diy greenhouse questions

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sweetpea84

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diy greenhouse questions
« on: March 12, 2016, 10:01 »
Hi everyone

I am building my own greenhouse this weekend as sadly my blowaway greenhouse of 3 days didn't so much blow away as crumple into a pathetic heap last week :(

I've got all the materials needed for the frame (basically pallets and more pallets) but I don't know what to do about the roof and sides. I have spent hours looking at the pros and cons on here and other forums and still haven't decided the best for of action.

Do I use any old clear plastic such as a tarp from say a building store or should I cough up the money and get actual polytunnel plastic? Any advice on either option (or a radical new option if I haven't thought of something you think I should have) would be gratefully received  :)

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Trikidiki

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Re: diy greenhouse questions
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2016, 10:20 »
You need to make sure the plastic is UV stable or it will go brittle and fall apart.

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sweetpea84

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Re: diy greenhouse questions
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2016, 10:25 »
Thanks. How long would it take for the plastic to go brittle?

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Kleftiwallah

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Re: diy greenhouse questions
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2016, 10:36 »

It's England, it's spring.  There won't be that much sun (or in summer for that matter)! :(

Cheers, Tony.
I may be growing OLD, but I refuse to grow UP !

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mumofstig

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Re: diy greenhouse questions
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2016, 10:52 »
There is still enough to degrade plastic - if it's not UV resistant it will be useless by the end of summer.

Think how quickly plastic bags begin to degrade!

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Plotmaster

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Re: diy greenhouse questions
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2016, 11:02 »
Plastic on my clear blowaway only lasted two and a half years, I'm guessing they expect them to turn into kites before then  :nowink:

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sweetpea84

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Re: diy greenhouse questions
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2016, 18:33 »
Thanks for the advice guys. i think i will use UV treated plastic and save up some pennies for some acrylic or something similar over the next year.

Put the frame together today, just got to put the roof on now and then can fix the plastic to it. Should be a bodge job masterpiece soon! :D

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steved

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Re: diy greenhouse questions
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2016, 20:33 »
A local primary school near me built a bottle greenhouse which i thought was really good. They grew some really good stuff in there, but as has been mentioned, UV stability is the key, even if theres not much sun, theres still plenty of UV!
It lasted about 3 years until it started to look tatty. God knows where youd get that many bottles from though, even if you were addicted to Coke. I suspect with the new sugar tax round the corner, it would be cheaper to buy a proper greenhouse.

http://www.ecofriendlykids.co.uk/build-greenhouse-plastic-bottles.html
Political Correctness-a concept based on the idea that its possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

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Trikidiki

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Re: diy greenhouse questions
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2016, 10:09 »
Bonus is I think drink bottles are UV stable otherwise they'd be leaching chemicals into your drink. I use small drink bottles on the end of canes as a mole deterrent and have had bottles on the lot for five years which don't appear to be degrading.



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