Three things that I note in professional/commercial greenhouses that I see lacking in most 'home' greenhouses (including mine) - 1. circulation (i.e. fans) 2. vents that are thermostat controlled 3. drip irrigation on timers. I'd look into the vent issue and see what the manufacturers set up their vents/thermostats at to get a flavor how much heat is too much heat. I just burned out a bunch seedlings in my greenhouse, as I had NO idea how hot it would actually get in there. My answer - really darn hot! Seems to me that tropical clumpers, on the whole, would love the warmth on the roots as well as the humidity, of a greenhouse. But care should be taken not to flood and drown the roots.

Fascist, interesting that you mention a few gardeners have a/c for their green houses. They're probably rich. I guess if money is no issue, a person could build a reasonably energy efficient a/c cooled greenhouse here. You'd need to use double or triple pane energy star glass for all the windows (low solar heat gain windows.) As for cooling, you could use evap during the hot, months and high efficiency a/c during the humid monsoon months. To be extra green, you could install solar panels to run the a/c or swamp coolers. You probably wouldn't need supplemental heating at all- just shut the windows at night.

Does one actually consider another grower 300 miles away, their competition? That's the distance between Detroit and Chicago. If I considered the growers who post on this forum my competition, I most likely wouldn't post. We're not that insecure; and don't believe we should look at the world through that prism. As growers, we're all pretty open with information. We can all grow pretty much the same flowers; however, where we differentiate ourselves is through marketing. This is the area where a grower will either be a success or failure. Tom Wilkstrom was Vice-President of ASCFG. If you were actually a member, you'd know the current Vice-President was voted into office November 30. The new Vice-President, Howard Lubbers, resides in Michigan just a stones throw from our farm. He's another knowleable grower willing to share his wealth of information. The following information may be of real benefit to you, Taty. Our National Conference for ASCFG is going to be held in San Jose, October 25-29. We're going to be touring Santa Cruz, and the Pajaro Valley. And, travelling into Monterey County where alot of flowers are grown. The great thing is that we visit large and small operations generally not open to the public. Another good thing about the conference besides the field trips is the brainstorming that takes place with other growers. They always have training sessions at the conferences for new and old members. Plant breeders, researchers and plant/seed company brokers are always in attendance. And, best of all, we are made aware of the latest market trends. As growers in an ever evolving marketplace, all of the information gathered helps our farm remain cutting edge. The ASCFG Regional Director for the Northwest is Pat Zweifel of Oregon Coastal Flowers/Z Callas. He willingly shares his successes and failures with just a tremendous sense of humor. Regional conferences are also held each year. I'm not sure where it is going to be held for the Northwest. As members, we're invited to attend any Regional Conferences that are of interest to us. We don't need to reside within that region. This is Pat Zweifel's motto: "If this is what you love to do, then never give up due to frustration." Trish

Hi Vladimir I've had my greenhouse for about 15 years. It's a lean-to off of my living room! The frame is made from angle iron and the cross beams are unistrut. The covering is corrugated clear panels that is sold at homedepot/lowes. Long story short last couple of years I've been growing inside the greenhouse over the summer and through the winter. I live in south jersey so i am zone 6b-7a. I have two box fans that run Constantly. I have a screen door on one side and window on the other side. It usually gets up to 110F-112F topp in summer. I have no shade cloth on the roof and my tomatoes never have a problem with the direct sunlight or heat. I do have a sprinkler that comes on automatically( cools temp a bit) and a bathroom exhaust fan that I connected to a temperature controller to pull out the extra heat. I usually do tomatoes in summer because the fans will pollinate the flowers and the deer/rabbits won't eat the plants. Cucumbers did really well last year where they actually took over the entire greenhouse and I had cucumbers into November. They just have to be pollinated by hand. any question s let me know steve