Wow! That is a nice set up. I'm so glad you figured out how to post pics. I'm sure enjoying them. :)

Sandra

Wow... How hot does it get in there? Do you have vents at the ends? You must really have to move some air through there to keep it cool. My only experience is with a plastic tunnel, but I know it can get amazingly hot in there on sunny days.

Looks like everything is very green. With your location, you could be growing tropicals in there.

Sandra:

Thanks for the encouragement. The fruit doesn't look that impressive yet because most is still green but here are some of yesterdays harvest of mostly Tasty Rich aprium.

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Frank:

With the shade cloth, a wet wall for evaporative cooling, and about one air exchange per minute, I could hold it nearly 5-15F cooler than outside. Without the shade cloth still cooler than outside. It hasn't been over 83F in there this year with ~20 days 90F outside. But we are in a drought and still in the spring pattern giving us low dew points.

All I can say is WOW!!! Totally amazing setup fruitnut. I am more than a little impressed. I knew you had some of your trees in a greenhouse. For some reason I was thinking of something much much smaller.

Yeah Fruitnut, like you said- those fruit sure aren't impressive! Only thing green about those apricots is my envy.

Beautiful set-up. Maybe you could do a business of building instant protected orchards for Texas multi-millionaires. I assure you that once it catches on you'll have more business than you know how to fulfill. It's just one show-off client's bowl of fruit at some party short of catching on right now.

As another possible venue, if you ever want to sell "Texas grown ultra-gourmet fruit" to pricey Dallas restaurants and
need some contacts I have a sister-in-law who could set you up in that- not that you'd need much help if you had the product in sufficient quantity.

Went out and checked greenhouse temperatures at 90F outside air temperature and dew point of 0F giving 3% humidity. It was about ~70F at the wet wall and ~80F at exhaust fans. This is with no shade cloth. That's pretty amazing cooling with this dry air. And I'm only running two fans with one in reserve.

You live west of the "dry line" so I doubt you get any of the real soup that Houston gets? I would think a setup like yours would work very well even up into Colorado (dry/sunny/mild).

I ordered a hoop bender and measured out an area for a 12x24 high tunnel this afternoon :) Another project.

Here is the exhaust end of the greenhouse. Two fans are running, one off.

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An inside view showing some trees and the reflective fabric on the floor.

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The temperature sensor and some fruit.

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More fruit, an early nectarine.

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Blueberry and apricot.

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love the pics- cant wait to see the next ones

Man. I should live so long. Utterly gorgeous.

:-)M

WOW ! ! !

I'm greener with envy than the super color of your plants.

It has to smell absolutely wonderful in there when the bloom is on. Keep the pictures coming. Love it.

Stunning. You have it figured out.

How big of green house and how tall? How warm do you need to keep it in the winter? How many trees do you have in it? How much fruit do you get out of it? How much $ to put something like this together?

The greenhouse is 32 by 54 by 16 ft tall. If I were doing it again it would be 12-14 ft tall. That is tall enough and much easier to build.

In winter the heater is set at 34F. Heating cost is only about $300 per year since our ave low in winter is about 30F. To heat to 60F for tomatoes or tropicals would be another $1,000 or more. In a cold climate, winter temperature could be much lower for stone fruit. Just hold it above the critical temperature which in mid winter is about 0F and only rises above freezing at bloom.

I have about 60 trees in ground and many in pots. I figure about 1700 lbs fruit per year, one lb per sqft, and have something to harvest at all times.

My cost 6 years ago with mostly my labor about 25K. Now you could do one of about 900-1200 sq ft for 15-20K. That is about the right size for a family and is big enough to reach some economy of scale. The little ones are overpriced.

I built mine while driving a 1994 car. Thought about buying a pickup but didn't. The greenhouse is cheaper to own and operate than a truck and will last longer.

Very nice investment. You can grow alot of fruit in there wow!.

"I built mine while driving a 1994 car. Thought about buying a pickup but didn't. The greenhouse is cheaper to own and operate than a truck and will last longer."
Brilliant.

Amazing! Thank you so much for posting this.

Fruitnut,

Do the sides roll down?

Your greenhouse looks like what we call a high tunnel/hoop house up here.

Nice looking trees.

olpea:

No the sides don't roll down. Cooling is by exhaust fans plus evaporative cooling. I've thought about a high tunnel but they would be 100-115F during our recent weather. And since they have open venting, birds and insects can get in. I think mine is the best design for early blooming fruit trees.

You could give tours! Those are some various vents. Now I see how it would stay cool.

Did you put that whole structure on a cement slab?

I'm putting together a 12x24 for around $300 :)

Great pics... I've been reading your posts for years - all the while trying to picture what your greenhouse looks like. Really nice, I'll be watching for more pictures!

That is really impressive. I'd always wondered what your setup looked like as well and am grateful for the pics.

I'm curious about how many hours a week on average it now takes you to obtain your current production level (not counting initial construction time).

dj:

I spend a lot of time in the greenhouse just because I want to not because things really need doing. But the greenhouse is no more labor intensive than the rest of my garden and orchard. There are no weeds and little spraying inside. Watering is less than outside and the only daily chore inside is watering pots. The pots are optional. So total time is an hour or two a day on average.

But there is a steep learning curve compared to outside. I'm still learning going into my 7th crop. For instance I now think that the unusually long growing season is causing flower bud abortion and fruit set issues not only on sweet cherry but on other stone fruit. In a cooler climate or with adjustments in temperature, this wouldn't I think be an issue.

In this climate my greenhouse is so efficient that all chilling can be gotten in 14 to 45 days,depending on cultivar, anytime from Nov 1 until Febr 1. The rest of the year can be 95% of days in 80s and 90s if desired. I'm learning that I need to back off on that and go for about 90 days chilling and a shorter cooler summer. 10.5 months warm weather is too long for some things.

But It's just so nice to have control of so many more elements than outside. I'm going to be fighting a freeze outside tonight. Most years I'm eating tree ripened apricot and blueberry before the last freeze outside.

Wow. Wow. Okay, did I say Wow?? I want to move into your greenhouse, fruitnut. It's gorgeous. My gosh. I am hoping to tackle my wee little 8' x 12' greenhouse this Thursday. My concern will be ventilation, being in S. California. It was 85 today, which is pretty warm for us for this time of year. But in August & September, and even well into October, we can easily get into the low 100's. My greenhouse has two large vents in the roof and a large door. But that's it. I'm thinking of having a screen & glass company help me make a back door, and to come up with a way to put in a screen door, so I can open both doors and get straight through ventilation, but without bugs (or rodents, snakes, etc.) getting in. I might also try to put some fans in if that's not feasible. Just gorgeous, I am green with envy!

Patty S.

Finally, Great, The photos put your statements in perspective. Sometimes I couldn't figure out what you meant. So keep posting those fruit pioneering photos. A really long growing season would be nice here but prohibitively expensive to heat. Like I said before I am trying pots for growing high brix pluots that don't crack. Thanks for sharing.

I'd spend a lot of time in there if I had your setup as well. I can't believe you keep up with an outdoor orchard and garden on top of your indoor orchard. You've got me dreaming of doing something similar when I retire (or if I ever give up on fighting the outdoor battle).

Do you hand pollinate or use bees?

trianglejohn:

I purchase a class C hive of bumblebees. They do a pretty good job and fruit set has mostly been excellent. I tried Mason bees but they never came out of their nest. But then I was asking them to come out 3 months earlier than where they came from. I doubt honey bees would work and a hive would be way too many.

Some peach and nectarine don't set well without help. This year a light misting of open blossoms once a day with water gave great set. Amazed me but that seems to work. Read about it in a 1930s horticulture book. Some place in PA had a 40 year old nectarine in their greenhouse and that's how they set fruit. So this could work back East. Can you see a 40 year old nectarine outdoors in PA, not likely.

Do you have to replace the hive each year or do they keep going?

My old farmhouse came with a 50 by 22 foot asphalt basketball court and I've wondered about building a greenhouse over it. This is giving me all sorts of ideas.

john:

You need a new hive every year. The hive lasts just long enough to cover most bloom, 5-6 weeks.

I'd stay away from the asphalt just because you'd be limited to potted trees. Potted works pretty well. Fruit quality can be better, or much worse, and it's more intensive.

I can help you or anyone else design a setup around your climate and objectives. I designed this system while living in California. Brought back about 80 cultivars budded on 30 trees, built the greenhouse, planted them inside about 18 months after moving, and haven't missed a crop since.