatures are cultivated.
3. Seasonal lightweight - active phase of the production cycle for 2-3 months. shorter than semi-winter ones; This is usually what is meant by seasonal greenhouses. As a rule, early/late regular vegetables and herbs are cultivated in them.
4. Temporary - used for growing seedlings in natural soil, forcing them or for one-two-three times the harvest of crops that greatly deplete the soil: root crops, strawberries, etc. When the area is used up, the greenhouse is dismantled, moved to a new location, and the land is left fallow or sown with nitrogen-fixing crops, legumes, etc.
5. Greenhouses - they are installed (it’s difficult to call it a building) once for seedlings and forcing. How to make a greenhouse as such is described above. Greenhouses for exotic flowers are more complex in design, for example. orchids or gesneriaceae, but this topic is already from floriculture, and not gardening.

Note: Phalaenopsis, common in flower shops, are only a few representatives of about 800 genera and more than 35,000 species of orchids, suitable for mass cutting. The flowers of all orchids are long-lasting and cut-resistant. Among them there are many that in Hollywood there is not enough cocaine to deliberately invent, on the left in the figure. There are cases when wealthy connoisseurs paid $5,000 and even $20,000 for just 1 flower of a rare species. In countries where they love all sorts of rarities, renting out living flowering orchids in pots is a profitable type of small business; rare orchids need to be groomed and cherished until they bloom for 7-8 years. Many orchids emit a subtle scent; vanilla - orchid. Orchids grow all the way to the tundra, but in our area they are either small and not striking (for example, orchis), or very rare, like lady’s slippers - cypripediums, in the center in Fig. The culture of Gesneriaceae is simpler, and they are also very spectacular and simply luxurious, on the right in Fig. True, they are not suitable for cutting.

The purpose of the greenhouse determines the initial and operating costs of it. In winter, a capital foundation is required with full concreting of the underground part and insulation, as well as full lighting and heating. The cost of heating them accounts for the lion's share of current ones, so winter greenhouses turn out to be profitable especially in large sizes (from about 200 cubic meters) on large farms. The own heat reserve of a large greenhouse is enough to maintain the life of plants, taking into account the greenhouse effect, for several days, up to 2 weeks. Therefore, heating systems for them are designed not for peak frosts, but according to the average seasonal temperature, which is much higher.

The original version of a winter greenhouse is a greenhouse-greenhouse; in mid-latitudes it does not require constant heating at all. The greenhouse-greenhouse is heated by mulch decomposing under the soil layer. But its production cycle is difficult to vary; it is necessary to extract manure in large quantities 1-2 times a year, and food crops from it most often do not meet modern sanitary requirements, because are oversaturated with nitrates. In the greenhouse phase of the cycle, only chives are more or less edible. Large greenhouses are used primarily as greenhouses, and small garden greenhouses are used for cut flower growing.

Note: in certain climatic conditions, it is possible to build a completely energy-independent winter greenhouse, the so-called. thermos greenhouses; a special section will be devoted to them. But the complexity of construction and the cost of it for a thermos greenhouse are much higher than for a regular one. True, exceptions are possible, see further in the same section.

Semi-winter greenhouses– also quite solid structures; The foundation is most often monolithic strip or made from lightweight prefabricated blocks, because the upper structure is light and has little risk of uneven shrinkage. But the working area here is illuminated and heated only at the beginning and end of the season of use, and 6-7 months. The greenhouse operates on natural light and the greenhouse effect. A light lantern for a semi-winter greenhouse made of polycarbonate on a PP frame is inexpensive and can last more than 15 years, and with minimal lighting and heating, perennial subtropical crops, including citrus fruits, can be grown in one from Moscow and further south; they still have a period of rest. Harvesting will be seasonal, and heating to a slight plus in the coldest weather will help the plants survive the winter.

Seasonal greenhouses Most of all, they are built independently. With skillful management in the Moscow region, ordinary table crops can last up to 10 months. per year, and to the south of Rostov-on-Don they are able to operate year-round. In both cases, costs for light and heat will not exceed more than 2 times those for a city apartment of equal area. When the time of use is reduced during the cold season, heating costs drop rapidly, so most of these greenhouses live up to their name. The profitability of seasonal greenhouses increases significantly if owners have access to inexpensive solid fuel for stoves; For more details, see the section on heating greenhouses.

The skylights of seasonal greenhouses are generally the same as those of semi-winter greenhouses, but the foundation is made of a light columnar one. Most often, rolled metal (pipes, angles, channels) is used for it, but a very cheap wooden one will last as long as a greenhouse if the pieces of timber or logs for it are boiled in bitumen for 10-20 minutes (scalded with bitumen) and their ends before installing them in the pits wrap with roofing felt. If the service life of the greenhouse does not exceed 5-7 years, and the lantern is plastic, then it can be built without a foundation.

Temporary greenhouses and greenhouses used in the middle zone from approximately April to October. They grow quickly ripening crops; mainly bulbs and root vegetables, as well as table greens. Temporary greenhouses are most often made of soil (see below) and covered with film. Lighting and heating are not provided, because... there is already/still enough natural light for photosynthesis, and the greenhouse effect gives an increase of 7-12 degrees to the seasonal temperature.

Note: the degree of the greenhouse effect depends on the intensity of lighting, because Plants release carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. Therefore, you need an eye and an eye for the light in a greenhouse - less light, less carbon dioxide, it became colder, photosynthesis weakened, the greenhouse effect weakened, it got even colder, and so on very quickly until it freezes.

Greenhouse and soil

The next factor that needs to be kept in mind when, so to speak, preliminary thinking about a greenhouse is the nature of the use of the soil. According to it, greenhouses are divided into ground, box and trench or bulk.

Ground, as the name implies, are built directly on the ground. They are temporary and seasonal. The basis of such a greenhouse is simple: wooden formwork 200-300 mm high on a flat area, see fig. From the outside, the formwork is supported with pins made of reinforcing bars, onto which the ends of the lantern arches made of pipes are placed. The frame of the flashlight is lightweight, designed for more or less favorable weather conditions. Cover it mainly with film.

Fertile soil is poured into the formwork; mulch if necessary. As the soil becomes depleted, its top layer is removed and replaced. Such agricultural crops will be enough for no more than 5-7 years: the smaller the plot of land, the more difficult and expensive it is to maintain its fertility for a long time. But by that time the formwork will rot, the film, if it is not disposable (see below), will wear out, and the frame of the greenhouse is made dismountable or, if it is made of PP pipes, completely transported by two or three to a new place.

A box greenhouse is suitable for all greenhouse crops for at least 10 years; theoretically - forever. This is achieved by the fact that the reinforced formwork is filled to the top with crushed stone along the waterproofing, on which boxes filled with earth with perforated bottoms are placed. The depleted soil is simply thrown out of the boxes and new soil is poured in. Excess irrigation water flows into the crushed stone and then into the drainage. This eliminates the scourge of unprofessional greenhouses - soil acidification from the cold from below. If there is no drainage system on the site, then the greenhouse drain is drained into a cesspool attached to it. It is impossible to reuse wastewater for irrigation; it is teeming with harmful micro-living creatures!

Most highly profitable homemade greenhouses are box greenhouses. The manufacture of formwork and foundation for a box greenhouse is also possible from wood (see figure), because In this case, it has almost no contact with the ground and is subject to less harmful influences. If the lumber, in addition to being treated with biocides, is also impregnated twice with hot bitumen, then the formwork will last 12-15 years. For a longer estimated service life, it is better to use a blind area (for a semi-winter greenhouse - with insulation) and build a brick base on it.

Note: for plants with a shallow root system (onions, radishes, carrots, melons, watermelons), the boxes can be on stands. Then the greenhouse can be multi-story, in whole or in part.

A trench greenhouse is, roughly speaking, a series of concrete gutters (trenches) with technological passages between them. They are cast together with the foundation and covered with a common lantern. In each trench, crushed stone drainage is made with an outlet into a cesspool or a collection area common to the site, and earth is poured on top of it. Areas for different crops in the trenches are separated by removable partitions that reach the drainage layer.

Caring for a trench greenhouse is more difficult than a box greenhouse, and the likelihood of diseases spreading in it is greater, which requires fairly skillful agricultural technology. But with proper construction, cooling of the soil from below is completely eliminated, even on permafrost. In addition, it is possible to cultivate plants with a powerful deep root system, even woody ones. Therefore, winter and semi-winter greenhouses are mostly built using trenches in places with a harsh climate.

Note: The author knows of a resident of the Kola Peninsula who, using the income from potatoes, onions, garlic and tomatoes from a homemade trench greenhouse, built himself a mansion of 230 square meters in 5 years. When he was asked: “Mortgage?”, he asked in response: “What is it?”

When form is everything

The most important factor determining the functionality of a greenhouse is the configuration of its skylight. In terms of the variety of architectural forms, greenhouses can compete with public buildings, but frame greenhouse houses, pos. 1 in Fig., faceted tunnel, pos. 2, and tunnel arched with semicircular (item 3) and pointed (item 4) arches.

House

In a greenhouse-house, the entire operational load is carried by the frame, so the glazing can be of any kind. Given the required strength for a home greenhouse, the simplest technologically and cheapest is a wooden frame. Modern methods of processing industrial wood make it possible to achieve its durability in greenhouse conditions for up to 30-40 years. The best type of wood for construction is larch.

The easiest way to make a wooden greenhouse-house is fully ventilated; this is important for summer cultivation in a greenhouse, see above. When the sun is high, the roof slightly shades the plants and cuts off ultraviolet radiation, which protects them from burns. In the southern regions, sometimes roof slopes are also covered with gauze or old washed sheets in the hottest weather.

The roof of a wide-open greenhouse-house plays another role: excess carbon dioxide is formed in the greenhouse, because It is heavier than air, and once heated, it cannot rise. For plants, it’s like caviar for cognac: the harvest is rampant, and the fruits are the same.

In regions with a sharply continental climate, a wooden greenhouse-house will be the best choice, especially if local lumber is cheap. In Yakutia (Sakha Republic), for example, it is very hot in the summer and watermelons have time to ripen on a layer of soil 20-30 cm above the permafrost. Small, about the size of a large apple or orange, but it tastes like watermelon.

Note: Yakut watermelons may seem incredible, but we, not limiting ourselves to verbal assurances, refer the reader to the book by Yu. K. Efremov “The Nature of My Country”, M., “Thought”, 1985 (see figure) With the science fiction writer Ivan Efremov, his namesake geographer Yuri Konstantinovich is not related.

Watermelons and melons come from deserts; they are able to develop quickly as semi-ephemerals. However, it is useless to experiment with tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes in the open ground of Yakutia: the warm season is not enough for ripening, the roots either reach the permafrost and the plant withers, or the Sun burns it - the air is clean, transparent, and the UV burns. A fully hinged greenhouse-house allows you to create a suitable microclimate for the right time for early ripening varieties. True, with heating at the beginning/end of the season, but here fuel is inexpensive and sales of products are ensured.

A drawing with the specification of the frame of a winter-semi-winter wooden greenhouse suitable for installation on permafrost in a harsh climate is shown in Fig. In European Russia, a greenhouse-house can be significantly lighter and its frame can be made from scrap materials, for example. old window frames, see below.

Note: a wooden greenhouse is not at odds with polycarbonate. On the contrary, lightweight but durable polycarbonate takes on some of the operational loads, which silicate glass is not capable of. At current prices, a polycarbonate coating will cost less than glazing, and the entire wooden greenhouse under the polycarbonate will be stronger and cheaper.

Faceted Tunnel

Greenhouse houses have a significant drawback, which manifests itself in places with weak insolation: when the Sun is low, the angle of incidence of its rays on the slopes turns out to be close to optimal once a day for a short time. Simply put, the greenhouse-house does not concentrate light well and turns out to be a bit dark in winter. In an attempt to solve this problem, a faceted tunnel greenhouse appeared.

It is not advisable to make the frame of a faceted tunnel from plastic, because... The mechanical properties of PP are best when the transverse connections of the frame are prestressed, i.e. if the frame arcs are curvilinear. Therefore, a faceted tunnel is, as a rule, a metal greenhouse made of pipes, lined with polycarbonate; pipes can be round, but profile ones are more often used. However, this raises the problem of the joints of the frame elements.

Welded seams corrode intensively in greenhouse conditions, especially external ones, sandwiched between the pipe and the casing. Non-destructive visual inspection in such places is impossible, so the frame is prone to sudden destruction.

Note: Do not try to make steel frames prestressed - ordinary rolled steel is completely unsuitable for use in this capacity! Have you heard about fatigue and fluidity of metal?

In the industrial production of metal greenhouses, welding is completely abandoned, and the frames are assembled on shaped plastic connectors, on the left in Fig. These are sold separately, but they are expensive and require an additional large amount of fasteners, so homemade steel frames of greenhouses are still welded, but without external seams: the workpiece is cut at an angle, bent and welded from the inside, on the right in Fig. This requires special precision and care in calculating the frame and marking the workpieces, but weakened joints are immediately visible, because the weld seam rusts faster than solid metal.

Speaking of connections

In greenhouse frames other than wooden ones, you cannot drill holes and drive fasteners into them: a sharp difference in environmental conditions inside and outside will create pockets of corrosion and/or dangerous mechanical stress in such places. Non-wooden frames are assembled using welding or special connecting units. In plastic branded kits for self-assembly, the parts in the connectors are still secured with self-tapping screws, because Few people will buy a kit that requires special tools for assembly. But serious manufacturers carefully calculate the location of the fasteners, the entire structure is modeled on computers, and the prototype is put through full-scale tests before production. And frivolous locals, without bothering themselves with painful thoughts about copyrights, simply copy proven models.

Arched tunnels

A greenhouse-tunnel made from semicircular arches is the easiest to manufacture, the most wind-resistant and the best at concentrating light. Pay attention again to item 3 in Fig. with the shapes of greenhouses: most of the sides of the semicircular seem darkish. This means that most of the light went inside and did its useful work there. And in the summer, when it’s hot and the sun is high, an almost flat roof gives the same effect as a greenhouse-house.

The material consumption of a semi-circular greenhouse and the costs of its construction are also minimal, however, snow resistance is low, and in places with a large snow load, incidents like the one in the figure are possible, even if the structure is structurally executed completely correctly. Therefore, in regions with heavy snow, it would be more correct to build a lancet greenhouse. It will cost 3-5% more, but it is easy to make several large windows for summer ventilation, which is important east of the Urals, mountains and rivers.

Any arch exhibits all its advantages only when subjected to intense, operational load as part of the structure or previously. For a greenhouse, as a lightweight one-story structure, only the second option is possible. At the same time, the excellent mechanical qualities of PP are fully manifested in parts made from prestressed pipes. In combination with working polycarbonate sheathing, this brings greenhouses made from it on a plastic tubular frame to record ratios of strength, durability and durability to cost. This leads to another record for the popularity of structures of this type. Therefore, a little lower we will deal with them in more detail, but for now we will briefly consider another arch.

Arch from profile

In thin-walled volumetric parts with bending radii characteristic of arched greenhouses, the stresses in ordinary steel turn out to be far from its yield limit, on the one hand. On the other hand, galvanized C- and U-profiles for drywall are inexpensive, lightweight, and assembling a greenhouse frame from a profile of this type (see figure) seems to be elementary: just a Phillips screwdriver and metal scissors. When strengthened with struts and crossbars, the “fresh” structure turns out to be quite strong, even stronger than from PP pipes. And the skin can be attached to it not with clamps (see below), but somehow simpler and lighter.

However, the first disappointments await the specialized enthusiast already during assembly. Firstly, you have to twist a lot of screws and they are expensive. And the cramped fingers and bleeding calluses simply scream: “Well, finally, you, such a master, buy a screwdriver!” Secondly, the blanks marked by hand and cut without a profile cutter (and there are many of them!) do not fit together exactly and the entire frame goes, as they say, awry. In production it’s easier, where the computer calculates it, transfers the data to the robot stamp, and it cuts it perfectly, it’s just not good at it.

But the most important disappointment awaits even before the end of the first season: the frame is rusting before our eyes. What would seem worth reading right away is the specification for the profiles - they, like drywall, are not intended for outdoor use...

Plastic arches

And snow and wind...

Correctly configuring and assembling a plastic greenhouse yourself is only possible if you know the wind and snow loads on it at the construction site. The maps in Fig. will help you decide on them for your greenhouse. As they say, don’t bother with numerical values ​​of loads and don’t expect complex formulas in the future: everything has already been reduced to the numbers of load zones. If one of them is indicated in the text, the largest in this place is meant. For example, the greenhouse will be in the 2nd wind and 6th snow zones, or vice versa. Then you need to do it for the 6th zone; Specifics regarding snow and wind, if they exist in this case, are discussed.

Frame

Branded greenhouse frames are assembled from special pipes on shaped connectors (see, for example, Fig.): glasses, flat and three-coordinate crosses, straight and oblique tees, splitters at several angles. They are available for sale, but they are expensive and are usually designed for a specific design. Having pushed around in attempts to adapt it for yourself, you still have to buy the rest to complete the complete set. Which, all at once, would be half the price.

We will go the other way. We will make do with 3/4-inch PP water pipes and cheap connectors for them sold everywhere: straight couplings, flat tees and right angles. We will connect the parts, just like . Renting a soldering iron (more precisely, a welding machine) for propylene is inexpensive, it consumes little electricity (it is plugged into a regular outlet), and you can learn how to weld PP in half an hour. A finished frame of this design will be no worse than a branded one, but much cheaper. A novice master can assemble it in a weekend. Since aerodynamics and icing are more important for a greenhouse than the weight of the upper floors, the frame is designed according to aviation rather than construction principles. Good planes sometimes fly longer than an ordinary house costs.

Zero cycle

The basics about preparing the base of the greenhouse have already been said earlier. You just need to add that the site for the greenhouse must be planned with an accuracy of 5 cm/m, otherwise the likelihood of soil acidification increases. If the greenhouse is not ground, after leveling, a soil slope of 6-8 cm/m is formed towards the drainage. For lightweight greenhouses, the slope is formed before installing the formwork under gravel, and for capital ones - after pouring the strip foundation. The slopes of the drains of winter trench greenhouses and thermos greenhouses are formed by the screed of their floors. Don't forget about waterproofing the slope!

The arcs of the arches of the design under consideration are tightly placed on pins made of reinforcing bars protruding upward by 40-50 cm. There is no need to make the protrusion smaller; the arches will not hold well. More is also not necessary, they will bend incorrectly. Under a lightweight greenhouse, reinforcement bars are driven into the ground close to the formwork by 1 m or more, and under a permanent greenhouse they are walled up in the foundation by the same 40-50 cm. After assembling the frame, the arcs are attracted to the formwork with clamps made of a thin perforated steel strip and self-tapping screws 5-8 mm long the thickness of the formwork boards.

Note: in zones 1-3, the thresholds of the door and window frames are also attached to the formwork with clamps and screws. In the upper zones, the frames are made without thresholds, and their racks are put on reinforcement pins, like the arches.

How to make a frame?

Dimensions

Standard lengths of water pipes are 6, 5 and 4 m. They are used to produce semicircular arches with a span of 3.6, 3 and 2.3 m, taking into account cutting waste and shrinkage of welding joints. These values ​​should be used as a guide when calculating the overall dimensions of the greenhouse. Pointed arches are more reliable if the snow zone is 4th and higher. Then, on the contrary, they go from the dimensions: the arch is drawn to scale on graph paper (the upper corner is necessarily straight in this case!), the length of its wing is measured with a curvimeter, a flexible ruler or laid out along the contour of a thick thread, followed by measurement, and converted into the length of the workpiece. Add 20 cm for trimming and shrinkage. You can do the opposite: measure a piece of soft wire to scale (for example, copper winding wire with a diameter of 0.8-1.2 mm), bend it as necessary on graph paper and beat off the profile of the arc wing on it .

Assembly

The arcs of the arches are assembled straight on a flat surface. Placed in place one by one; During the assembly process, the ridge and longitudinal load-bearing beams - stringers, pos. 1 in Fig. Door and window frames, pos. 2, are assembled separately on corners, tees and straight couplings. Couplings are the basis of hinges and latches; Sections of frame posts are welded into the coupling pipes. Then, hinges and latches from sections of larger diameter pipes are attached to the coupling bodies with self-tapping screws. In this case, this is possible, because there will be no permanent loads in these places, and malfunctions of the hinges with latches do not affect the strength of the frame and can be easily eliminated. The assembly of the door and window panels begins by threading their rear pillars into the hinge cages, then the rest is welded by weight. They can be sheathed with anything, using self-tapping screws into the frames of the canvases, because... and these nodes are not load-bearing.

The lightest frame of this type is shown in pos. 3. Please note - the ridge beam, like the stringers, is stepped, assembled from pipe sections on tees. In this case, the door and window frames are also mounted on tees flush with the gables.

How often to install arches?

The arc installation step is determined as follows:

• If zones 1 and 1, take a step of 1100 mm.
• In other cases, enter the zone numbers and get the consolidated load zone number N.
• For the largest zone up to and including the 3rd, divide 4800 by N, and the resulting value is rounded to the nearest smaller integer, a multiple of 50, and the step is obtained in millimeters; eg for zones 2 and 3 it will be 950 mm, and for zones 3 and 3 – 800 mm.
• If the largest zone is 4 or 5, N is divided by 5600; further – similar to zones 2 and 3.
• In the largest zones 6 and 7, N is divided by 5500.

The dependence of the arc step on the zone, as we see, is nonlinear. This is explained by the fact that as the zone number increases, the stringers take on more and more load, see below. So the design turns out to be a little more material-intensive, but significantly less labor-intensive.

Note 15: The 8th zone, both of them, generally speaking, are problematic. Here, sometimes, snow breaks concrete floors, and the wind moves houses from their foundations. Any independent construction here is carried out at your own peril and risk, and this fully applies to greenhouses. How to still get out, with a certain amount of risk, will be discussed later in the course of the presentation.

Gain

You can rely on the lightest frame with some caution in zones 1-2, but even here it is advisable to reinforce it with at least a pair of stringers. Their location diagrams for different zones are shown in pos. A-B. Just remember that the coordinates are given for the longitudinal axes of the connections, and the beams themselves are stepped, like the ridge beam. Taking this (and welding shrinkage) into account, you need to mark the workpieces.

Attention! Pairs of stringers of the same level must be performed in a mirror image, pos. E!

In the 6th zone, the upper pairs of stringers are connected with crossbars (pos. E), in the 7th zone, the ends of the tunnel on both sides below are reinforced with braces according to scheme 2-1 (see figure). In the 8th zone, they need to be reinforced according to scheme 3-2 -1 (see ibid.), but, again, without any guarantee. It is useless to increase the number of stringers in the upper zones: they, figuratively speaking, begin to push the loads off each other and the structure as a whole weakens.

How to install braces without gusset? Moreover, the angles are fractional? Using homemade galvanized clamps 0.5-0.7 mm, see fig. on right. The workpiece is bent in a U-shape, mandrels from sections of steel pipe are inserted into it and the ears are crimped with a vice. It is convenient to use 2 pairs of vices: the stationary tabletop ones compress the long ear, and the smaller adjustable ones compress the short one.

After crimping, the mandrels are removed, the clamp is cut to size and shape, and holes are drilled for M6 bolts. This kind of handicraft crimping results in a shortage, but here this is only for the better: compressed with bolts in place, the clamp and pipes will grab tightly, and will acquire a monstrous rigidity for such a thin metal.

Arrows and legs

The location of the stringers on the pointed arches is determined based on the basic semicircular with the same span, as shown in pos. D. Please note that this method is only valid for arrows with an apex angle of 90 degrees! You can’t make the arrow’s ridge single without a gusset, and there’s no need to. An additional pipe, corners and tees for a double-beam ridge, pos. I. Its halves are made, like the stringers, in a mirror manner. The maximum distance from the top is indicated; the beams need to be moved as close to it as possible, in accordance with the size of the available tees and welding skills of the PP. By the way, the easiest way to remove both the chimney and the semicircular arch is through a double ridge, making it stronger.

If the arches rest on vertical legs no higher than 60 cm, counting from the top of the reinforcement, then an additional stringer is placed at the junction of their wings with the legs, position D. Reinforcement in zones 7 and 8 is carried out according to the same schemes, moving one cell down, those. There should be no empty cells under reinforced ones. If your legs are higher than 0.6 m - alas! – needs to be considered especially, because the bottom of the frame will no longer work as a continuation of the arches, but as a separate box.

Door and window

In zones starting from the 3rd, it is mandatory, and in the lower zones it is highly advisable, to fasten the door and window frames not directly to the arch (slightly beveled tees create unwanted stresses in the frame), but to hang them in it on half-crossbars and short longitudinal holders, pos. K, K1, K2. To an inexperienced eye, such a fastening seems rather weak, but remember: the gables will be covered with a still functioning cladding made of durable polycarbonate. Ultimately, the frame will be no weaker and will last no less than the fuselage of a DC-3 or An-2.

And under the film?

Today's film greenhouses are not at all the flimsy disposable “polyethylene” of the past. A greenhouse cover made of modern reinforced film will last 5-7 years and will cost several times less than rigid polycarbonate. The special greenhouse film has another valuable property: hydrophilicity. It retains a layer of moisture up to 2 mm on its surface, which improves the transparency of the coating and enhances the greenhouse effect. Thanks to this, a modern film greenhouse can be seasonal and even semi-winter. Ventilating film greenhouses in hot weather does not cause problems: it is enough to tuck the edges of the canopy; They don’t even need a door with a window. In general, for places with mild and temperate climates, a greenhouse under film is the best option, but in others there is no point in building it.

The frame described above will also work perfectly under the film. It has quite an airplane safety margin, and when calculating for film, it is enough to take the zone numbers 1 higher. The uprights of the door and window frames must be left, see figure, because they take part of the loads. You can attach Velcro to the posts not with self-tapping screws, as in the figure, but with clamps made of thin soft wire. Not as aesthetically pleasing, but simpler, cheaper and no less reliable. If using self-tapping screws, then it is better to install straight couplings under the Velcro and wrap the screws into their thickened bodies.

Hard roof

Film greenhouses justify themselves mainly in cases where they are installed temporarily for a relatively short period of time. For example, someone bought a plot for forest planting or a pasture for livestock. Everyone knows how things are with loans now. In order to raise funds for its development, I decided to wait 3-4 years, and for now rent out the land inexpensively. This is where subtenants can help out a fellow farmer, and make some good money themselves.

For long-term use, greenhouses with a hard polycarbonate coating are more profitable. With an estimated service life of 20 years (and this is not the limit), it will cost less than replacing the film cover 2-3 times. In addition, there is no need to bother with washing it, removing and installing it twice a year, and setting aside an area for its winter storage. So let’s take a closer look at polycarbonate.

It has already been said above that the greenhouse, from the point of view of its covering, differs from other structures by the sharp difference in environmental conditions inside and outside. A coating up to several cm thick has to withstand the same loads as a half-meter stone wall. Therefore, the methods of working with polycarbonate for a greenhouse are somewhat different from those for and. The video gives an idea of ​​how to cut polycarbonate for a greenhouse:

and how to attach it to the frame:

We will consider only individual points that are not sufficiently covered in known sources.

Structure

Cellular polycarbonate slabs are available in different thicknesses and structures. Slabs of the same thickness can have different structures, and vice versa. The 2R structure (see figure) is unsuitable for greenhouses either in terms of thermal insulation or mechanical qualities.

Structures of the R type (without diagonal connections in the cells) are more transparent than the RX type, but withstand dynamic loads worse, therefore they are suitable for places where the wind zone is not higher than 4th. 3R is used where the average winter temperature is above –15 degrees or frost below –20 degrees lasts for more than a day, no more than once every 3 years. In other cases you need to take 5R.

The temperature ranges for 3RX and 6RX are the same, but in cases where the wind zone is 5 and higher. For any 8th zone, the only acceptable option is 6RX. There is no need to take 5RX, it is not very transparent. 6RX and was developed to replace the 5RX in greenhouses.

The thickness of the slabs is determined as follows:

• If both zones are not higher than 2, take 6 mm.
• For other cases, we find the summary number N, as for the frame.
• For the 3rd and 4th largest zones N we leave it as is.
• For the largest 5 and 6 zones we take N+1.
• If there is a 7 or 8 zone, take N+2.
• We multiply the resulting value by 2.
• The result is rounded to the nearest larger standard slab thickness.

Thus, for example, for zones 4 and 4 the thickness is 16 mm, and for zones 8 and 8 - 40 mm. However, both 8 zones do not exist in the Russian Federation.

Sheathing

The standard sizes of polycarbonate slabs are 6x2.1 m and 12x2.1 m. The general dimensions of the greenhouse are chosen such that an overhang of at least 10 cm is formed over the gables of arched and faceted houses and along the entire perimeter of the roof. According to SNiP, the overhang should be at least 15 cm. If the greenhouse is commercial and you expect to receive a sanitary certificate for the products, keep in mind that inspectors will check the greenhouse in its entirety.

The radii of curvature of greenhouse arches allow slabs of the most commonly used structures 3R and 5R to be laid on the frame both lengthwise and across. What would be more correct? This way and that way. It all depends on which loads are greater in a given location, static from snow or dynamic from wind. If the number of the snow zone is greater than the wind zone, it is better to lay it across, on the left in Fig. Otherwise - along, right there.

Note: RX structures are laid only lengthwise, otherwise sudden failure of the coating due to material fatigue is possible.

Longitudinal joints are assembled using standard FP (straight) and RP (ridge) connectors, depending on the bending radius at a given location. It is advisable to seal the upper gaps of the joints with construction silicone, marked with yellow circles. It is better to take one-piece connectors, they are cheaper and there is nothing in them to rust. In extreme cases, you can still separate the joint by dripping it with brake fluid and pulling the plates lengthwise in different directions.

When sheathing crosswise, some of the seams between the slabs may end up hanging. In this case, the plates are connected in a well-known amateur way (shown in the inset): strips of flexible plastic 3-6 mm thick with rubber or silicone sealing gaskets and self-tapping screws. It is better to take strips and joint pads from PVC. It is quite strong, reliable and resistant for such a case. But its main advantage is in the joint - the PVC quite quickly sticks tightly to the gasket and it is never squeezed out from under the linings.

Fastenings

Methods for attaching polycarbonate to the frame with thermal washers (items 1-3 in the figure) have been described many times and we will not dwell on the details. We only note that if the cladding is longitudinal, then both ends of the slabs must be covered with perforated self-adhesive and framed with an end profile.

It is highly undesirable to weaken the greenhouse frame, as indicated above, with holes and fasteners. The casing is attached to it with steel clamps 1.5-3 mm thick, pos. 4 and 5. A strip 40-60 mm wide is bent along the mandrel in a U-shape, clamped together with the mandrel in a vice and the mustache is bent back. The bend must be made taking into account the thickness of the rubber gaskets, and they, in turn, in accordance with the thickness of the walls of the cages of the frame connectors. The thermal gap between the plates, 3-5 mm wide, is filled with silicone sealant.

Hut made of windows

Greenhouses made from frames of unusable windows appeared during the times of mass Khrushchev construction. Firstly, back then the carpentry for new buildings was of the most disgusting quality: “Give me a plan! Val come on! The current generation of people will live under communism!” Therefore, many new residents immediately replaced the windows and doors with custom ones, since the materials and work then cost a penny. Secondly, to the working people, i.e. officially permanently employed, summer cottage plots were then distributed to everyone left and right. Thirdly, cheap government prices and accessibility are by no means friends. It is appropriate here to recall an old Soviet political joke. The chairman of the collective farm “Svet Ilyich” opens the general meeting: “Comrades! We have two issues on the agenda: repairing the barn and building a commune. Regarding the first question: no boards, no nails, no bricks, no cement, no mortar. Let's move on to the second question."

We will move on to technical issues, they can be of some use. Nowadays, too, many windows are being replaced with metal-plastic with double-glazed windows, but frames that are still strong are thrown away. You can assemble a completely reliable and durable house from them, if you help the frames a little to carry the load. There is no point in covering such a structure with a Khrushchev-style disposable film; it is better to spend money on a couple of sheets of inexpensive 3R 6 mm polycarbonate, which, with a greenhouse size of about 6x3 m, will allow you to get by with just one roof truss for the roof, except for the gables. We will get a completely seasonal and commercial greenhouse for zones up to 4 inclusive, i.e. for most of the territory of the Russian Federation suitable for agricultural use.

The design of the greenhouse frame under the frames is shown in Fig. For clarity, the proportions of the parts are given arbitrarily. Dimensions in plan – 5.7x2.7 m; internal space - 5.4x2.4 m. It will require, in addition to polycarbonate and frames, 15-16 boards 150x40 mm 6 m long and 1 beam 150x150 mm of the same length; only 0.675 cc. m of coniferous wood, and about 5 kg of nails 70, 100 and 150 mm.

The foundation is a wooden columnar one, made of 6 pillars in 2 rows, 1 m long. The beam is needed just for the foundation. The protrusion of the pillar at the highest point of the site above the ground is 30 cm; the rest are leveled along it using a hydraulic level. There is no need to deepen the pillars according to freezing calculations; the structure will play together with the soil for many years; it has been tested on Khrushchev’s “polyethylene”.

The beams of the lower support frame - the grillage - and the upper one - the frame - are sewn together on nails from boards as usual, in a zigzag, pos. 1. The driving pitch in a row is 250-400 mm. The grillage is assembled into a prefabricated tenon, and the trim into a prefabricated quarter (item 2) is also on nails, 5 envelopes per corner. Cutting boards measuring 150x150 are cut into three pieces; these pieces will come in handy later.

Next, the grillage is mounted on the foundation and 2 boards are spread out in three lengths. Here you will have to move from the new tree to the old one and sort the frames. 8 solid highest ones (or better yet 10, if found), are put aside immediately (on the left in the figure), they will go to the corners and, if there are 2 more, to frame the doorway. The rest are scattered over the estimated area of ​​the walls somehow, as long as there are fewer holes, on the right in Fig.

Now, from the 50x40 slats, cut 4 racks the length of the tallest frame plus 10 mm and nail them to the grillage vertically at the corners flush with their outer sides. The corners from the outside are sheathed with boards that are the same length as the posts now plus 220 mm (height of the grillage + height of the trim). The strapping is placed in the resulting nest at the top and the entire box is finally sewn together with nails.

Frames are installed starting from the corners. How to fasten them to the box and to each other is shown in pos. 3-5. Approaching the places of the future door and casement window from both sides, place the racks of the door and window frames from solid boards. They are fastened to the grillage, frames and adjacent frames with nails using the same blocks from scraps. If necessary, you can lay out 1-2 more boards on them.

Now it's the roof's turn. Rafter trusses are made according to pos. 6. Polycarbonate is laid lengthwise on the roof. A longitudinal strip 40 cm wide is cut from each slab. This will create roof overhangs of about 15 cm, and the strips will be used for cladding the gables.

The penultimate stages of work, firstly, close the gaping openings in the walls with foam plastic, and foam all the gaps. Foam in this case is not only a sealant and insulation; it will give the entire structure additional cohesion and strength. Secondly, the dimensions of the door and window are measured locally and their frames are made according to Fig. on right.

Before installing drainage and starting the greenhouse, all that remains is to design the base. In Khrushchev's times, they used slate or roofing felt on it, sprinkling the outside with earth. It’s easier for us: now there is such a wonderful (without irony) material as empty plastic bottles. They simply push them under the grillage with their necks inward, but there is no need to remove the plugs. You will get excellent thermal insulation with ventilation, absolute manufacturability with maintainability and long-term durability; Environmentalists around the world are ready to howl about what they should do with these bottles. And it’s a free benefit for us.

Note: This type of box will also fit under disposable polyethylene film, only it needs to be reinforced with the same 50x40 slats, see figure:

Bottle shop

Plastic bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Among the remarkable qualities of this material there is also a unique one: it transmits UV almost without loss. This allows you to enhance the greenhouse effect and thereby reduce heating costs and extend the operating cycle of the greenhouse. Therefore, if it is possible to get at least 400 PET vessels, it makes complete sense to make a greenhouse entirely from bottles.

There are 3 possible options here. The first is, on long winter evenings, to unravel the bottles into sheets and sew them on a machine with nylon or, better, propylene threads into panels of a suitable size, pos. 1 in Fig. It’s not worth sewing with a furniture stapler, as is sometimes advised: staples will cost more than thread and will rust quite quickly. You can also find advice to sew not with thread, but with fishing line. Even if their authors know where to get a machine that sews with fishing line, or they themselves know how to sew by hand at the same speed, then all the same, the fishing line will cost many times more in length and weight than thread, and the seam will not tighten, because. The line is solid, not twisted.

The second option is to collect something like sausages from bottles (picture on the right), string them onto steel rods and fill the frame of the frame with such “kebabs” vertically, with the necks down so that the condensation drains, or horizontally, pos. 2 and 3 in Fig. with types of bottle greenhouses. If the street is below +10, such a greenhouse without sealing the gaps between the bottles will be of no use, but in the spring warmth it will provide a greater concentration of light, which will accelerate the development of plants.

The third option is to place the bottles horizontally with their necks inward, pos. 4. Thermal insulation and light concentration are maximized (even houses are built this way), but not hundreds, but thousands of bottles are needed. They are connected with glue or cement, which is labor-intensive and expensive, so bottle greenhouses, so to speak, horizontal, are rare.

Is it possible in winter without heating?

The greenhouse loses a lot of heat, and its heating costs a pretty penny. The marketability of self-heating greenhouses is very limited by an excess of nitrates in the soil. In order to obtain products that meet modern sanitary standards without winter heating, the thermos greenhouse was invented.

It was not invented by Ukrainian craftsmen these days, as Ukrainian news outlets say, but in Israel more than half a century ago. By the way, it was for thermos greenhouses that we had to come up with the same cellular polycarbonate and special thermal blocks that combine good insulating and mechanical properties. From a bare idea to a workable design is often a very long time...

Israel is the world leader in greenhouse farming. Greenhouses are built there in deserts and mountains. In summer, the ground surface heats up to +60, and in winter it can be -20 for a short time. And the idea itself is that in the soil at a certain depth a constant temperature is maintained, equal to the average annual temperature in a given place; in the subtropics it is approximately +18-20. With an increase of 7-12 degrees from the greenhouse effect, we get just the optimum for plants, including pineapples.

Only the upper zone of the underground structure of the greenhouse is a thermos, see fig. The lower one, ordinary concrete, is essentially an air conditioner. In winter, it is warmed by Mother Earth, but in summer, hot light will not flow into a hole with cool dense air. As a result, the temperature in the greenhouse can be controlled only by vents without the cost of heating and air conditioning. To enhance lighting in winter, we orient one roof slope to the south, and cover the other from the inside with aluminum foil.

In the temperate zone the situation is different. Firstly, although the average annual temperature here is about +15, heating depends not only on the temperature, but also on the incoming heat flow. In order to get to the “air conditioner” of the required power, you have to go down below the freezing depth of at least 2 m. Already in the Rostov region, this requires a hole of 2.5 m. Secondly, peak cold weather here lasts not hours, but days . Therefore, the greenhouse volume is needed to be large. In the same Rostov region. The minimum dimensions of the pit in plan are 5x10 m.

From such a fifty, in fact, in our area you can harvest 400-600 kg of pineapples and up to 1.5 tons of bananas per year. How to sell them? Okay, let’s say we live in some distant kingdom, where consumer control for a moderate bribe in national currency is always ready to willingly and joyfully register heroin as a food additive, and weapons-grade plutonium as children’s toys.

But half a ton of even small pineapples will yield about 1000 fruits individually. How much does 1 (one) pineapple cost? In a supermarket, with a branded sticker and a quality certificate for the batch? How often and how many pineapples are bought? In this situation, when will just excavating 120-130 cubic meters of soil pay off? In general, a backyard thermos greenhouse in the boreal zone can be classified as a project in which common sense and sober calculation are completely replaced by an insatiable desire to achieve something intrinsically unique, contrary to the obvious.

Of much greater interest is a small ground-based thermos greenhouse with its own heat accumulator in the form of a heater, operating on the principle of a solar oven with a heat storage device, see fig. on right. At -5 outside, its interior near Moscow can warm up to +45. Therefore, in the vault there is a sliding hatch-temperature regulator with a clapper valve and a deflector that diverts the cold stream from the plants to the zone of greatest heating.

The upper firecracker should be triggered by the slightest blow back and forth, so its flap is made extremely light, freely moving and spring-loaded to zero balance in the closed position with a thin, 0.15-0.25 mm, steel wire. The firecracker still does not save you from frost, so the hatch regulator must be closed manually at night.

The dimensions indicated are minimum; the greenhouse can be made larger. If it is made in the form of a ridge, but for every full and partial 1.5 m of length along the front, you need your own hood with an air duct so that the heater warms up evenly. So, a greenhouse 2 m long should have 2 air ducts and 2 hoods. There is no need to pull the hood high up, it is still not a stove; minimal draft is needed here, just so that the heated air leaks through the heater.

When is minimization needed?

The mini-greenhouse is used primarily in city apartments. Here a part of an insulated balcony or loggia is allocated for it. It is better to make the partition from the same polycarbonate. Boxes with earth are hung on the wall; at the same time, it is possible to grow exotic flowers and supply the family with radishes, strawberries, and herbs in winter.

In plant growing, mini-greenhouses are used to create special conditions for a certain group of plants. In a regular box greenhouse, all you need to do is nail arcs made of metal-plastic pipes to the boxes and cover everything with film, on the left in Fig. For potted crops, we have to make smaller copies of large greenhouses, in the center there.

A mini-greenhouse made from bottles, on the right in the figure, will be an excellent help in gardening. higher. Due to the high concentration of light, it can be through, and fresh air has a beneficial effect on plants in the early phases of development. Besides, there’s no hassle with this: I took it outside and set it up.

There are also types of highly productive mini-greenhouses available for self-production. Here, for example, in Fig. on the right is a greenhouse made from tires. Despite its clumsy appearance, it is high-tech: a two-stage greenhouse effect and drip irrigation are used. With skillful selection of varieties, one “auto-greenhouse” stand can produce up to half a bucket of tomatoes or 700-800 g of strawberries per day.

So what about in winter?

A small winter greenhouse can pay off either north of approximately the parallel of Kotlas, or in the very south, in the Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory. In the first case, the matter is decided by fairly high prices and demand, in the second - a mild winter. In both cases, in general, 2 designs are possible for a small private owner.

The first is a classic trench greenhouse, only covered with polycarbonate, see fig. below. Because the frame is completely load-bearing; when calculating the coverage, take the zone number 1 less. In winter, flowers and onions are grown. By the end of February, when the mulch is almost rotten, tomatoes and cucumbers are sown and harvested at the end of April. In the summer they “greenhouse” as usual, and in the fall, when ground crops are cheap, the trenches are refilled; This is not a matter of one day, because... Fresh biofuel gets very hot at first. Then the cycle repeats.

The second is a box dugout greenhouse without drainage; diagram on the next page rice. Dugout is a relative name, because the concrete floor screed will not harm it in any way. Excess water flows into trays, where, under the influence of heat from the heating registers, it evaporates and humidifies the air.

It is advisable to insulate the base and blind area of ​​the dugout greenhouse, but there is no need to insulate the foundation. In the positive zone around it, the soil will not fall asleep for the winter, which will provide additional heating in low light. In this regard, the dugout can be considered a semi-thermos greenhouse.

How to warm up?

Heating, as already mentioned, accounts for the majority of winter greenhouse costs. If the heating is water from a boiler, then the optimal system design will be. It was specially designed for industrial premises, so it does not fit well into residential premises, but it is simple, inexpensive and very economical at the required temperature of up to +16 degrees, and in a greenhouse it will add heat to the optimum greenhouse effect.

However, the best option for heating a greenhouse is a stove-heater like a buleryan or buller. The obliquely upward nozzles of its convector direct hot air onto the roof slopes; here it prevents them from freezing, but cools down to a comfortable temperature and falls over the plants like a warm veil, creating the effect of the height of spring. You can learn more about the features of stove heating in greenhouses from the video below.

Video: stove heating of a greenhouse

For a greenhouse with an area of ​​less than 10 square meters. m the smallest buller turns out to be too powerful, because... With a very small fuel load, the efficiency of the bullers drops sharply. In this case, a potbelly stove made from a 12 or 27 liter gas cylinder will help out; the efficiency of potbelly stoves is quite high with a low firebox. As for long-burning stoves, they are unsuitable for greenhouses: they create a weak convection center and strong thermal radiation that burns plants. Spring turns out like in the desert.

About lighting

Greenhouse lighting requires a separate, detailed discussion. Here we will share just a little secret: 1 special 24 W phytolamp can be replaced with 3 regular 13-15 W housekeepers with spectra at 2700K, 4100K and 6400K. The power consumption doubles, but is still three times lower than that of incandescent lamps.

One such triad under flat conical reflectors provides sufficient illumination of an area of ​​4-6 square meters. m. Lamps must be hung so that identical spectra are not adjacent either in a row or between rows.

Finally

Let's summarize - what kind of greenhouse to build? For starters, from bottles. It will quickly, simply and cheaply allow you to learn how to run a greenhouse and experience its benefits.

Further, in temperate climates, greenhouses made of polycarbonate on a frame made of PP pipes clearly dominate. In harsh places, a wooden one, also covered with polycarbonate, is preferable. It is also good because it has minimal impact on the environment. This is vitally important on permafrost.

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Unfortunately, we live in an era of catastrophically polluted ecology, and the desire of most people to eat organic foods all year round is quite understandable. Hence the interest of those who have at least some plot of land in their use in the construction of greenhouses.

Construction of winter greenhouses

Greenhouses are different: seasonal or capital, large or small, factory-made or home-made. But they have the same goal - to get an environmentally friendly harvest as early as possible and as large as possible.

Currently, there is a large selection of greenhouses of various designs. . It is very difficult for a beginner to understand what to choose and where to even begin construction. How to calculate the area of ​​a greenhouse to obtain the planned harvest, whether a foundation is needed and what kind, how to conduct heating, which roof to give preference to, and much more. So let's start with the basics.

Types of greenhouse structures

Winter greenhouses differ from seasonal ones in many respects.

But the variety of winter greenhouses in terms of architectural design is especially great.

1. Wall-mounted. Good for a small winter garden or vegetable garden. Having a common wall with the house allows you to reduce the cost of construction.
2. Arched. The traditional dimensions of such structures are 2 x 4 x 3 m. Low-growing crops, herbs and vegetables feel comfortable in them. Arched greenhouses are not suitable for growing climbing and tall plants.
3. Single-slope, double-slope, triple-slope.
4. Farmer's. These are multifunctional devices designed for year-round use in almost all climatic zones. They are distinguished by their large area, sometimes they are entire mini-plantations, allowing for the cultivation of a large volume of products (not only in the ground, but also using the hydroponics method).

Photo gallery: types of winter greenhouses

Wall-mounted greenhouses are small in size and economical to construct It is convenient to grow low-growing crops in arched capital greenhouses
Farm greenhouses are used in all regions and are designed to produce a large harvest The teardrop-shaped gable roof can withstand heavy loads and remove snow well in winter.

But whatever the configuration, it should be remembered that a winter greenhouse is a solid structure with heating and lighting. And frankly speaking, its construction is not a cheap pleasure. On the other hand, with one investment of money and effort, you will enjoy quality products throughout the year for many years. And the result of your work will no longer depend on the vagaries of the weather or the soil, but only on your diligence and skill.

Greenhouse thermos: pros and cons

The thermos greenhouse is especially popular among domestic gardeners, primarily because it allows you to get a high yield while minimizing the cost of its maintenance (lighting and heating). It received its name because it is a structure completely isolated not only from atmospheric conditions, but also from cold soil.

The thermos greenhouse fully lives up to its name, because it is a structure isolated from the external environment in which even the most exotic plants can be grown

Advantages of a thermos greenhouse:

• getting an excellent harvest all year round;
• possibility of use in any climatic conditions;
• high light transmittance;
• good thermal insulation performance (energy savings);
• the ability to retain heat received through solar energy for a long time. This is what creates the effect of a thermos;
• the ability to grow any crops, even such capricious ones as grapes.

Flaws:

• labor intensity and cost of construction;
• the need to have at least basic skills and understanding of the design of the heating, ventilation and household communications systems.

It is easy to see that this design has more advantages than disadvantages, so in today’s realities this is perhaps the best option for all-season growing of herbs, fruits and vegetables, not only for your family, but also for sale.

Video: do-it-yourself wooden thermos greenhouse

DIY greenhouse construction

Before starting construction, answer yourself a number of questions:

1. Do you really need a permanent greenhouse and why?
2. What results do you expect from using it?
3. Where do you plan to build it?

Agree, if you live in a private house and will build a greenhouse on your personal plot, this is one thing, but building a greenhouse on a summer cottage where no one lives in the winter is completely different.

If you are building a greenhouse on an area that remains uninhabited in winter, it is hardly worth making it all-season

An important criterion is your financial capabilities at the moment and their at least a little security for the future, so that instead of the planned harvest you do not end up with unfinished construction.

If you have thought it over and decided, then there is a certain sequence of construction that you need to know.

Preparing for construction

The amount of materials is calculated individually depending on the size and configuration of the building.

Stages of construction of a winter greenhouse

1. Laying the foundation. The winter greenhouse must be mounted on a foundation. It not only securely secures the structure, but also protects the crops from weeds, and also prevents atmospheric water from the outside from penetrating into the greenhouse. The choice of foundation type depends on the nature of the soil, the depth of groundwater, the presence of a drainage system on the site and the size of the future structure. For small-sized winter greenhouses, any foundation is suitable: block, brick, point, strip, on piles, etc. For large buildings, a concrete foundation is laid (sometimes timber is used). When pouring the foundation, soil should be removed from the pit to the depth of the freezing layer (80–90 cm).

   Shallow strip foundation is ideal for small greenhouses

2. For permanent greenhouses, the frame is assembled from a profile pipe, angle, or hat profile. The best is considered to be a corner (galvanized corner profile). Since the hat profile and profile pipe cannot withstand large amounts of snow, they are best used in regions with little snow, despite the fact that they are easy and quick to install. The corner profile is assembled without welding using bolts and can withstand snow cover of up to 100 kg per 1 m². The finished frame is attached to the foundation using anchor bolts. They provide sufficient strength and rigidity to the fastening, and the difference in the heat capacity of the materials protects the structure from the negative effects of heat or severe frost. In order to save money, you can make the frame not galvanized, but aluminum, but here you need to take into account the weather conditions in the region (wind and snow). The aluminum structure may be deformed under their influence.
   

   The metal frame of a winter greenhouse can be reinforced with transverse stiffeners

3. Covering the frame. Most often used:
   
4. Construction of the roof. The most common is a gable shape with a slope of 20–25°. The angle of inclination is individual for different roof shapes. The runoff of rainwater and the bearing capacity of the greenhouse in relation to the snow load depend on it. Therefore, you should not neglect this indicator. Making such a roof yourself is not difficult. To do this, lower strapping bars in the amount of 2 pieces are laid along the side walls. A ridge beam is attached to them using paired rafters. For wooden greenhouses, it is recommended to use timber with a section of 120 x 150 mm for the ridge and trim and 70 x 100 mm for the rafters. In metal greenhouses, the roof is made of the same elements as the main frame.
   

   The angle of inclination of the roof must be selected based on aesthetic requirements and the ability of the greenhouse to withstand layers of snow on its surface

5. Heating device. In fact, heating needs to be decided at the very beginning of construction, since this is perhaps the most expensive and most important expense item. It is heating that allows us to grow crops all year round in our latitudes.

Video: stages of greenhouse construction

1. Greenhouse foundation and frame. First you need to make a base no lower than 90–120 cm. It can be monolithic (solid) or brick (ceramic) at your discretion. Attach a frame (metal-plastic, wood, metal) to it and cover the walls with cellular polycarbonate (preferably 8–10 mm thick). Greenhouse frames must be equipped with transoms to allow access to atmospheric air and, if necessary, equipped with special valves (supply ventilation valves).

   Ventilation windows can be opened manually or using an automatic system that analyzes atmospheric conditions inside and outside the greenhouse

2. Greenhouse covering. To cover the frame, double glass 4 mm thick or cellular polycarbonate is used, which has undeniable advantages over glass. First of all, they are that when using polycarbonate, heating costs are reduced, therefore, with current energy tariffs, you can save a lot on the operation and maintenance of the greenhouse.
3. Glazing. If glass is still chosen as the coating, then the scheme for its fastening is as follows. You need to start glazing from the trim beam, moving upward in the direction of the ridge. The glass is placed on putty up to 2 mm thick and secured with wooden (possibly plastic) glazing beads using metal pins. Between the glass itself and the glazing beads, putty should also be applied, for which modern plastic mixtures or sealants are used.

   After the glass is inserted into the frame, it must be coated along the contour with sealant and then secured with a wooden or plastic bead.

4. Water drainage. A canopy will help protect the walls of the greenhouse from water leakage. A drainage chute is laid along its inner side, through which excess condensate is removed. Use a galvanized profile. A correctly installed canopy should deviate from the plane of the wall by approximately 6–8 cm.
   

   Various canopies and gutters are used to protect the walls of the greenhouse and collect rainwater.

Greenhouse heating

Heating is the most important engineering system for a winter greenhouse. When constructing it, it is important to maintain a compromise between economic feasibility and providing the necessary microclimate for the crops grown.

For small greenhouses, the usable area of ​​which is within 15–20 m², it is enough to equip them with stove heating. To heat larger greenhouses the following is used:

1. Water heating. This is the most traditional type of greenhouse heating. The system consists of a water heating boiler, pipes (direct and return), as well as an expansion tank. The pipes are placed in the ground or under container racks (if plants are grown in containers rather than in the ground).
   

   The water heated in the boiler is distributed through pipes, where it gives off its heat to the surrounding soil

2. Electric heating - infrared, cable or air. This type of heat generation is most often used in cases where water supply is burdensome (for example, in summer cottages where water is supplied according to a schedule) or in those areas where there is a preferential nightly electricity tariff. The connection diagram for such heating is reminiscent of a heated floor system - electrical cables are laid at the bottom of the pit, which are covered with a layer of sand and then soil. An undoubted advantage of such heating is additional heating of the soil, and if a sensor and controller are installed, then the required temperature can be maintained automatically without human intervention.

   Electric heating is produced by cables that heat up when electric current passes through them.

3. IR heating. This is a type of electric heating system, which is much simpler to implement: heating elements such as UFO or fan heaters are placed under the ceiling of the greenhouse.

   To heat the greenhouse, you can hang electric heaters from the ceiling

4. Heating using biofuel. This is the most economical type of heating today. Using biofuel is as easy as shelling pears - organic matter is laid on a layer of fertile soil. Next, you need to provide and maintain the necessary humidity (up to 70%) and aeration (air flow). The waste is subsequently used as humus. The soil and air in the greenhouse heat up due to the decomposition of organic matter:
   • horse manure can maintain temperatures up to 38 °C for three months;
   • cow dung provides heating up to 20 °C for 100 days;
   • straw gives temperatures up to 45 °C, but not for long (within 10 days).

When using organic matter, it is necessary to take into account its acidity level so as not to ruin the soil, and therefore the crop.

Video: water heating of a greenhouse using a gas boiler

Useful systems for increasing greenhouse yields

So, you have made up your mind and decided to have a greenhouse! Then you need to think about illuminating the plants in order to artificially extend daylight hours. This is especially true for northern regions, where natural sunlight is not enough for plant photosynthesis.

It's not difficult to do it yourself. The main thing is to correctly calculate the total power of special lamps per area of ​​the beds and set the time and duration of operation on the light sensor and timer.

It wouldn’t hurt to make automatic drip irrigation to timely replenish the plant root system with moisture. The operating principle of such automation is simple; any owner can handle it if desired. Water is drawn into a container where a heating element is installed, and then, using a pump, strictly on a timer, through supply hoses, compensated drippers and root pegs, it is supplied to the plants.

To have fresh fruits, herbs and vegetables all year round, not only on your table, but also to quickly recoup the financial costs of construction, you need to have a greenhouse with a usable area of ​​at least 50–60 m², and ideally 100 m².

Video: building a winter greenhouse

In this article we highlighted the main aspects of building winter greenhouses with your own hands. We hope that now you will be able to quickly build a winter greenhouse and will enjoy the fruits of your labor for many years.

Every gardener can independently and correctly, and most importantly, economically and quickly produce a greenhouse structure at his dacha. Construction requires a good plan, competent step-by-step instructions and minimal experience in handling basic construction tools.

Advantages of making your own greenhouse

Currently, in the conditions of home and country vegetable growing, a huge number of varieties of greenhouse structures, both factory-produced and handicraft, are used. You can make a greenhouse of any size yourself.

What a homemade greenhouse or hothouse building will be like depends largely on the materials available to the summer resident. The undeniable advantages of this design are its low cost and the possibility of construction at a convenient time and time frame. In addition, you can make quite unusual or original, but very functional greenhouses or greenhouses with your own hands.

Winter and summer designs

It is quite possible to build both winter and summer versions yourself. However, before making a project and bringing it to life, you should understand how these types of greenhouses differ and why the design requires additional costs.

• The main difference lies in the material from which the structure is built. For example, polyethylene film is used in the manufacture of summer structures, but it is not suitable for winter ones. As a covering for a winter greenhouse, you should choose high-quality glass or translucent polycarbonate. Thin sheet polycarbonate can also be used in the manufacture of a summer greenhouse.
• If we are building a winter greenhouse, then it is very important to pay special attention to the foundation, since this part has a direct impact on the efficiency of the heating system.
• The frame of a winter greenhouse building should be as powerful and reliable as possible, and for a summer structure it can be made lighter.

These are the most important seasonal features that need to be taken into account to create a high-quality and durable greenhouse.

Main types of greenhouses

Most often, greenhouse structures are designed for the cultivation of a certain type of plant, taking into account their botanical characteristics, including lighting and temperature conditions inside.

• Single-pitched greenhouse the roof is an ideal option for creating a winter garden or greenhouse, due to the presence of an internal passage into the building. In this case, the greenhouse will be easy to maintain regardless of the time of year. It is best to install a lean-to greenhouse on the south side of the house.
• Gable greenhouses or “house” structures have proven themselves well in most regions of our country and deservedly belong to the category of the most common classic protected ground structures.

• teardrop-shaped options very durable, have excellent light transmission and do not retain snow mass on the surface, but they are difficult to install, so they are extremely rarely made independently at home.
• Dome view not only looks original, but also has some functional characteristics, including the possibility of construction in earthquake-prone areas, as well as reducing the consumption of building materials. When creating such a structure, special attention should be paid to its high-quality sealing and insulation.

• Polygonal design combines good light transmittance, attractive appearance, and high resistance to gusty winds. It should be taken into account that the installation of such a structure is quite complex and proper organization of space is necessary for uniform heating of the air masses.
• Dutch greenhouses are distinguished by reliability and durability. Sloping walls allow for maximum illumination, which has a positive effect on the yield of crops grown. In addition, the construction of such a greenhouse will be inexpensive.

Which greenhouse to choose (video)

In recent years, tunnel structures – “booths” – have become popular. This design perfectly protects plants from bad weather and gusty winds, and as a result, with minimal investment in construction, it is possible to obtain a stable and high yield. This allows us to evaluate this option as optimal for construction at the dacha with our own hands. Most often, a tunnel greenhouse is used for growing peppers and tomatoes.

Collapsible and stationary products

All greenhouses erected and used on household plots and garden plots are divided into stationary and collapsible (folding).

The folding greenhouse began to be used in home garden vegetable growing relatively recently. Its basis is a lightweight, collapsible frame, and its small dimensions allow the greenhouse to be moved to a new location if necessary. A small structure is quite cheap for summer residents, and it is not difficult to assemble it yourself.

A stationary greenhouse, on the contrary, has been used by vegetable growers for many years. The design features of such a building include the presence of a metal frame on which the covering is installed and a foundation base. Most summer residents prefer just such greenhouses, due to their reliability and durability, as well as ease of use in the structure and ease of maintenance.

Choice of material for the frame

The frame base and door must be rigid and strong, which will allow them to withstand repeated seasonal temperature fluctuations, as well as wind and a fairly large weight of snow mass. At the same time, the number of massive elements that reduce illumination should be kept to a minimum. The implementation of a collapsible structure involves the use of materials with low weight and ease of dismantling work. Today, several types of materials differing in characteristics and price are used to create the frame of greenhouses.

• Tree is the most accessible and cheapest option that does not require special skills or the use of professional equipment. The wooden frame is environmentally friendly and lightweight, but is susceptible to rotting and therefore needs to be treated with antiseptics.
• Aluminum allows you to create lightweight and durable structures with a high level of rigidity that can withstand significant loads. To connect the parts, a household riveter is used or nuts are mounted in specially drilled holes. The popularity of the option is somewhat reduced by the high price of the aluminum frame.

• Plastic has such unique characteristics as lightness and strength, as well as resistance to rotting and corrosive changes. The flexibility of the material helps to create structures of different shapes, which is especially important when constructing arched or gable greenhouses. However, it should be taken into account that the significant lightness of plastic requires mandatory attachment to the foundation or soil.
• Steel used to create a greenhouse frame quite often and requires a strip foundation. Galvanized steel frames are characterized by resistance to corrosion, which increases the service life of the greenhouse.

• Profile for drywall successfully combines such advantages as light weight and ease of installation work. As practice shows, a frame made of metal profiles turns out to be easy to use, durable, dismountable and quite affordable. Perfect for creating gable and single-pitch buildings, as well as arched structures and Mittlaider greenhouses.
• Window frames as a material for a greenhouse frame, they allow you to create a structure with acceptable thermal insulation performance in the shortest possible time and with significant savings. However, one should take into account the fragility of such a frame: the average service life, even when wood is processed, does not exceed five years.

Other materials for creating a frame are not popular in home greenhouse construction.

Types of foundation for a greenhouse

The low weight and large windage of a greenhouse structure often causes the structure to overturn under the influence of gusty winds, so the frame should be installed on the most reliable and durable foundation. The choice of foundation type depends in most cases on the weight of the structure.

• Brick foundation easy to install, quite reliable and suitable for most greenhouses. However, it should be borne in mind that the manufacture of such a foundation is a rather labor-intensive and expensive process.
• Stone base very reliable and durable. A properly executed stone foundation can support heavy metal structures made of rolled profiles and fiberglass. Most often used when creating permanent greenhouses and is not a budget option.

• Concrete foundation is one of the inexpensive and quickly erected capital foundations and involves the creation of formwork, subsequent pouring of concrete mixture and installation of rod anchors for fastening the frame.
• The simplest and most affordable option is wooden base. However, the operation of such a foundation made of boards or timber, even when treated with high-quality antiseptic compounds, is limited to five seasons, which makes its installation under a permanent frame impractical.

Greenhouse covering materials

Glass, polyethylene film or translucent cellular polycarbonate can be used as coating material. Each type of material has advantages, but is also not without its disadvantages, which must be taken into account when choosing.

• Film It is one of the cheapest and most accessible materials, but in terms of durability it is not able to compete with polycarbonate or glass. Even the highest quality film coating should be changed every three years. An arched greenhouse is most often covered with two layers of film at once, which allows us to provide plants with the most comfortable conditions for growth and development. The material has a good level of light transmittance, but under the influence of sunlight it quickly wears out and light transmittance indicators decrease. Disadvantages also include the formation of condensation on the inside of the coating.

• Glass refers to traditional materials for greenhouses and is characterized as a durable coating with a high level of light transmission and good thermal insulation. When using it to create protected ground structures, you should remember the rapid heating of glass and the significant weight of the material. In addition, it is important to consider that replacing broken or damaged glass will not be cheap.
• Polycarbonate It is a hard translucent plastic with a cellular structure. The material is characterized by durability, a high level of impact resistance and good light transmittance, as well as excellent flexibility, which makes it possible to use it in arched and tunnel-type structures.

Sometimes other covering materials are used. Some amateur vegetable growers perform a combined covering of greenhouses, in which the roof of the structure is covered with film and the side parts of the frame are glazed.

When a foundation is not needed

The foundation is the basis that provides a high level of stability, integrity, and maximum strength of the greenhouse building. However, there are types of protected ground structures that do not require the creation of a foundation. These are lightweight, portable and collapsible structures, the weight of which is insignificant, and protection against windage is achieved by attaching the greenhouse to the ground using pegs.

Schemes and drawings

Before you start building a greenhouse or greenhouse structure with your own hands, you need to correctly draw up drawings and diagrams of the structure. Greenhouse drawings can be varied. Currently, diagrams of Soviet classic wooden models, as well as modern and rational diagrams of the Mittlaider greenhouse can be found in the public domain.

The choice of a diagram and drawing of a greenhouse or greenhouse structure should be based on the requirements, features and characteristics of the materials used in the independent construction of the structure, as well as the purposes of using the structure of the protected soil in the conditions of homestead or dacha plant growing.

You can create a diagram of the future structure yourself or use ready-made options. The second option is more preferable and can reduce the cost of time and effort.

Stages of making a greenhouse with your own hands

Independent production of a greenhouse or greenhouse structure includes several sequential steps:

• choosing the type of structure;
• creation of drawings and diagrams;
• frame manufacturing;
• carrying out excavation work, including the construction of a foundation;
• installation of the supporting frame;
• installation of translucent coating.

The features of each stage depend on the type of materials used, as well as the characteristics of the structure itself, including size and season of use.

Greenhouse equipment

Creating a microclimate favorable for the growth and development of plants in most cases depends on the use of special greenhouse equipment. In order to increase the productivity of cultivated crops and the quality of the harvest, it is necessary to take care in advance of modernizing the protected ground space. Growing vegetables, berries or green crops in protected soil involves installing heating, watering, additional lighting, and ventilation systems.

• Irrigation system using drip or subsurface irrigation equipment can relieve gardeners and gardeners from heavy manual labor, and also saves time and water.
• Heating can be carried out in several ways, and the choice of equipment depends on the communications system that exists on the personal or garden plot. You can choose stove, electric or gas heating.

• Ventilation very important at all stages of growth and development of garden crops. It helps protect plants from overheating and ensures complete air exchange. For natural ventilation, open doors and vents are sufficient, and if it is necessary to increase air circulation, an exhaust or circulation fan should be installed.
• Additional lighting necessary not only for seedlings, but also for almost any garden plants cultivated in conditions of too short daylight hours. Special lamps make it possible to provide the crop with optimal comfortable illumination in early spring, as well as in winter and late autumn.

How to build a greenhouse with your own hands (video)

Today, many gardeners cannot imagine their plot without a greenhouse. And for the first time in our country, the famous scientist K. Timiryazev grew crops in this way. His merit was the construction in 1872 of a growing house for cultivated plants on the territory of the Petrovsky Academy of Sciences. This prototype of a modern greenhouse made it possible in subsequent years, right up to the present day, to develop various types of protected ground structures that make it possible to lengthen the fruiting period of plants and improve the quality and volume of the harvest.