Are you sure you want to come in. Its absolutely beautiful in there, with all the life and activity of growing flower buds and new growth of plant material. The wintertime is when my greenhouse wakes and says, "I'm here!" I will take some pictures and post on my Greenhouse Alive thread.

Great idea for a post, I love looking at what others are doing in their greenhouses.

Some day I'll have my own greenhouse but for now I LOVE looking at all of YOUR greenhouse! I live through YOU folks!

Orchid Dude, we always love to look at your posts. It's great inspiration to those who want to have a warm greenhouse with lots of tropicals.

Your greenhouse needs a thread of its own, with so many pretties to display. I'd like to see some broad views as well as the close-up flowers.

Some of the rest of us will show here what we're doing in our DIY houses and talk about our aspirations. Mostly what I try to do is hold over some tender perennials like pentas and stachytarpheta that butterflies like, a few begonias and salvias, and some less tender tropicals like gingers to get a head start in the spring. Oh, and start some seeds for the new season. A Grandma's Greenhouse, if you will, a place to hang out on cold windy days.

When we have unseasonably warm days, I leave the doors open so the occasional sulphur butterfly can come in for pentas nectar. I was rewarded yesterday by a cloudless sulphur. I managed one photo before he flew out the door, of him hiding under an Epiphyllum leaf.
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Join our thread, or start a new one; we need lots of pics during the dreary days of Winter.

Nell

Nell,

I love your gh. I really like how you did the floors. I have pea gravel boring. Yours is very pretty and organized. Thanks for sharing during our winter...

Thanks, Sue.

I put some 16" stepping stones in a rectangle in the middle and ran two lengths of wood roll-up pathway from Harbor Freight through the middle of the smaller rectangle they formed. The roll-up pathway is neat -- made in Russia.

There are other stepping stones with some brick to piece out the gaps, under the water barrels and for the potting bench to sit on; brick under the water faucet where the hose coils. The remaining bare earth has cypress mulch. Use what you have, make the best use of the space.

Now, what is everybody else doing?

Nell

Happy New Year, everyone! -- This is a photo from last year, but gives you an idea of my greenhouse, which is approximately 15 x 8 or so. Since it's winter, I have keeping everything in there alive on the brain. I just finished putting up Charlie's bubblewrap over the glass about 7 ft. up (but not on the ceiling) and used birdwidow's idea of tension rods to hold it all up, rather than adhesive. Works great! The bubblewrap replaced 1" foam panels next to the glass which I have previously used in winter. The panels are now below the benches next to the brick wall and I think they might help insulate. If temps go below 15 degrees I might stand some up over the bubblewrap. I have a natural gas heater which I keep on "low" and this keeps the GH at 60 degrees at night. The automatic vent is turned off now so the GH stores heat during the daytime and the heater goes to pilot light. When temps are below 25 degrees I run a small electric heater on the far end.
I grow cuttings of plants I want to propogate for the beds next season, and new seedlings, as well as pots of some very old camellias, gardenias, and hibiscus, which come in from the patio in late fall. I'm thinking of adding a grow light set-up in the potting room next winter.
My late father designed and had the GH built. There is a sliding glass door with screen to the yard as well as jalousie windows at each end and a full-length automatic vent for fresh air. Another door goes into a potting room right off the garage.
This Gardenweb site has been tremendously helpful for a GH newbie who took this over four years ago. I'd love to see what you all are doing in yours. Please post some photos!
Sunny

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Here's is a peak through the doors of my snow covered HFGH in Canada.

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I have a working GH and I am still growing vegies.

John
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Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

Using it for rooting rose cuttings, holding over roses I rooted this fall, and hiding out. With the bubble wrap on the walls, no one can see me. :)

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The first flower on a cutting of Verdun:
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Who's next?

Connie

banana fan, how is your white fan in the background of you pic securred? Is it a special kind of fan or a regular one that appears to be hung upside down? Is it hard wired? I really need a place to put my fans where they are more secure and permanent

I'm going to take pictures tomorrow :)

"banana fan, how is your white fan in the background of you pic securred? Is it a special kind of fan or a regular one that appears to be hung upside down? Is it hard wired? I really need a place to put my fans where they are more secure and permanent"

rjinga,

It is a regular floor oscillating fan. I removed the base a then flatend the round metal shaft, drilled a 1/4" hole and bolted it to the roof truss. The fan is always on and is controlled by a speed controller that keeps the fan moving at the slowest possible speed before it stalls. The fan is not hard wired. I will be replacing the fan in Spring with a much larger fan that will be hard wired into my climate controller.

This is most of what I put into the GH
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After stuffing the bananas in there there is not much room to just "hang out"
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I don't have any wide angle shots recently, but on New Year's Day I did find these little goodies:

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I just love everybodys pictures and how well everything is growing for everyone. Great idea for a thread! Thanks for sharing your photos....Barb

Oh, am I jealous of all the greenhouse jungles! Here's a photo of my winter layout after losing a few of my plants. (Had a couple nights that got too cold.)

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Not lush, but the plants are doing their thing!

Here is a link that might be useful: Greenhouse Blog Photos

These were taken yesterday. Jan 5 2009
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Blue Sky vine
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Hibiscus
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Costus
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Just love seeing peoples lovely greenhouses so I thought I'd bump this up to see if more people will post photos.
Bernie

Stressbaby better check the rest of his greenhouse real good to make sure he doesn't miss anything else!

Thai NamWah bananas. Very very good bananas.
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Miracle Fruit. Unbelievable producer.
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Lemon quava...currently just loaded with small fruit.
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Thai sugar apples.
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NICE, Jay.

What is the Miracle Fruit potting mix that you are using?

Pretty much straight peat/perlite with some pine bark chips and compost thrown in. Since moving it into full sun, it has thrived.

I had the plant about 3 years and it would continuously bloom like crazy but only set a disgustingly few fruit. Nobody had any answers. Out of frustration I started shaking the hell out of the plant every single time I walked by it. Guess what? More and more fruit started to set! I stumbled upon something by accident. I later learned that a much smarter man and one with a very good camera, started dissecting miracle fruit flowers and studying them. The flowers are extremely small and only open a fraction...and normally oriented in a downward manner. The determination, not scientific, is that pollen is distributed more by gravity. My shaking the plant allowed the pollen to distribute properly. Fans blowing in the greenhouse was not enough to do it. Outside, the plant has many more environmental factors helping out with this.

So now I don't shake out of anger or frustration, just to load up the plant! It works for me.

Cactusfreak, what is that on the roof of your greenhouse? Looks like sun shade but it doesn't look that wide -- might be just right for me -- what percentage light blocking 60%? 70%? from Charlies or where? Thank you. Your greenhouse is beautiful!!!
Sunny

it's taken awhile, but here are some recent pics of my crowded "house" complete with cat box and beds, next time I'll snap when the kitties are snoozing in there.

the only DEAD looking plant in there was a jasmine, not sure what happened. It was full and green when it went in..but they do come back every spring..
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some happy ferns, they never grew this well outside :)

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At just under 8X8, mine is more of a closet than a Greenhouse, but it's a nice place for watching a winter sunset.
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sunnyside1,
That is aluminet shade cloth. It comes in different percentages. I used 50%. It comes in different widths but they can piece it or do it yourself with monifiliment line.
It can also be cut without raveling.
I got mine at GreenhouseMegastore.

Here is a link that might be useful: aluminet

Thank you so much, Cactusfreak. That product is really going to make a difference in the GH this summer!
My best to you-
Sunny

Some of the geraniums. These mother plants will be used for cuttings. Some cuttings have already been started. Geraniums do much better in the greenhouse than outside in the summer.

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rjinga, that looks like J nitidum. Half of mine did the same thing!

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Wondeful pictuers everyone......Barb

here is a picture of my plumerias tucked away for the winter on one side and orchids on the other.

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Carlyn

Hi, Hilery -- I got all excited when I saw your "solar fan" on your blog photos. That's such a great idea! Do you remember where you got it? Does it have adjustable speeds?
Thanks for any help you can give me, Hilery.
Sunny

Littledog,
Is that a heat lamp or just a lite? I have a small gh that rarely needs heating and I have been thinking about hanging a heat lamp in there for a heat source when needed. If it is a heat lamp how has it been working?

Thanks,
Scaper

Hi Scaper,
Yes it's a heat lamp fixture, although it only has a plain low watt incadescent bulb. I have a small space heater with a blower to actually keep the temps above freezing; the light is just so I can look out from the house and see that the electricity is still on. (it has it's own breaker) Later this spring I think a regular heat bulb would work fine to keep it from getting too chilly, but by then, I'll probably be brooding chicks under it. :^)

I can't remember if it gets below freezing where you are, but if not, a heat lamp might do the trick.

hfgh 10x12 in possession.. site work spring 2009
very nice, Thank-you for your sharing. I will too soon
the green carpenter denver