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Owners of private houses often want to grow greens, vegetables and fruits for the table on their own plot. But in order for fresh products to be born all year round, it is necessary to install a greenhouse with a transparent roof. Many argue that you can make a greenhouse with your own hands, but how realistic is it? After all, the construction process requires a certain responsibility, a special approach when choosing building materials. Consider polycarbonate in the article, its advantages when used in greenhouses.
What are the features
Polycarbonate is a special transparent sheet material that has become indispensable in the construction of greenhouses, replacing glass and film, which were traditional materials. Polycarbonate is easy to cut (with a regular knife), very light and flexible. It is 50 times stronger than glass and 16 times lighter than glass, and 500 times stronger than film.
Polycarbonate material will withstand heavy rain and hail. Manufacturers give a guarantee on it for 15 years, which indicates the durability of the material. But, the main thing for a vegetable grower and amateurs is the increased thermal insulation and the ability of polycarbonate to transmit and scatter light. Polycarbonate is a plastic made of two sheets interconnected by stiffeners of the same material. Inside, voids are formed, very similar to honeycombs, from which the name comes from – cellular polycarbonate. Such an interesting design has many advantages. Experiments prove that one sheet 6 meters long weighs only 10 kg.
Operating temperature from -50С to +120С. Heat is retained in the greenhouse, and light penetrating through the plastic membranes is most favorable for plants. Suitable for use in harsh environments. Withstands huge loads (200 times more than glass). When using polycarbonate in greenhouses, you need to check if it is equipped with a UV layer. This layer is fused into the front side of the structure and protects the plastic from the sun.
Design and installation
Diagram of a gable greenhouse in the figure
The most common greenhouse is considered a gable. It has a fairly simple drawing – two planes converging upwards and end walls. Often, gable greenhouses are made by hand as freestanding, not attached to the structure. The disadvantage of this type will be a small area, and in the cold season, there will also be insufficient heating of plants, since all the warm air will gather under the roof.
You can build ordinary vertical polycarbonate walls with your own hands, and make the roof in the form of a triangle. The advantage of the latest design is the spacious arrangement of your plants. Some lovers of fresh nature, in such greenhouses, arrange recreation areas where beautiful rose gardens are planted.
When choosing a location for a greenhouse, three factors must be considered:
- light regime (set the greenhouse from west to east along the length);
- wind directions (think about wind protection);
- wide and convenient passage (to facilitate construction and future operation).
Greenhouse frame drawing in the figure
We begin to draw a drawing with our own hands, prepare the necessary materials, and carry out calculations. We will choose the size of the greenhouse based on the size of a standard polycarbonate sheet – 2,1X6,0 m. So, from two sheets you can get 8 pieces of 2100X1500 mm each. And build a greenhouse with a straight wall size of 4200X1500 mm. The width of the room depends on the slope of the roof slope. The height of the greenhouse, if we use one cut sheet, will be 1,5 m. But if we build a foundation 20 cm high, the height of the wall will be already 1,7 m.
For frame frames, we take a profile steel pipe, for example, 40×20 mm. It is easier to attach polycarbonate sheets and frame elements to a profile pipe. The pipe section on the metal base is 6,05 m. Consider the option of making a frame with your own hands from one steel pipe (see drawing below).
Frame drawing without measurements. With a height of 1,7 m, a gable greenhouse will require 3,4 m of pipe. From the remaining piece of 2,65 m and with a roof at an angle of 30%, we make a frame width of 2,24 m. With these calculations, we will cover the greenhouse with one sheet of polycarbonate with protruding side overhangs of 10 cm (for water drainage).
We make a foundation with our own hands with a depth of 40 cm, we lay anchors around the entire perimeter for attaching a profile pipe, we fill it with concrete. After drying, proceed to the installation of the frame.
Frames and farms for the greenhouse need to be cooked with your own hands on the ground, and only then install the entire structure. On the frontal elements there must be a door, on the other hand a window. All elements are welded together and attached to the foundation (see drawing).
We can lay polycarbonate sheets with our own hands with overlapping layers or using connecting profiles, they are installed between the sheets. For fasteners, special thermal washers are used. The thermal washer additionally protects the material from the ingress of dust, dirt and seals the connection.
Video “Greenhouse made of cellular polycarbonate”
Lighting and heating
What to do if you want to have a greenhouse that works, brings benefits and harvests all year round? It is necessary to provide heating and lighting in the building. To choose the right type of heating system in a greenhouse, you need to take into account its size, distance from the house or kitchen, if you plan to share heating with your house, and, of course, the amount of money you are willing to allocate for this.
Heating the greenhouse with hot water using solid fuel is considered the cheapest and most common. Also, quite often, infrared lamps of the dark spectrum are used for heating individual greenhouses. They make it possible to instantly adjust the temperature in the greenhouse, do not take up much space, destroy harmful fungi and are completely automated.
To heat the greenhouse with gas throughout the year, you need to connect to the city gasification system with your own hands, but if you only need to adjust temperature fluctuations, a connected gas cylinder or liquid gas tank will do. There is a cable heating system, it is economical to operate, inexpensive to install, and also distributes heat evenly. To install such a “warm floor” with your own hands, part of the soil is removed, a layer of sand is poured, and then the cable is laid with a snake.
Electric heating with a conventional radiator. Ribbed radiators with thermostats of different lengths and capacities distribute heat along the entire length of the body, and in combination with a greenhouse fan, they are able to supply heat in different doses, quickly respond to sharp temperature fluctuations and prevent moisture from appearing on the greenhouse walls. Heating of greenhouses due to home heating systems is also in demand.
Everyone knows that plants need 12-16 hours of daylight. If the length of the day becomes shorter than 10 hours, the plants simply stop growing. But scientists have found that special lighting of the red spectrum is “useful” while flowering is in progress and fruits are tied, and blue is for vegetative growth.
Based on these findings, there are many options for special greenhouse lighting. Ordinary incandescent lamps illuminate the greenhouse well, but are not always favorable for seedlings and growing fruits. Not economical. Fluorescent lamps are quite economical. They have a favorable effect on plants, are durable and inexpensive, but do not have a high heat transfer.
High pressure mercury lamps heat up quickly and are good for all plants, but you need as many of them as possible, since the lamp’s range is not large. Metal halide lamps with a large power range. They are considered ideal for greenhouses, unfortunately, they are not durable and expensive. They are also not convenient due to the special requirements for the combustion position. High pressure sodium lamps. They have high heat dissipation, are economical, create a pleasant yellow-orange light in the greenhouse, simulating sunlight. But they are not suitable for vegetative growth.
LED lamps allow you to illuminate the greenhouse with the right light thanks to the nozzles. Economical in electricity consumption, are not cheap. The most constructive option would be to install greenhouse lamps in a row on flexible cables, which will allow you to adjust the height and orientation of the light sources.
Video “We install the greenhouse with our own hands”
This video acts as a visual aid that will help you decide how to properly build a polycarbonate factory greenhouse.
