PVC-Pipe Greenhouse?

Im starting to plan my 2009 outdoor grow, and a greenhouse has been sitting in the back of my mind. Ive been reading online about PVC-pipe greenhouses because they are extremely cheap. I live on the central coast of california so the green house will give my plants a little coverage on those cold days.

But i had some questions. Would the greenhouse allow the the proper sunlight onto the plants(Would it be better for the plants to receive direct sunlight)?

Also would i be able to start a month or two earlier into the outdoor season since the plants wont get too cold in the greenhouse?

Has anyone had any experience with simple greenhouses like this one? What problems did you run into?

Thanks in advance

I also want to know this
"Would the greenhouse allow the the proper sunlight onto the plants(Would it be better for the plants to receive direct sunlight)?"


Also, what PVC pipe greenhouse are you looking to build?? I want to build myself one for the summer as well.

Well any plant that you put outside in the winter would go straight to flower, i would guess. You would have to veg indoors, then transfer outdoors. Also, don't forget to have ventilation hooked up to a thermostat, so when temps go above a set level the fans turn on. It can get pretty hot inside greenhouses, even in the winter.



oh, and don't forget to make a door. I did that once...

bterz said:

I also want to know this
"Would the greenhouse allow the the proper sunlight onto the plants(Would it be better for the plants to receive direct sunlight)?"


Also, what PVC pipe greenhouse are you looking to build?? I want to build myself one for the summer as well.

Click to expand...

What do you mean which kind? Its just going to be a basic PVC greenhouse. But i dont know what kind of material i should cover the PVC spine with. What would be the best of the best?

beginningbotanist420 said:

Well any plant that you put outside in the winter would go straight to flower, i would guess. You would have to veg indoors, then transfer outdoors. Also, don't forget to have ventilation hooked up to a thermostat, so when temps go above a set level the fans turn on. It can get pretty hot inside greenhouses, even in the winter.



oh, and don't forget to make a door. I did that once...

Click to expand...

haha, i will remeber. How would i rig a thermostat to the green house?

Purplecheeser said:

haha, i will remeber. How would i rig a thermostat to the green house?

Click to expand...

Al B. Fuct has a decent thread on it, but just search "thermostat" or "tstat"

You should google "100 Dollar Greenhouse" and check out the various articles by agricultural extension groups and universities.

Iv made lots of PVC Greenhouses
work very well, and are relatively inexpensive

Very cool! I, too, want to build a greenhouse for next season (keeps away prying eyes in the skies).

Purplecheeser said:

What do you mean which kind? Its just going to be a basic PVC greenhouse. But i dont know what kind of material i should cover the PVC spine with. What would be the best of the best?

Click to expand...

I think visqueen would be a good choice, and far less expensive than even translucent corrugated plastic panels. Have you done any searching on greenhouse suppliers?

stake down one end of the pvc, straight up and down. bend it in an arch and add as many pieces as you need to get your height. stake the other end. cover in plastic. done.


if i can do it with a broken leg anyone can.

Looks nice. Do you cover the spine back with plastic on cold/overcast days and leave it open to catch some rays on those really hot days? Or were you just not finished?

Seamaiden said:

Very cool! I, too, want to build a greenhouse for next season (keeps away prying eyes in the skies).

I think visqueen would be a good choice, and far less expensive than even translucent corrugated plastic panels. Have you done any searching on greenhouse suppliers?

Click to expand...

I havnt done much research at the moment. I figured that i would be able to find everything at my local homedepot and order the visqueen/green house overlay online

Nice FDD thats one crazy back yard!

Purplecheeser said:

I havnt done much research at the moment. I figured that i would be able to find everything at my local homedepot and order the visqueen/green house overlay online

Click to expand...

I don't know if different types of plastics are used, but.. I am thinking of the same plastic that people who live in places like Tahoe use to shield their entries/porches during winter. We used to use "clear construction plastic", I think it was a 6mil plastic, to hold up to wind. Only other thing I could think of being a problem, if it's not made specifically for a greenhouse, is crumbling to bits after so much exposure to directly sunlight.

Sounds like a plan!

I was also thinking of having only the side covered with white plastic and the top, right were it starts to curve, have a transparent material, so that it may receive direct sunlight while still keeping hidden from the public