Greenhouse: how to build it yourself - theory, designs, diagrams, manufacturing principles. Winter greenhouse: do it yourself Building a greenhouse with your own hands

The greenhouse is the same symbol modern era, like space flight, computers with the Internet, robots and nuclear energy. This is not an exaggeration. According to WHO data for 1975, then 3/4 of the world's population lacked animal protein (without which a person, roughly speaking, becomes dull and stupid), half was chronically malnourished, and a third, in addition, had never tasted either meat or food in their lives. fish, no eggs.

We still feel the consequences of insufficient and malnutrition on a global scale today, but the situation, if not radically improving, is at least not significantly worsening, although there is less than 0.5 hectares of farmland left on Earth per person. Greenhouse farming helps you survive until better times (while you’re still alive, hopefully!): the yield of fruits and vegetables in a greenhouse can exceed that in open ground by several times(see figure), and the harvest is not harvested in one gulp on market day, but gradually all year round; this makes it possible to stably meet demand and free up land for livestock farming.

Note: from UN things. Also in 1975, UN experts zealously promoted vegetarianism. And last year they recognized him as having a mental disorder.

In turn, greenhouse agricultural technology was completely transformed quantitatively and qualitatively by a polycarbonate greenhouse. It is simple, cheap, durable and technologically advanced. In addition, if in the same 1975 expert tasters accurately separated greenhouse fruits and vegetables from ground-grown fruits and vegetables by taste, now in about 50% of cases they are confused. This means they don’t feel a noticeable difference and speak at random. Under an indispensable condition: the test samples were grown in modern greenhouses using modern agricultural technologies. Which, in turn, in old greenhouses are either ineffective or simply not applicable. For example, A greenhouse made of wood and glass becomes completely unusable in 2-3 years due to drip-fog irrigation.

Polycarbonate is a type of organic glass that reflects infrared (IR) rays well and thus can create a strong greenhouse effect. But it did not transform greenhouses on its own, but only after they learned to produce it in the form of sheets of a honeycomb structure. This made it possible to create strong and durable prestressed greenhouse structures on a lightweight frame; You can build a polycarbonate greenhouse in almost any climate, from the Sahara to the Putorana Mountains and from the Mojave Desert to Northern Labrador. Thanks to this, greenhouse farming has also become a public resource: a greenhouse on a quarter-acre plot of land can provide a family with fruits and herbs all year round and even provide a marketable surplus for sale.

Polycarbonate is easy to process, and the technology for creating structures from it with functioning cladding is simple. With the widespread use of pipes made of structural plastics and methods for quickly and firmly connecting them, the construction of a frame has ceased to be a serious problem. Currently, there is a wide range of kits of parts for assembling small garden greenhouses on sale, but demand dictates prices! Therefore, those who want to build a greenhouse with their own hands are constantly arriving: in the Penza region alone. number of self-made private greenhouses for 2009-2014. increased by more than 20 (!) times.

Note: Structural plastics are those that are capable of bearing mechanical operating loads for a long time. PVC, for example, for all its advantages, is not a structural plastic, although it can be very useful in the greenhouse business, as will be discussed below. Of the structural plastics, polyisopropylene (PP) is most commonly used: it is not expensive, and its mechanical properties are comparable to steel. Further, unless otherwise stated, plastic will always mean PP.

There are different ways to build a greenhouse from PP, at least this:

Video: greenhouse made of polypropylene pipes

But we will further try to tell you not only how to make a greenhouse yourself, but also how to construct it, without complex calculations, and during construction to avoid excessive costs and labor. Ready-made sets of parts are designed for all occasions and therefore are not cheap; a design well worked out by others in these specific circumstances may turn out to be unsuitable for some reason, and we will create our own greenhouse to suit our own local conditions, making do with the minimum necessary.

We will focus primarily on greenhouses made of polycarbonate on a tubular plastic frame, as they are the most universal. But there is a whole range garden crops, capable of vegetating and bearing fruit all year round at relatively low above-zero temperatures and relatively low light. These are natives of the tropics who have taken root in temperate latitudes: cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, sweet peppers, zucchini, and squash. In our country they are cultivated as annuals, but in general they are evergreen and with minimal heating costs they can produce commercial products 9-10 months a year, and the demand for them is always good.

Such crops do not require high agricultural technologies, but they are afraid of overheating in the summer; here they need fresh air and coolness more. Therefore, as well as for a number of other reasons, a good old wooden greenhouse is better suited for their small-scale production and cultivation for personal consumption, so we will also deal with them. Let’s not ignore mini-greenhouses for table greens, flowers and seedlings, especially since you can set one up in a city apartment.

Finally, greenhouse business is being improved not only by seasoned specialists in large research centers. Craftsmen sometimes come up with designs that are surprisingly effective and promising; some of them will also be discussed.

Greenhouse or greenhouse?

Greenhouses with greenhouses are usually differentiated by size. Like, the greenhouse is big, you can go into it and work there like in a garden. And the greenhouse is small, you can only climb into it with your hands, and then squatting, so you have to do pruning, hilling, etc. uncomfortable. But this is only a visible difference, but the essence is much deeper: a large structure can be a greenhouse, and a small box can be a greenhouse.

Note: about appearance and essence. The famous ancient Greek sophist philosopher was once asked: “What is man?” After thinking, he replied: “A biped without feathers.” The next day, the students shook out of the bag in front of him... a plucked chicken.

The greenhouse creates the so-called. spring awakening effect. To do this, the soil in it is mulched quite deeply with manure; the best is horse. As biofuel decomposes, it warms the earth from the inside. Root heating of plants at a lower air temperature than on the soil surface, combined with excess nitrogen, primarily stimulates the rapid growth by vegetation of its nutrient factory - green mass. If plants have their own depots of supplies (bulbs, rhizomes), then these are primarily used for this, and the root system still lags behind in development. Plants, figuratively speaking, do not yet think about fruiting in such conditions.

Greenhouses are used primarily for forcing and growing seedlings. Forcing is a process of controlled acceleration of vegetation; in some species - up to flowering. By forcing, for example, you can get onions, fresh watercress and lilies of the valley by a predetermined date: New Year, March 8th. Plants are so exhausted from forcing that they either die or require a long rest in the vegetative phase. Forcing table greens produces products of excellent quality if planting material was environmentally friendly, because The plants take very little from the soil.

Note: The simplest full-fledged greenhouse for seedlings and forcing onions into greens can be built in half an hour to an hour, see fig. The fertile layer of soil is removed with a bayonet and piled into a pile. Another half bayonet is selected and a layer of manure is laid down. Put the soil back on top, make a cover out of film - and you're done! In central Russia, such a greenhouse produces products from approximately the end of March to mid-October or early November.

In the greenhouse, root heating occurs, but it is moderate. The main thing here is that the plants must feel the influx of warm air, warmer than the soil, from above and/or from the sides. This gives the “mid-spring effect”: plants tend to bear fruit as quickly as possible to begin storing nutrients for the winter or dry season. Well, if they have a paradise with eternal spring, then they can “fatten” as much as they want without depleting themselves, as long as there is enough soil nutrition: the root system is now working with all its might. This is the basis for the high productivity of greenhouse farming.

Note: A greenhouse cannot be a greenhouse, but any greenhouse can become a greenhouse. In general, for this you need to increase soil heating and weaken air heating. But the subtleties of handling forced crops are a topic from agricultural technology, and not from the construction of greenhouses.

About refraction

Polycarbonate and silicate glass have a refractive index of light significantly greater than 1. That is, the slopes of the greenhouse direct the sun's rays falling on them inward at a steeper angle. On the one hand, this is good: in winter, the stingray works as a light concentrator - it collects oblique winter light over a larger area and directs it inside to a smaller one, see figure:

On the other hand, as the slope of the slope decreases, the degree of reflection of direct rays also increases. If the angle of their incidence decreases to critical, the so-called. angle of total reflection, then only half of the scattered light will pass inward, and the direct light will be completely reflected. Based on this:

• In mid-latitudes, the angle of inclination of the slopes should be chosen within 30-45 degrees from the horizontal.
• The further north the greenhouse is located, the steeper the slopes should be.
• Greenhouses conventional design need to be gabled and oriented with the ridge of the roof from north to south, i.e. slopes to the east and west. In this case, the angle of incidence of most of the light transmitted inside onto the surface of the shadow slope will be less than critical and it will be reflected back inward.

Note: cellular polycarbonate It has an additional advantage over glass in this regard - light is refracted by each layer of its structure and the degree of light concentration is higher. But polycarbonate layers are thinner than the thinnest glass, so its light transmittance is almost the same as single-layer glass.

How do plants sense light?

The refraction in the greenhouse covering has another important meaning: it smoothes out fluctuations in lighting and temperature in it during the day and season. Most garden crops are quite tolerant of light and temperature levels, if they remain more or less stable or change smoothly. But a sharp jump in any of these parameters is understood by plants as a signal that unfavorable conditions are approaching. At the same time, their physiology switches from growth and fruiting algorithms to survival and accumulation of their own reserves: yields fall, product quality deteriorates. Classic example- cucumbers. Even if it didn’t last long, it suddenly got colder or felt hot – that’s it, they became smaller and went to bitterness.

Own greenhouse

The first thing we’ll start with is why do we need a greenhouse? What do we, speaking in Odessa, want to get from it? According to marketability, greenhouses are divided as follows:

1. Winter, or year-round, allow you to grow any crops all year round. Today, only durian and cherimoya are not physiologically amenable to greenhouse farming.
2. Seasonal capital, or semi-winter, produce marketable products from Central Russia for 8-10 months. per year. In these, either annuals or plants with physiology that require/tolerate a period of dormancy at sub-zero temperatures are cultivated.
3. Seasonal lightweight - active phase of the production cycle for 2-3 months. shorter than semi-winter ones; This is usually what is meant by seasonal greenhouses. As a rule, early/late regular vegetables and herbs are cultivated in them.
4. Temporary - used for growing seedlings in natural soil, forcing them, or for one-two-three times the harvest of crops that greatly deplete the soil: root crops, strawberries, etc. When the area is used up, the greenhouse is dismantled, moved to a new location, and the land is left fallow or sown with nitrogen-fixing crops, legumes, etc.
5. Greenhouses - they are installed (it’s difficult to call it a building) once for seedlings and forcing. How to make a greenhouse as such is described above. Greenhouses for exotic flowers are more complex in design, for example. orchids or gesneriaceae, but this topic is already from floriculture, and not gardening.

Note: Phalaenopsis, common in flower shops, are only a few representatives of about 800 genera and more than 35,000 species of orchids, suitable for mass cutting. The flowers of all orchids are long-lasting and cut-resistant. Among them there are many that in Hollywood there is not enough cocaine to deliberately invent, on the left in the figure. There are cases when wealthy connoisseurs paid $5,000 and even $20,000 for just 1 flower of a rare species. In countries where they love all sorts of rarities, renting out living flowering orchids in pots is a profitable type of small business; rare orchids need to be groomed and cherished until they bloom for 7-8 years. Many orchids emit a subtle scent; vanilla - orchid. Orchids grow all the way to the tundra, but in our area they are either small and not striking (for example, orchis), or very rare, like lady’s slippers - cypripediums, in the center in Fig. The culture of Gesneriaceae is simpler, and they are also very spectacular and simply luxurious, on the right in Fig. True, they are not suitable for cutting.

The purpose of the greenhouse determines the initial and operating costs of it. In winter, a capital foundation is required with full concreting of the underground part and insulation, as well as full lighting and heating. The cost of heating them accounts for the lion's share of current ones, so winter greenhouses turn out to be profitable especially in large sizes (from about 200 cubic meters) on large farms. The own heat reserve of a large greenhouse is enough to maintain the life of plants, taking into account the greenhouse effect, for several days, up to 2 weeks. Therefore, heating systems for them are designed not for peak frosts, but according to the average seasonal temperature, which is much higher.

The original version of a winter greenhouse is a greenhouse-greenhouse; in mid-latitudes it does not require constant heating at all. The greenhouse-greenhouse is heated by mulch decomposing under the soil layer. But its production cycle is difficult to vary; it is necessary to extract manure in large quantities 1-2 times a year, and food crops from it most often do not meet modern sanitary requirements, because are oversaturated with nitrates. In the greenhouse phase of the cycle, only chives are more or less edible. Large greenhouses are used primarily as greenhouses, and small garden greenhouses are used for cut flower growing.

Note: in certain climatic conditions, it is possible to build a completely energy-independent winter greenhouse, the so-called. thermos greenhouses; a special section will be devoted to them. But the complexity of construction and the cost of it for a thermos greenhouse are much higher than for a regular one. True, exceptions are possible, see further in the same section.

Semi-winter greenhouses– also quite solid structures; The foundation is most often monolithic strip or made from lightweight prefabricated blocks, because the upper structure is light and has little risk of uneven shrinkage. But the working area here is illuminated and heated only at the beginning and end of the season of use, and 6-7 months. The greenhouse operates on natural light and the greenhouse effect. A light lantern for a semi-winter greenhouse made of polycarbonate on a PP frame is inexpensive and can last more than 15 years, and with minimal lighting and heating, perennial subtropical crops, including citrus fruits, can be grown in one from Moscow and further south; they still have a period of rest. Harvesting will be seasonal, and heating to a slight plus in the coldest weather will help the plants survive the winter.

Seasonal greenhouses Most of all, they are built independently. With skillful management in the Moscow region, ordinary table crops can last up to 10 months. per year, and to the south of Rostov-on-Don they are able to operate year-round. In both cases, costs for light and heat will not exceed more than 2 times those for a city apartment of equal area. When the time of use is reduced during the cold season, heating costs drop rapidly, so most of these greenhouses live up to their name. The profitability of seasonal greenhouses increases significantly if owners have access to inexpensive solid fuel for stoves; For more details, see the section on heating greenhouses.

The skylights of seasonal greenhouses are generally the same as those of semi-winter greenhouses, but the foundation is made of a light columnar one. Most often, rolled metal (pipes, angles, channels) is used for it, but a very cheap wooden one will last as long as a greenhouse if the pieces of timber or logs for it are boiled in bitumen for 10-20 minutes (scalded with bitumen) and their ends before installing them in the pits wrap with roofing felt. If the service life of the greenhouse does not exceed 5-7 years, and the lantern is plastic, then it can be built without a foundation.

Temporary greenhouses and greenhouses used in the middle zone from approximately April to October. They grow quickly ripening crops; mainly bulbs and root vegetables, as well as table greens. Temporary greenhouses are most often made of soil (see below) and covered with film. Lighting and heating are not provided, because... there is already/still enough natural light for photosynthesis, and the greenhouse effect gives an increase of 7-12 degrees to the seasonal temperature.

Note: the degree of the greenhouse effect depends on the intensity of lighting, because Plants release carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. Therefore, you need an eye and an eye for the light in a greenhouse - less light, less carbon dioxide, it became colder, photosynthesis weakened, the greenhouse effect weakened, it got even colder, and so on very quickly until it freezes.

Greenhouse and soil

The next factor that needs to be kept in mind when, so to speak, preliminary thinking about a greenhouse is the nature of the use of the soil. According to it, greenhouses are divided into ground, box and trench or bulk.

Ground, as the name implies, are built directly on the ground. They are temporary and seasonal. The basis of such a greenhouse is simple: wooden formwork 200-300 mm high on a flat area, see fig. From the outside, the formwork is supported with pins made of reinforcing bars, onto which the ends of the lantern arches made of pipes are placed. The frame of the flashlight is lightweight, designed for more or less favorable weather conditions. Cover it mainly with film.

Fertile soil is poured into the formwork; mulch if necessary. As the soil becomes depleted, its top layer is removed and replaced. Such agricultural crops will be enough for no more than 5-7 years: than smaller plot land, the more difficult and more expensive for a long time maintain its fertility. But by that time the formwork will rot, the film, if it is not disposable (see below), will wear out, and the frame of the greenhouse is made dismountable or, if it is made of PP pipes, completely transported by two or three to a new place.

A box greenhouse is suitable for all greenhouse crops for at least 10 years; theoretically - forever. This is achieved by the fact that the reinforced formwork is filled to the top with crushed stone along the waterproofing, on which boxes filled with earth with perforated bottoms are placed. The depleted soil is simply thrown out of the boxes and new soil is poured in. Excess irrigation water flows into the crushed stone and then into the drainage. This eliminates the scourge of unprofessional greenhouses - soil acidification from the cold from below. If there is no drainage system on the site, then the drain of the greenhouse is led into an attached cesspool. It is impossible to reuse wastewater for irrigation; it is teeming with harmful micro-living creatures!

Most highly profitable homemade greenhouses are box greenhouses. The manufacture of formwork and foundation for a box greenhouse is also possible from wood (see figure), because In this case, it has almost no contact with the ground and is subject to less harmful influences. If the lumber, in addition to being treated with biocides, is also impregnated twice with hot bitumen, then the formwork will last 12-15 years. For a longer estimated service life, it is better to use a blind area (for a semi-winter greenhouse - with insulation) and build a brick base on it.

Note: for plants with a shallow root system (onions, radishes, carrots, melons, watermelons), the boxes can be on stands. Then the greenhouse can be multi-story, in whole or in part.

A trench greenhouse is, roughly speaking, a series of concrete gutters (trenches) with technological passages between them. They are cast together with the foundation and covered with a common lantern. In each trench, crushed stone drainage is made with an outlet into a cesspool or a collection area common to the site, and earth is poured on top of it. Areas for different crops in the trenches are separated by removable partitions that reach the drainage layer.

Caring for a trench greenhouse is more difficult than a box greenhouse, and the likelihood of diseases spreading in it is greater, which requires fairly skillful agricultural technology. But when proper construction cooling of the soil from below is completely eliminated even on permafrost. In addition, it is possible to cultivate plants with a powerful deep root system, even woody ones. Therefore, winter and semi-winter greenhouses are mostly built using trenches in places with a harsh climate.

Note: The author knows of a resident of the Kola Peninsula who, using the income from potatoes, onions, garlic and tomatoes from a homemade trench greenhouse, built himself a mansion of 230 square meters in 5 years. When he was asked: “Mortgage?”, he asked in response: “What is it?”

When form is everything

The most important factor determining the functionality of a greenhouse is the configuration of its skylight. In terms of the variety of architectural forms, greenhouses can compete with public buildings, but frame greenhouse houses, pos. 1 in Fig., faceted tunnel, pos. 2, and tunnel arched with semicircular (item 3) and pointed (item 4) arches.

House

In a greenhouse-house, the entire operational load is carried by the frame, so the glazing can be of any kind. Given the required strength for a home greenhouse, the simplest technologically and cheapest is a wooden frame. Modern methods of processing industrial wood make it possible to achieve its durability in greenhouse conditions for up to 30-40 years. The best type of wood for construction is larch.

The easiest way to make a wooden greenhouse-house is fully ventilated; this is important for summer cultivation in a greenhouse, see above. When the sun is high, the roof slightly shades the plants and cuts off ultraviolet radiation, which protects them from burns. In the southern regions, sometimes roof slopes are also covered with gauze or old washed sheets in the hottest weather.

The roof of a wide-open greenhouse-house plays another role: excess carbon dioxide is formed in the greenhouse, because It is heavier than air, and once heated, it cannot rise. For plants, it’s like caviar for cognac: the harvest is rampant, and the fruits are the same.

In regions with a sharply continental climate, a wooden greenhouse-house will be the best choice, especially if local lumber is cheap. In Yakutia (Sakha Republic), for example, it is very hot in the summer and watermelons have time to ripen on a layer of soil 20-30 cm above the permafrost. Small, about the size of a large apple or orange, but it tastes like watermelon.

Note: Yakut watermelons may seem incredible, but we, not limiting ourselves to verbal assurances, refer the reader to the book by Yu. K. Efremov “The Nature of My Country”, M., “Thought”, 1985 (see figure) With the science fiction writer Ivan Efremov, his namesake geographer Yuri Konstantinovich is not related.

Watermelons and melons come from deserts; they are able to develop quickly as semi-ephemerals. However, it is useless to experiment with tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes in the open ground of Yakutia: the warm season is not enough for ripening, the roots either reach the permafrost and the plant withers, or the Sun burns it - the air is clean, transparent, and the UV is burning. A fully hinged greenhouse-house allows you to create a suitable microclimate for the right time for early ripening varieties. True, with heating at the beginning/end of the season, but here fuel is inexpensive and sales of products are ensured.

A drawing with the specification of the frame of a winter-semi-winter wooden greenhouse suitable for installation on permafrost in a harsh climate is shown in Fig. In European Russia, a greenhouse-house can be significantly lightened and its frame can be made from scrap materials, for example. old window frames, see below.

Note: a wooden greenhouse is not at odds with polycarbonate. On the contrary, lightweight but durable polycarbonate takes on some of the operational loads, which silicate glass is not capable of. At current prices, a polycarbonate coating will cost less than glazing, and the entire wooden greenhouse under the polycarbonate will be stronger and cheaper.

Faceted Tunnel

Greenhouse houses have a significant drawback, which manifests itself in places with weak insolation: when the Sun is low, the angle of incidence of its rays on the slopes turns out to be close to optimal once a day for a short time. Simply put, a greenhouse-house does not concentrate light well and turns out to be a bit dark in winter. In an attempt to solve this problem, a faceted tunnel greenhouse appeared.

It is not advisable to make the frame of a faceted tunnel from plastic, because... The mechanical properties of PP are best when the transverse connections of the frame are prestressed, i.e. if the frame arcs are curvilinear. Therefore, a faceted tunnel is, as a rule, a metal greenhouse made of pipes, lined with polycarbonate; pipes can be round, but profile ones are more often used. However, here the problem of joints of frame elements arises.

Welded seams corrode intensively in greenhouse conditions, especially external ones, sandwiched between the pipe and the casing. Non-destructive visual inspection in such places is impossible, so the frame is prone to sudden destruction.

Note: Do not try to make steel frames pre-stressed - ordinary rolled steel is completely unsuitable for use in this capacity! Have you heard about fatigue and fluidity of metal?

In the industrial production of metal greenhouses, welding is completely abandoned, and the frames are assembled on shaped plastic connectors, on the left in Fig. These are sold separately, but they are expensive and require an additional large amount of fasteners, so homemade steel frames of greenhouses are still welded, but without external seams: the workpiece is cut at an angle, bent and welded from the inside, on the right in Fig. This requires special precision and care in calculating the frame and marking the workpieces, but weakened joints are immediately visible, because the weld seam rusts faster than solid metal.

Speaking of connections

In greenhouse frames other than wooden ones, you cannot drill holes and drive fasteners into them: a sharp difference in environmental conditions inside and outside will create pockets of corrosion and/or dangerous mechanical stress in such places. Non-wooden frames are assembled using welding or special connecting units. In plastic branded kits for self-assembly, the parts in the connectors are still secured with self-tapping screws, because Few people will buy a kit that requires special tools for assembly. But serious manufacturers carefully calculate the location of the fasteners, the entire structure is modeled on computers, and the prototype is put through full-scale tests before production. And frivolous locals, without bothering themselves with painful thoughts about copyrights, simply copy proven models.

Arched tunnels

A greenhouse-tunnel made from semicircular arches is the easiest to manufacture, the most wind-resistant and the best at concentrating light. Pay attention again to item 3 in Fig. with the shapes of greenhouses: most of the sides of the semicircular seem darkish. This means that most of the light went inside and did its useful work there. And in the summer, when it’s hot and the sun is high, it’s almost flat roof gives the same effect as a greenhouse-house.

The material consumption of a semi-circular greenhouse and the costs of its construction are also minimal, however, snow resistance is low, and in places with a large snow load, incidents like the one in the figure are possible, even if the structure is structurally executed completely correctly. Therefore, in regions with heavy snow, it would be more correct to build a lancet greenhouse. It will cost 3-5% more, but it is easy to make several large windows for summer ventilation, which is important east of the Urals, mountains and rivers.

Any arch exhibits all its advantages only when subjected to intense, operational load as part of the structure or previously. For a greenhouse, as a lightweight one-story structure, only the second option is possible. At the same time, the excellent mechanical qualities of PP are fully manifested in parts made from prestressed pipes. In combination with working polycarbonate sheathing, this brings greenhouses made from it on a plastic tubular frame to record ratios of strength, durability and durability to cost. This leads to another record for the popularity of structures of this type. Therefore, a little lower we will deal with them in more detail, but for now we will briefly consider another arch.

Arch from profile

In thin-walled volumetric parts with bending radii characteristic of arched greenhouses, the stresses in ordinary steel turn out to be far from its yield limit, on the one hand. On the other hand, galvanized C- and U-profiles for drywall are inexpensive, lightweight, and assembling a greenhouse frame from a profile of this type (see figure) seems to be elementary: just a Phillips screwdriver and metal scissors. When strengthened with struts and crossbars, the “fresh” structure turns out to be quite strong, even stronger than from PP pipes. And the skin can be attached to it not with clamps (see below), but somehow simpler and lighter.

However, the first disappointments await the specialized enthusiast already during assembly. Firstly, you have to twist a lot of screws and they are expensive. And the cramped fingers and bleeding calluses simply scream: “Well, finally, you, such a master, buy a screwdriver!” Secondly, the blanks marked by hand and cut without a profile cutter (and there are many of them!) do not fit together exactly and the entire frame goes, as they say, awry. In production it’s easier, where the computer calculates it, transfers the data to the robot stamp, and it cuts it perfectly, it’s just not good at it.

But the most important disappointment awaits even before the end of the first season: the frame is rusting before our eyes. What would seem worth reading right away is the specification for the profiles - they, like drywall, are not intended for outdoor use...

Plastic arches

And snow and wind...

Correctly configuring and assembling a plastic greenhouse yourself is only possible if you know the wind and snow loads on it at the construction site. The maps in Fig. will help you decide on them for your greenhouse. As they say, don’t bother with numerical values ​​of loads and don’t expect complex formulas in the future: everything has already been reduced to the numbers of load zones. If one of them is indicated in the text, the largest in this place is meant. For example, the greenhouse will be in the 2nd wind and 6th snow zones, or vice versa. Then you need to do it for the 6th zone; Specifics regarding snow and wind, if any in this case, are discussed.

Frame

Branded greenhouse frames are assembled from special pipes on shaped connectors (see, for example, Fig.): glasses, flat and three-coordinate crosses, straight and oblique tees, splitters at several angles. They are available for sale, but they are expensive and are usually designed for a specific design. Having pushed around in attempts to adapt it for yourself, you still have to buy the rest to complete the complete set. Which, all at once, would be half the price.

We will go the other way. We will make do with 3/4-inch PP water pipes and cheap connectors for them sold everywhere: straight couplings, flat tees and right angles. We will connect the parts, just like . Soldering iron rental (more precisely - welding machine) for propylene is inexpensive, it consumes little electricity (plugs into a regular outlet), and you can learn how to weld PP in half an hour. A finished frame of this design will be no worse than a branded one, but much cheaper. A novice master can assemble it in a weekend. Since aerodynamics and icing are more important for a greenhouse than the weight of the upper floors, the frame is designed according to aviation rather than construction principles. Nice planes They fly, sometimes, longer than an ordinary house stands.

Zero cycle

The basics about preparing the base of the greenhouse have already been said earlier. You just need to add that the site for the greenhouse must be planned with an accuracy of 5 cm/m, otherwise the likelihood of soil acidification increases. If the greenhouse is not ground, after leveling, a soil slope of 6-8 cm/m is formed towards the drainage. For lightweight greenhouses, the slope is formed before installing the formwork under gravel, and for capital ones - after pouring the strip foundation. The slopes of the drains of winter trench greenhouses and thermos greenhouses are formed by the screed of their floors. Don't forget about waterproofing the slope!

The arcs of the arches of the design under consideration are tightly placed on pins made of reinforcing bars protruding upward by 40-50 cm. There is no need to make the protrusion smaller; the arches will not hold well. More is also not necessary, they will bend incorrectly. Under a lightweight greenhouse, reinforcement bars are driven into the ground close to the formwork by 1 m or more, and under a permanent greenhouse they are walled up in the foundation by the same 40-50 cm. After assembling the frame, the arcs are attracted to the formwork with clamps made of a thin perforated steel strip and self-tapping screws 5-8 mm long the thickness of the formwork boards.

Note: in zones 1-3, the thresholds of the door and window frames are also attached to the formwork with clamps and screws. In the upper zones, the frames are made without thresholds, and their racks are put on reinforcement pins, like the arches.

How to make a frame?

Dimensions

Standard lengths water pipes– 6, 5 and 4 m. From them semicircular arches with a span of 3.6, 3 and 2.3 m are obtained, taking into account cutting waste and shrinkage of welding joints. These values ​​should be used as a guide when calculating the overall dimensions of the greenhouse. Pointed arches are more reliable if the snow zone is 4th and higher. Then, on the contrary, they go from the dimensions: the arch is drawn to scale on graph paper (the upper corner is necessarily straight in this case!), the length of its wing is measured with a curvimeter, a flexible ruler or laid out along the contour of a thick thread, followed by measurement, and converted into the length of the workpiece. Add 20 cm for trimming and shrinkage. You can do the opposite: measure a piece of soft wire to scale (for example, copper winding wire with a diameter of 0.8-1.2 mm), bend it as necessary on graph paper and beat off the profile of the arc wing on it .

Assembly

The arcs of the arches are assembled straight on a flat surface. Placed in place one by one; During the assembly process, the ridge and longitudinal load-bearing beams - stringers, pos. 1 in Fig. Door and window frames, pos. 2, are assembled separately on corners, tees and straight couplings. Couplings are the basis of hinges and latches; Sections of frame posts are welded into the coupling pipes. Then, hinges and latches from sections of larger diameter pipes are attached to the coupling bodies with self-tapping screws. In this case, this is possible, because there will be no permanent loads in these places, and malfunctions of the hinges with latches do not affect the strength of the frame and can be easily eliminated. The assembly of the door and window panels begins by threading their rear pillars into the hinge cages, then the rest is welded by weight. They can be sheathed with anything, using self-tapping screws into the frames of the canvases, because... and these nodes are not load-bearing.

The lightest frame of this type is shown in pos. 3. Please note - the ridge beam, like the stringers, is stepped, assembled from pipe sections on tees. In this case, the door and window frames are also mounted on tees flush with the gables.

How often to install arches?

The arc installation step is determined as follows:

• If zones 1 and 1, take a step of 1100 mm.
• In other cases, enter the zone numbers and get the consolidated load zone number N.
• For the largest zone up to and including the 3rd, divide 4800 by N, and the resulting value is rounded to the nearest smaller integer, a multiple of 50, and the step is obtained in millimeters; eg for zones 2 and 3 it will be 950 mm, and for zones 3 and 3 – 800 mm.
• If the largest zone is 4 or 5, N is divided by 5600; further – similar to zones 2 and 3.
• In the largest zones 6 and 7, N is divided by 5500.

The dependence of the arc step on the zone, as we see, is nonlinear. This is explained by the fact that as the zone number increases, the stringers take on more and more load, see below. So the design turns out to be a little more material-intensive, but significantly less labor-intensive.

Note 15: The 8th zone, both of them, generally speaking, are problematic. Here, sometimes, snow breaks concrete floors, and the wind moves houses from their foundations. Any self-construction here it is carried out at your own peril and risk, and this fully applies to greenhouses. How to still get out, with a certain amount of risk, will be discussed later in the course of the presentation.

Gain

You can rely on the lightest frame with some caution in zones 1-2, but even here it is advisable to reinforce it with at least a pair of stringers. Their location diagrams for different zones are shown in pos. A-B. Just remember that the coordinates are given for the longitudinal axes of the connections, and the beams themselves are stepped, like the ridge beam. Taking this (and welding shrinkage) into account, you need to mark the workpieces.

Attention! Pairs of stringers of the same level must be performed in a mirror image, pos. E!

In the 6th zone, the upper pairs of stringers are connected with crossbars (pos. E), in the 7th zone, the ends of the tunnel on both sides below are reinforced with braces according to scheme 2-1 (see figure). In the 8th zone, they need to be reinforced according to scheme 3-2 -1 (see ibid.), but, again, without any guarantee. It is useless to increase the number of stringers in the upper zones: they, figuratively speaking, begin to push the loads off each other and the structure as a whole weakens.

How to install braces without gusset? Moreover, the angles are fractional? Using homemade galvanized clamps 0.5-0.7 mm, see fig. on right. The workpiece is bent in a U-shape, mandrels from sections of steel pipe are inserted into it and the ears are crimped with a vice. It is convenient to use 2 pairs of vices: the stationary tabletop ones compress the long ear, and the smaller adjustable ones compress the short one.

After crimping, the mandrels are removed, the clamp is cut to size and shape, and holes are drilled for M6 bolts. Such a makeshift crimping results in a shortage, but here this is only for the better: compressed with bolts in place, the clamp and pipes will grab tightly, and will itself acquire a monstrous for such thin metal rigidity.

Arrows and legs

The location of the stringers on the pointed arches is determined based on the basic semicircular with the same span, as shown in pos. D. Please note that this method is only valid for arrows with an apex angle of 90 degrees! You can’t make the arrow’s ridge single without a gusset, and there’s no need to. An additional pipe, corners and tees for a double-beam ridge, pos. I. Its halves are made, like the stringers, in a mirror manner. The maximum distance from the top is indicated; the beams need to be moved as close to it as possible, in accordance with the size of the available tees and welding skills of the PP. By the way, the easiest way to withdraw through a double skate is to chimney, and it will make the semicircular arch stronger.

If the arches rest on vertical legs no higher than 60 cm, counting from the top of the reinforcement, then an additional stringer is placed at the junction of their wings with the legs, position D. Reinforcement in zones 7 and 8 is carried out according to the same schemes, moving one cell down, those. There should be no empty cells under reinforced ones. If your legs are higher than 0.6 m - alas! – needs to be considered especially, because the bottom of the frame will no longer work as a continuation of the arches, but as a separate box.

Door and window

In zones starting from the 3rd, it is mandatory, and in the lower zones it is highly advisable, to fasten the door and window frames not directly to the arch (slightly beveled tees create unwanted stresses in the frame), but to hang them in it on half-crossbars and short longitudinal holders, pos. K, K1, K2. To an inexperienced eye, such a fastening seems rather weak, but remember: the gables will be covered with a still functioning cladding made of durable polycarbonate. Ultimately, the frame will be no weaker and will last no less than the fuselage of a DC-3 or An-2.

And under the film?

Today's film greenhouses are not at all the flimsy disposable “polyethylene” of the past. A greenhouse cover made of modern reinforced film will last 5-7 years and will cost several times less than rigid polycarbonate. The special greenhouse film has another valuable property: hydrophilicity. It retains a layer of moisture up to 2 mm on its surface, which improves the transparency of the coating and enhances the greenhouse effect. Thanks to this, a modern film greenhouse can be seasonal and even semi-winter. Ventilating film greenhouses in hot weather does not cause problems: it is enough to tuck the edges of the canopy; They don’t even need a door with a window. In general, for places with mild and temperate climates, a greenhouse under film is best option, but in others there is no point in building it.

The frame described above will also work perfectly under the film. It has quite an airplane safety margin, and when calculating for film, it is enough to take the zone numbers 1 higher. The uprights of the door and window frames must be left, see figure, because they take part of the loads. You can attach Velcro to the posts not with self-tapping screws, as in the figure, but with clamps made of thin soft wire. Not as aesthetically pleasing, but simpler, cheaper and no less reliable. If using self-tapping screws, then it is better to install straight couplings under the Velcro and wrap the screws into their thickened bodies.

Hard roof

Film greenhouses justify themselves mainly in cases where they are installed temporarily for a relatively short period of time. For example, someone bought a plot for forest planting or a pasture for livestock. Everyone knows how things are with loans now. In order to raise funds for its development, I decided to wait 3-4 years, and for now rent out the land inexpensively. This is where subtenants can help out a fellow farmer, and make some good money themselves.

For long-term use, greenhouses with a hard polycarbonate coating are more profitable. With an estimated service life of 20 years (and this is not the limit), it will cost less than replacing the film cover 2-3 times. In addition, there is no need to bother with washing it, removing and installing it twice a year, and setting aside an area for its winter storage. So let’s take a closer look at polycarbonate.

It has already been said above that the greenhouse, from the point of view of its covering, differs from other structures by the sharp difference in environmental conditions inside and outside. A coating up to several cm thick has to withstand the same loads as a half-meter stone wall. Therefore, the methods of working with polycarbonate for a greenhouse are somewhat different from those for and. The video gives an idea of ​​how to cut polycarbonate for a greenhouse:

and how to attach it to the frame:

We will consider only individual points that are not sufficiently covered in known sources.

Structure

Cellular polycarbonate slabs are available in different thicknesses and structures. Slabs of the same thickness can have different structures, and vice versa. The 2R structure (see figure) is unsuitable for greenhouses either in terms of thermal insulation or mechanical qualities.

Structures of the R type (without diagonal connections in the cells) are more transparent than the RX type, but withstand dynamic loads worse, therefore they are suitable for places where the wind zone is not higher than 4th. 3R is used where the average winter temperature is above –15 degrees or frost below –20 degrees lasts for more than a day, no more than once every 3 years. In other cases you need to take 5R.

The temperature ranges for 3RX and 6RX are the same, but in cases where the wind zone is 5 and higher. For any 8th zone, the only acceptable option is 6RX. There is no need to take 5RX, it is not very transparent. 6RX and was developed to replace the 5RX in greenhouses.

The thickness of the slabs is determined as follows:

• If both zones are not higher than 2, take 6 mm.
• For other cases, we find the summary number N, as for the frame.
• For the 3rd and 4th largest zones N we leave it as is.
• For the largest 5 and 6 zones we take N+1.
• If there is a 7 or 8 zone, take N+2.
• We multiply the resulting value by 2.
• The result is rounded to the nearest higher standard thickness slabs

Thus, for example, for zones 4 and 4 the thickness is 16 mm, and for zones 8 and 8 - 40 mm. However, both 8 zones do not exist in the Russian Federation.

Sheathing

The standard sizes of polycarbonate slabs are 6x2.1 m and 12x2.1 m. The general dimensions of the greenhouse are chosen such that an overhang of at least 10 cm is formed over the gables of arched and faceted houses and along the entire perimeter of the roof. According to SNiP, the overhang should be at least 15 cm. If the greenhouse is commercial and you expect to receive a sanitary certificate for the products, keep in mind that inspectors will check the greenhouse in its entirety.

The radii of curvature of greenhouse arches allow slabs of the most commonly used structures 3R and 5R to be laid on the frame both lengthwise and across. What would be more correct? This way and that way. It all depends on which loads are greater in a given place, static from snow or dynamic from wind. If the number of the snow zone is greater than the wind zone, it is better to lay it across, on the left in Fig. Otherwise - along, right there.

Note: RX structures are laid only lengthwise, otherwise sudden failure of the coating due to material fatigue is possible.

Longitudinal joints are assembled using standard FP (straight) and RP (ridge) connectors, depending on the bending radius at a given location. It is advisable to seal the upper joint gaps construction silicone, marked with yellow circles. It is better to take one-piece connectors, they are cheaper and there is nothing in them to rust. In extreme cases, you can still separate the joint by dripping it with brake fluid and pulling the plates lengthwise in different directions.

When sheathing crosswise, some of the seams between the slabs may end up hanging. In this case, the plates are connected in a well-known amateur way (shown in the inset): strips of flexible plastic 3-6 mm thick with rubber or silicone sealing gaskets and self-tapping screws. It is better to take strips and joint pads from PVC. It is quite strong, reliable and resistant for such a case. But its main advantage is in the joint - the PVC quite quickly sticks tightly to the gasket and it is never squeezed out from under the linings.

Fastenings

Methods for attaching polycarbonate to the frame with thermal washers (items 1-3 in the figure) have been described many times and we will not dwell on the details. We only note that if the cladding is longitudinal, then both ends of the slabs must be covered with perforated self-adhesive and framed with an end profile.

It is highly undesirable to weaken the greenhouse frame, as indicated above, with holes and fasteners. The casing is secured to it with steel clamps 1.5-3 mm thick, pos. 4 and 5. A strip 40-60 mm wide is bent along the mandrel in a U-shape, clamped together with the mandrel in a vice and the mustache is bent back. The bend must be made taking into account the thickness of the rubber gaskets, and they, in turn, in accordance with the thickness of the walls of the cages of the frame connectors. The thermal gap between the plates, 3-5 mm wide, is filled with silicone sealant.

Hut made of windows

Greenhouses made from frames of unusable windows appeared during the times of mass Khrushchev construction. Firstly, back then the carpentry for new buildings was of the most disgusting quality: “Give me a plan! Val come on! The current generation of people will live under communism!” Therefore, many new residents immediately replaced the windows and doors with custom ones, since the materials and work then cost a penny. Secondly, to the working people, i.e. officially permanently employed, summer cottage plots were then distributed to everyone left and right. Thirdly, cheap government prices and accessibility are by no means friends. It is appropriate here to recall an old Soviet political joke. The chairman of the collective farm “Svet Ilyich” opens the general meeting: “Comrades! We have two issues on the agenda: repairing the barn and building a commune. Regarding the first question: no boards, no nails, no bricks, no cement, no mortar. Let's move on to the second question."

We will move on to technical issues, they can be of some use. Nowadays, too, many windows are being replaced with metal-plastic with double-glazed windows, but frames that are still strong are thrown away. You can assemble a completely reliable and durable house from them, if you help the frames a little to carry the load. There is no point in covering such a structure with a Khrushchev-style disposable film; it is better to spend money on a couple of sheets of inexpensive 3R 6 mm polycarbonate, which, with a greenhouse size of about 6x3 m, will allow you to get by with just one roof truss for the roof, except for the gables. We will get a completely seasonal and commercial greenhouse for zones up to 4 inclusive, i.e. for most of the territory of the Russian Federation suitable for agricultural use.

The design of the greenhouse frame under the frames is shown in Fig. For clarity, the proportions of the parts are given arbitrarily. Dimensions in plan – 5.7x2.7 m; internal space - 5.4x2.4 m. It will require, in addition to polycarbonate and frames, 15-16 boards 150x40 mm 6 m long and 1 beam 150x150 mm of the same length; only 0.675 cc. m of coniferous wood, and about 5 kg of nails 70, 100 and 150 mm.

The foundation is a wooden columnar one, made of 6 pillars in 2 rows, 1 m long. The beam is needed just for the foundation. The protrusion of the pillar at the highest point of the site above the ground is 30 cm; the rest are leveled along it using a hydraulic level. There is no need to deepen the pillars to calculate freezing, the structure will play together with the soil for many years, this has been tested on Khrushchev’s “polyethylene”.

The beams of the lower support frame - the grillage - and the upper one - the frame - are sewn together on nails from boards as usual, in a zigzag, pos. 1. The driving pitch in a row is 250-400 mm. The grillage is assembled into a prefabricated tenon, and the trim into a prefabricated quarter (item 2) is also on nails, 5 envelopes per corner. Cutting boards measuring 150x150 are cut into three pieces; these pieces will come in handy later.

Next, the grillage is mounted on the foundation and 2 boards are spread out in three lengths. Here you will have to move from the new tree to the old one and sort the frames. 8 solid highest ones (or better yet 10, if found), are put aside immediately (on the left in the figure), they will go to the corners and, if there are 2 more, to frame the doorway. The rest are scattered over the estimated area of ​​the walls somehow, as long as there are fewer holes, on the right in Fig.

Now, from the 50x40 slats, cut 4 racks the length of the tallest frame plus 10 mm and nail them to the grillage vertically at the corners flush with their outer sides. The corners from the outside are sheathed with boards that are the same length as the posts now plus 220 mm (height of the grillage + height of the trim). The strapping is placed in the resulting nest at the top and the entire box is finally sewn together with nails.

Frames are installed starting from the corners. How to fasten them to the box and to each other is shown in pos. 3-5. Approaching the places of the future door and casement window from both sides, place the racks of the door and window frames from solid boards. They are fastened to the grillage, frames and adjacent frames with nails using the same blocks from scraps. If necessary, you can lay out 1-2 more boards on them.

Now it's the roof's turn. Rafter trusses are made according to pos. 6. Polycarbonate is laid lengthwise on the roof. A longitudinal strip 40 cm wide is cut from each slab. This will create roof overhangs of about 15 cm, and the strips will be used for cladding the gables.

The penultimate stages of work, firstly, close the gaping openings in the walls with foam plastic, and foam all the gaps. Foam in this case is not only a sealant and insulation; it will give the entire structure additional cohesion and strength. Secondly, the dimensions of the door and window are measured locally and their frames are made according to Fig. on right.

Before installing drainage and starting the greenhouse, all that remains is to design the base. In Khrushchev's times, they used slate or roofing felt on it, sprinkling the outside with earth. It’s easier for us: now there is such wonderful (without irony) material as empty plastic bottles. They simply push them under the grillage with their necks inward, but there is no need to remove the plugs. You will get excellent thermal insulation with ventilation, absolute manufacturability with maintainability and long-term durability; Environmentalists around the world are ready to howl about what they should do with these bottles. And it’s a free benefit for us.

Note: This type of box will also fit under disposable polyethylene film, only it needs to be reinforced with the same 50x40 slats, see figure:

Bottle shop

Plastic bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Among the remarkable qualities of this material there is also a unique one: it transmits UV almost without loss. This allows you to enhance the greenhouse effect and thereby reduce heating costs and extend the operating cycle of the greenhouse. Therefore, if it is possible to get at least 400 PET vessels, it makes complete sense to make a greenhouse entirely from bottles.

There are 3 possible options here. The first is, on long winter evenings, to unravel the bottles into sheets and sew them on a machine with nylon or, better, propylene threads into panels of a suitable size, pos. 1 in Fig. It’s not worth sewing with a furniture stapler, as is sometimes advised: staples will cost more than thread and will rust quite quickly. You can also find advice to sew not with thread, but with fishing line. Even if their authors know where to get a machine that sews with fishing line, or they themselves know how to sew by hand at the same speed, then all the same, the fishing line will cost many times more in length and weight than thread, and the seam will not tighten, because. The line is solid, not twisted.

The second option is to collect something like sausages from bottles (picture on the right), string them onto steel rods and fill the frame of the frame with such “kebabs” vertically, with the necks down so that the condensation drains, or horizontally, pos. 2 and 3 in Fig. with types of bottle greenhouses. If the street is below +10, such a greenhouse without sealing the gaps between the bottles will be of no use, but with the warmth of spring it will provide a greater concentration of light, which will accelerate the development of plants.

The third option is to place the bottles horizontally with their necks inward, pos. 4. Thermal insulation and light concentration are maximized (even houses are built this way), but not hundreds, but thousands of bottles are needed. They are connected with glue or cement, which is labor-intensive and expensive, so bottle greenhouses, so to speak, horizontal, are rare.

Is it possible to go without heating in winter?

The greenhouse loses a lot of heat, and its heating costs a pretty penny. The marketability of self-heating greenhouses is very limited by an excess of nitrates in the soil. In order to obtain products that meet modern sanitary standards without winter heating, and the thermos greenhouse was invented.

It was not invented by Ukrainian craftsmen these days, as Ukrainian news outlets say, but in Israel more than half a century ago. By the way, it was for thermos greenhouses that we had to come up with the same cellular polycarbonate and special thermal blocks that combine good insulating and mechanical properties. From a bare idea to a workable design is often a very long time...

Israel is the world leader in greenhouse farming. Greenhouses are built there in deserts and mountains. In summer, the ground surface heats up to +60, and in winter it can be -20 for a short time. And the idea itself is that in the soil at a certain depth a constant temperature is maintained, equal to the average annual temperature in a given place; in the subtropics it is approximately +18-20. With an increase of 7-12 degrees from the greenhouse effect, we get just the optimum for plants, including pineapples.

Only the upper zone of the underground structure of the greenhouse is a thermos, see fig. The lower one, ordinary concrete, is essentially an air conditioner. In winter, it is warmed by Mother Earth, but in summer, hot light will not flow into a hole with cool dense air. As a result, the temperature in the greenhouse can be controlled only by vents without the cost of heating and air conditioning. To enhance lighting in winter, we orient one roof slope to the south, and cover the other from the inside with aluminum foil.

In the temperate zone the situation is different. Firstly, although the average annual temperature here is about +15, heating depends not only on the temperature, but also on the incoming heat flow. To get to the “air conditioner” of the required power, you have to go down below the freezing depth of at least 2 m. Already in the Rostov region, this requires a hole of 2.5 m. Secondly, peak cold weather here lasts not hours, but days . Therefore, the greenhouse volume is needed to be large. In the same Rostov region. The minimum dimensions of the pit in plan are 5x10 m.

From such a fifty, in fact, in our area you can harvest 400-600 kg of pineapples and up to 1.5 tons of bananas per year. How to sell them? Okay, let’s say we live in some distant kingdom, where consumer control for a moderate bribe in national currency is always ready to willingly and joyfully register heroin as a food additive, and weapons-grade plutonium as children’s toys.

But half a ton of even small pineapples will yield about 1000 fruits individually. How much does 1 (one) pineapple cost? In a supermarket, with a branded sticker and a quality certificate for the batch? How often and how many pineapples are bought? In this situation, when will just excavating 120-130 cubic meters of soil pay off? In general, a backyard thermos greenhouse in the boreal zone can be classified as a project in which common sense and sober calculation are completely replaced by an insatiable desire to achieve something intrinsically unique, contrary to the obvious.

Of much greater interest is a small ground-based thermos greenhouse with its own heat accumulator in the form of a heater, operating on the principle of a solar oven with a heat storage device, see fig. on right. At -5 outside, its interior near Moscow can warm up to +45. Therefore, in the vault there is a sliding hatch-temperature regulator with a clapper valve and a deflector that diverts the cold stream from the plants to the zone of greatest heating.

The upper firecracker should be triggered by the slightest blow back and forth, so its flap is made extremely light, freely moving and spring-loaded to zero balance in the closed position with a thin, 0.15-0.25 mm, steel wire. The firecracker still does not save you from frost, so the hatch regulator must be closed manually at night.

The dimensions indicated are minimum; the greenhouse can be made larger. If it is made in the form of a ridge, but for every full and partial 1.5 m of length along the front, you need your own hood with an air duct so that the heater warms up evenly. So, a greenhouse 2 m long should have 2 air ducts and 2 hoods. There is no need to pull the hood high up, it is still not a stove; minimal draft is needed here, just so that the heated air leaks through the heater.

When is minimization needed?

The mini-greenhouse is used primarily in city apartments. Here a part of an insulated balcony or loggia is allocated for it. It is better to make the partition from the same polycarbonate. Boxes with earth are hung on the wall; at the same time, it is possible to grow exotic flowers and supply the family with radishes, strawberries, and herbs in winter.

In plant growing, mini-greenhouses are used to create special conditions for a certain group of plants. In a regular box greenhouse, it is enough to nail arcs of wood to the boxes. metal-plastic pipe and cover everything with film, on the left in Fig. For potted crops, we have to make smaller copies of large greenhouses, in the center there.

A mini-greenhouse made from bottles, on the right in the figure, will be an excellent help in gardening. higher. Due to the high concentration of light, it can be through, and fresh air has a beneficial effect on plants in the early phases of development. Besides, there’s no hassle with this: I took it outside and set it up.

There are also types of highly productive mini-greenhouses available for self-made. Here, for example, in Fig. on the right is a greenhouse made from tires. Despite its clumsy appearance, it is high-tech: a two-stage greenhouse effect and drip irrigation are used. With skillful selection of varieties, one “auto-greenhouse” stand can produce up to half a bucket of tomatoes or 700-800 g of strawberries per day.

So what about in winter?

A small winter greenhouse can pay off either north of approximately the parallel of Kotlas, or in the very south, in the Krasnodar Territory and Stavropol Territory. In the first case, the matter is decided by fairly high prices and demand, in the second - a mild winter. In both cases, in general, 2 designs are possible for a small private owner.

The first is a classic trench greenhouse, only covered with polycarbonate, see fig. below. Because the frame is completely load-bearing; when calculating the coverage, take the zone number 1 less. In winter, flowers and onions are grown. By the end of February, when the mulch is almost rotten, tomatoes and cucumbers are sown and harvested at the end of April. In the summer they “greenhouse” as usual, and in the fall, when ground crops are cheap, the trenches are refilled; This is not a matter of one day, because... Fresh biofuel gets very hot at first. Then the cycle repeats.

The second is a box dugout greenhouse without drainage; diagram on the next page rice. Dugout is a relative name, because concrete screed the floor won't hurt her at all. Excess water flows into trays, where, under the influence of heat from the heating registers, it evaporates and humidifies the air.

It is advisable to insulate the base and blind area of ​​the dugout greenhouse, but there is no need to insulate the foundation. In the positive zone around it, the soil will not fall asleep during the winter, which will ensure additional heating in low light. In this regard, the dugout can be considered a semi-thermos greenhouse.

How to warm up?

Heating, as already mentioned, accounts for the majority of winter greenhouse costs. If the heating is water from a boiler, then the optimal system design will be. It was specially designed for industrial premises, so it does not fit well into residential premises, but it is simple, inexpensive and very economical at the required temperature of up to +16 degrees, and in a greenhouse it will add heat to the optimum greenhouse effect.

However, the best option for heating a greenhouse is a stove-heater like a buleryan or buller. The obliquely upward nozzles of its convector direct hot air onto the roof slopes; here it prevents them from freezing, but cools down to a comfortable temperature and falls over the plants like a warm veil, creating the effect of the height of spring. You can learn more about the features of stove heating in greenhouses from the video below.

Video: stove heating of a greenhouse

For a greenhouse with an area of ​​less than 10 square meters. m the smallest buller turns out to be too powerful, because... at very low load fuel efficiency bullers drops sharply. In this case, a potbelly stove made from a 12 or 27 liter gas cylinder will help out; the efficiency of potbelly stoves is quite high with a low firebox. As for long-burning stoves, they are unsuitable for greenhouses: they create a weak convection center and strong thermal radiation that burns plants. Spring turns out like in the desert.

About lighting

Greenhouse lighting requires a separate, detailed discussion. Here we will share just a little secret: 1 special 24 W phytolamp can be replaced with 3 regular 13-15 W housekeepers with spectra at 2700K, 4100K and 6400K. The power consumption doubles, but is still three times lower than that of incandescent lamps.

One such triad under flat conical reflectors provides sufficient illumination of an area of ​​4-6 square meters. m. Lamps must be hung so that identical spectra are not adjacent either in a row or between rows.

Finally

Let's summarize - what kind of greenhouse to build? For starters, from bottles. It will quickly, simply and cheaply allow you to learn how to run a greenhouse and experience its benefits.

Further, in temperate climates, greenhouses made of polycarbonate on a frame made of PP pipes clearly dominate. In harsh places, a wooden one, also covered with polycarbonate, is preferable. It is also good because it has minimal impact on environment. This is vitally important on permafrost.

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First of all, the greenhouse is designed to protect various garden and garden plants from exposure to negative atmospheric factors (hail, rain, snow, wind, etc.).

A favorable atmosphere is created inside the structure, which makes it possible to grow various fruit crops, and their yield in such conditions increases several times.

As for vegetables and herbs, their harvest time comes much earlier compared to the same types if they are grown in open ground.

A huge advantage of installing greenhouses on a garden plot is the fact that an excellent harvest, and in the case of some crops more than once, can provide vegetables and herbs throughout the entire winter-spring period.

This can be very cost-effective, especially considering that the price of these products in stores during the designated period of time is quite high.

Place for installing a greenhouse

The idea of ​​building a greenhouse with your own hands comes to the minds of many gardeners and gardeners. But before starting work, you must first become familiar with the stages of construction of this structure and, most importantly, determine the shape of the greenhouse and its location.

It must be remembered that it is not for one year. The average time of its operation can be almost ten years.

The best option in this matter would be consultation with specialists. You can get their advice either directly (if such a master is part of your social circle) or via the Internet.

• The place where the greenhouse will be installed must be level and protected from wind loads. At the same time, the sun's rays must completely cover and heat the structure.
• There is no need to set up a greenhouse in dark places, near a fence or trees.

• In the case of a winter version of the greenhouse and growing plants in the cold season, you need to take into account that snow that has fallen on the structure’s cover can prevent the penetration of sunlight. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that this does not happen and remove snow caps in a timely manner.

In addition, due to the insufficient supply of heat, light and water to the greenhouse, it is possible to organize the supply of electricity and arrange watering in the greenhouse by installing an irrigation system.

Where to start building a greenhouse?

When building any structure, including a greenhouse, it is best to start the process with design. Create drawings of the greenhouse, reflecting its external forms and the main materials that will be used for its construction.

The structure itself can be small, with an area of ​​approximately two by three meters and a height of two and a half meters. Or large, three by six meters in area with a similar height.

The most popular configurations used when installing greenhouses include arched and gable greenhouses. When choosing one of the types, not the last, but perhaps the most main role, plays a factor in the choice of crop types that will be grown in the greenhouse in the future.

For example, the arched type is more suitable for planting low-growing crops, that is, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers. The gable type will promote better growth of tall crops (tomatoes of this type, cucumbers and flowers).

In general, creating a good greenhouse project is not difficult. If you can’t do this yourself, then the Internet always offers various standard designs for similar structures.

Selection of materials for coating and frame

One of the most common basic materials used in the construction of greenhouses is polycarbonate. Its attractiveness comes from a number of characteristics, advantages of this material in comparison with other types of materials used in the construction of similar garden designs, for example, film or glass.

Note!

Among the main characteristics are: light transmission, thermal conductivity and strength. One of the main advantages of the material is its lightness and ductility. The internal composition of polycarbonate allows sheets to be bent without the risk of destruction.

In addition, an additional advantage is the price component. Polycarbonate is considered a cheap material, which further increases its demand.

Already during the direct process of installing polycarbonate sheets, it is best to use a double sheet fastening system. Rigid and with opening. Thus, a ventilation system is formed in the greenhouse.

Having decided on the material for covering the greenhouse, you can begin selecting the frame. There is a wide selection of profiles that can be used during installation frame system. This may include metal pipes with round, rectangular or square cross-section.

Each designated type has its own advantages and disadvantages. Galvanized square pipes are considered the most suitable. This profile is excellently characterized by high strength, as well as the presence of galvanization, which protects the structure from corrosion.

However, plastic is gaining wide popularity among materials today. Metal pipes are in many ways inferior to plastic pipes, and many have already appreciated this.

Note!

A plastic greenhouse is a modern, high-quality structure, characterized by many positive qualities, thanks to the special properties of the material.

Of these, it is worth noting that plastic pipes are easy to cut, glue and weld. This is an environmentally friendly material, not susceptible to corrosion, mold, and can withstand various atmospheric loads.

Considering the appearance of the greenhouse, you can choose either rigid PVC pipes for gable or single-pitch structures, or flexible PP or PVC for arched types.

In the end, whatever the choice of someone for whom a do-it-yourself pipe greenhouse is an already made decision, he can always compare and choose the most optimal frame option.

Construction of a foundation for a greenhouse

Of course, it is not worth installing the greenhouse on clean soil. A foundation is needed. Taking into account that the structure itself is of a lightweight type, but nevertheless requires stability, the base for it is made as follows:

Note!

• A trench is dug.
• A sand bedding with compaction 20 centimeters thick is installed.
• Formwork is placed along the entire perimeter of the trench on both sides.
• Placed on the bottom of the trench reinforcement mesh over the entire area of ​​the sandy base.
• The trench is filled with concrete. The upper concrete level is equal to the width of the installed formwork board.

When performing these works, you must remember that if the greenhouse itself is installed very quickly (within one or two days), then when laying the foundation it will take almost a month for a good setting. Therefore, such work should be done in advance.

Final stage

When the structure is completely ready, it will be possible to begin the internal equipment. Placing beds and passages, determining where to lay pipes for irrigation, and so on.

Many people like to photograph their work. Some people prefer to film the entire work process, while others prefer to take pictures of the results of the work.

But with special pride, friends and acquaintances are always presented with photos of a greenhouse made with their own hands, where tomatoes, eggplants and other various vegetables and herbs are already ripening to their full potential.

DIY greenhouse photo

Nowadays, he dreams of building a greenhouse on his plot. A greenhouse is a very profitable building for a summer resident, because seedlings can be planted much earlier and, accordingly, the harvest will ripen faster than in the garden. In a greenhouse, the humidity and microclimate favor the rapid growth of plants and vegetables. You can also grow seedlings in a greenhouse, for example for sale, you’ll agree that this is a good help for the family budget. And if you build a larger greenhouse, you can even organize a family business and grow some of the vegetables for sale.

Mostly, summer residents build greenhouses of small sizes and from materials such as plastic film or glass. This type of material is of course good on one hand. For example, a structure made of wood and polyethylene film is lightweight and does not allow moisture and cold air to pass through from the street side of the greenhouse. But the trouble is that this film under the influence of direct sunlight, precipitation and wind, it becomes unusable after one season of operation.

Summer residents also build glazed greenhouses, which also have their drawbacks. Firstly, the glass structure still has a decent weight, which can often affect a wooden building; of course, such a greenhouse will last longer. And another problem is that glass tends to chip and crumble, for example from hail or strong gusty winds.

Fortunately for all summer residents, nowadays there is a universal material for greenhouses that has gained considerable popularity and respect, and this material is called polycarbonate. Lightweight and durable, transmits sunlight very well. There is a large selection of similar polycarbonate greenhouses in stores, but the price for them, of course, is not low and not everyone can afford it.

But what can a common person do if he wants a greenhouse made of this material? Of course, he must use ingenuity and imagination. So the author decided to build a polycarbonate greenhouse with his own hands. He bought this material in sheet form, which is much cheaper than buying a ready-made greenhouse. And the author decided to build a permanent greenhouse so that it would last until the end of his days and so that his grandchildren could also use it.

The author is building a greenhouse with a recess into the ground, which will provide increased temperature comfort to the vegetables and plants planted there. Makes a solid structure from timber and boards. So, what did the author need to build this greenhouse?

Materials: polycarbonate, brick, cement, sand, timber, board, nails, screws, hinges.
Tools: hacksaw, hammer, pliers, axe, shovel, trowel, mallet, mortar trough.

Then he pours the foundation and lays out the brick plinth

In the future, he builds a wooden frame for the future greenhouse from timber and boards.

Then the glazing of the greenhouse begins from the roof.

And then, step by step, he continues to line the greenhouse with polycarbonate.

Then he hangs the door and essentially the entire greenhouse is ready.

Inside I made these beds for seedlings out of brick, they will definitely last a century.

In conditions of unfavorable climate and a relatively short summer season, a greenhouse becomes an indispensable assistant for a gardener. With its help, you can expand the boundaries of the growing season and get earlier and bountiful harvest. And with some effort and resources, the gardener will have the opportunity to grow crops all year round, regardless of the weather and outside temperature. Do-it-yourself greenhouse - what shape and what to build it from?

The creation of any structure, be it a large house or a small greenhouse, begins with planning. The first step in this matter is choosing the design of the future building. There are many types of greenhouses, differing in their shape, complexity and cost of creation. What are they?

Table. Types of greenhouses that you can make yourself

Title, photo	Description
	A greenhouse, the cross-section of which has the shape of a semicircle or arch.
	The shape is similar to an arch, but more elongated and “pointed”.
	Classic version with a gable roof.
	It differs from a classic greenhouse in that the walls have a certain angle of inclination.
	A subtype of the classic one - the walls are vertical, and the roof has only one slope.
	It has no side walls, the roof starts almost from the ground level.
	It differs in that the roof slopes have different heights and slope
	Most of the greenhouse is located underground - only the roof is above ground level.
	To save heat, the northern and side walls are made of solid construction and insulated.
	The building is in the form of a rounded dome, assembled from triangular cladding elements.
	Greenhouse in the form of a tetrahedral pyramid.

Now let's move on to a more detailed description.

Arched greenhouse in cross-section it has a semicircular or close to it shape. It is assembled from a set of arcs connected to each other by horizontal frame elements. One of the most common forms of greenhouses in the CIS. To make a frame of sufficient volume, not much material is required, which reduces the cost of the structure. Its low cost does not in any way affect its strength - a well-built arched greenhouse stands out due to its high resistance to snow and wind loads. And thanks to the arc-shaped shape, the sun’s rays, regardless of the time of day, fall perpendicular to the structure’s cladding, resulting in less energy loss through reflection and refraction, and the plants inside receive more light. The disadvantage of this design is that it is not so easy to make from metal or wood at home.

Important! There is one more drawback of arc-shaped greenhouses, but it is very subjective - not everyone likes the appearance of such buildings. Therefore, if you want to get a structure for growing plants that will also please your eye, pay attention to other types of structures.

It is a development of buildings of the previous type. It has a rounded but more elongated shape, reminiscent of the end of an arrow. Compared to arched greenhouses, such a building has an even higher resistance to snow loads - snow does not linger on an overly steep roof. But finding ready-made drawings and making a lancet-shaped frame is even more difficult than an arched one.

By the way! In English-language sources and materials devoted to gardening, such greenhouses are known as gothic arch (or translated as “Gothic arch”).

Also known as classic or . Previously, a couple of decades ago, it was the most common design. It features acceptable illumination levels and large volumes. In addition, it is much easier to build - the frame of a classic greenhouse consists of straight metal or wooden elements. But the downside of such a design is the high consumption of material, which is reflected in the cost of the structure. In addition, the “house” requires supports and jibs that will protect the roof from being crushed by snow masses.

Also sometimes called "Dutch". It differs from the previous design in that its side walls are not located vertically, but at a certain angle. Due to this, more sunlight penetrates inside the plants. Requires a strong frame and a good ventilation system.

Lean greenhouse outwardly it looks like a “half” of a house, where only one slope remains of the roof. This option is most often built as a small extension to a house, barn or fence. Used for early cultivation of seedlings for planting in open ground.

Are you planning to switch to cultivating plants indoors, but do not have enough experience in this matter? Are you planning to grow seedlings? Ask yourself these questions, and if the answer to at least one of them is “yes,” then it’s time for you to think about it.

Placed in the right place, it receives maximum solar energy, so the presence of windows is mandatory here, otherwise in hot weather the plants will simply overheat. It is relatively simple to build, but the useful internal volume leaves much to be desired. Often part of the building is located below ground level.

Created by the horticultural expert of the same name and Doctor of Agricultural Sciences. It differs from a classic or arched building in that the slopes or halves of the roof have different heights. A vertical wall is formed between them, where a series of vents are mounted. As a result, the greenhouse achieves the most effective ventilation and air circulation, which has a positive effect on plant productivity.

It differs from a regular greenhouse in that the level of the slopes differs - one of them, facing the north side, is higher, and the southern one, on the contrary, is lower. In the middle, at the junction of the slopes, there is a vertical wall with transoms along the entire length of the greenhouse.

It is created with the expectation of maximum accumulation of solar energy and maintaining the optimal temperature for crop growth even during the most severe winter cold. To do this, the building is immersed in the ground up to the roof, which acts as a kind of heat insulator. The main problem of such a greenhouse is the enormous labor costs during construction due to the need to dig an impressive pit. In addition, the structure needs good protection from groundwater.

This is another example of the implementation of the idea of ​​saving heat in a building. To do this, the northern side of the building is made of brick, timber or other material and is insulated with outside. Inside the greenhouse, in addition to plants, there are bags of gravel and other objects that accumulate heat during the day and then release it in the evening and at night. As a result, the gardener receives a building in which he can grow vegetables even in winter and with minimal heating costs. Further, in one of the sections of the article, special attention will be paid to a greenhouse with solid walls and a solar battery.

Exotic and rather rare types of do-it-yourself greenhouses are buildings in the form of and. The cost of their construction is many times higher than structures of classical forms, but at the same time they have an unusual appearance and outstanding qualities in terms of accumulating solar heat and providing a microclimate inside.

In addition to the shape, greenhouses differ in the period of operation and are divided into two types.

1. Seasonal– simple structures without any heating systems. Used from spring to autumn, they allow you to “push” the boundaries of the summer season.
2. or winter - built and equipped to work in the cold season, capable of providing optimal conditions for the growth and maturation of agricultural crops even in sub-zero temperatures outside.

Now let’s move on from the designs and shapes of buildings to the materials from which they are created. First, let's look at the frame - the basis of any greenhouse.

Frame materials

There are three main groups of materials from which the greenhouse frame is made:

• wood;
• metal;
• polyvinyl chloride

The most commonly used wood is rectangular and square timber. Despite its average cost, it is highly technologically advanced - working with such material using ordinary household tools is very simple. With proper assembly and use of supports, struts and jibs, the frame made of timber is very strong and reliable.

Wooden square beam

Important! The main enemies of wood are mold and rot. This problem is solved by two measures. The first is the choice of high-quality larch timber, a type of wood that is most resistant to rotting. The second is the treatment of frame blanks with 2-3 layers of antiseptic impregnation.

When choosing timber for the greenhouse frame, be sure to pay attention to the following things.

1. Humidity – the wood must be properly dried, otherwise the greenhouse frame will shrink seriously after construction.
2. The presence of a large number of knots is undesirable.
3. Wood fibers should not have serious defects.
4. Individual pockets of mold are not allowed.
5. The timber for the greenhouse frame must match in size and straightness.

Due to the characteristics of the material and the fact that creating bent parts from wood with your own hands is a complex and time-consuming process with a large percentage defects, timber is rarely used when creating arched or lancet greenhouses. At the same time, it is excellent for buildings of classical shape.

The next material for the greenhouse frame is metal. It is represented by many types of steel and aluminum profiles. The most popular is a profiled pipe with a cross-section of 20x20 mm or more. With a relatively low weight and low cost, it is highly durable. In addition, if there is a high-quality zinc coating or powder coating profiled pipe is durable and resistant to corrosion. Fastening of frame elements made of this material is done using self-tapping screws, welding, nuts and bolts and special crab-type connectors.

Important! The production of bent frame parts for an arched greenhouse from a profiled pipe is possible using a homemade machine, which is not difficult to assemble.

In addition, among metal products, corner profile, plasterboard ceiling profile and W-shaped roofing profile are very popular. They are even lighter and more convenient to process, but back side such advantages are lower strength and low durability finished design to snow load.

AND last group materials for the manufacture of greenhouse frames - polyvinyl chloride pipes and profiles. They are quite flexible and cheap, easy to use, store and transport. Polyvinyl chloride frame is suitable for light summer small greenhouses.

Prices for profile pipes

profile pipes

Sheathing for a greenhouse built by yourself

The frame of the greenhouse is covered on top transparent material, transmitting a significant portion of sunlight.

The following is used as cladding:

• glass;
• film;

Several decades ago, glass was the main material used in the construction of greenhouses, greenhouses and conservatories. It has high light transmittance and does not react with chemical compounds. Also, glass is not subject to any corrosive effects and is characterized by high durability - a frame made of wood or metal will quickly become unusable. But the last advantage is controversial - this material is also known to be brittle, and any rock or thick branch can turn durable glass into a pile of sharp shards. Therefore, in recent decades it has been replaced by transparent polymers.

One of the representatives of such materials is polyethylene film. If you were looking for something very cheap to cover the frame for one season, film is your choice. But keep in mind that the material is short-lived and fragile.

Important! Exist individual species polyethylene film with reinforcement. It gives the material strength, increases its service life and resistance to wind.

The third material for greenhouse cladding is cellular polycarbonate. This is a relatively inexpensive material with high impact strength - in a situation where the glass breaks, the polycarbonate will only wrinkle or receive several small cracks. It is also lightweight and very flexible, making it ideal for greenhouses with rounded frames. The presence of honeycombs filled with air gives polycarbonate best thermal insulation among all cladding materials.

As for the disadvantages, they are as follows:

• gradual destruction of material under the sun;
• the need to take into account during installation the significant expansion of polycarbonate when heated;
• Without protection of the ends, the polycarbonate cells will quickly fill with dirt, condensation and mold, the material will bloom and become unusable.

To create a greenhouse with your own hands, it is important to choose the right high-quality polycarbonate. An important criterion in the selection should be the manufacturer. There is no need to chase cheap prices and buy Chinese materials. A proven high-quality polycarbonate manufacturer on the domestic market is the Kinplast company. Its assortment offers several brands of cellular polycarbonate: WOGGEL - a premium material created in collaboration with European colleagues; SKYGLASS – represents ideal price-quality ratio; AgroTITANIUM and polycarbonate SPECIAL FOR GREENHOUSES – designed for creating greenhouses and greenhouses, helps create an optimal microclimate for plants, differs at an affordable price.

Video - Making a greenhouse with your own hands from A to Z

Prices for cellular polycarbonate

cellular polycarbonate

Do-it-yourself greenhouse with a permanent wall and heat accumulation

Winter greenhouses with the ability to grow seedlings, vegetables and berries even in cold weather have been known to gardeners for a very long time. But they have one significant drawback - high costs for heating. How to solve this problem? Firstly, it is necessary to limit the loss of such valuable heat. For this purpose, in the greenhouse presented below, the northern half is allocated as a utility room, and between it and the beds there is a solid wall covered with mineral wool. In addition, the building is equipped with a heat accumulator.

This battery is a network of fairly thick pipes laid underground and with outlets to the outside. During the day, sunlight warms the soil in the greenhouse, which does the same to the air in the pipes. At night, the temperature in the greenhouse drops. Warm air, obeying the laws of physics, rushes upward, cold air - down into the pipes. There it warms up from the soil, the cycle repeats, the circulation of air masses begins, the temperature in the greenhouse remains within limits suitable for seedlings and plants.

Let's look at the construction of such a structure in the form of step-by-step instructions.

Step 1. A site is selected, measurements and delineations are made. A pit with a depth of 30 to 70 cm is dug, its walls and bottom are leveled. To speed up the process when building a large greenhouse, it is advisable to use special equipment.

Step 2. Formwork for the strip foundation is constructed along the edges of the pit.

Step 3. Concrete is poured inside the formwork, creating strip foundation.

Step 4. The bottom of the pit inside the perimeter is covered with thermal insulation.

Step 5. Horizontal pipelines are laid on top of the thermal insulation to ensure air circulation.

Step 6. The ends of the air ducts are arranged, everything inside the foundation is covered with earth.

Step 7 The frame of the northern and side walls of the greenhouse is being constructed. Instead of wood, you can use brick or concrete blocks.

Step 10 The roof on the north side is covered with corrugated sheeting. Fastening is done using roofing screws.

Step 11 The wall frame is being constructed on the south side. Installed vertical racks and timber top harness. The wall dividing the building into two sides is covered with wooden panels.

Step 12 The rafters are mounted on the south side of the building.

Step 13 The southern wall and the side of the roof are sheathed with thick plastic film. Instead of film, cellular polycarbonate can also be used, since it is a more durable material. The side walls of the greenhouse are also covered with wooden panels.

The southern wall and roof slope are sheathed with thick plastic film

Step 14 The main walls in the greenhouse are covered with mineral wool slabs. It will reduce heat loss inside the structure.

Step 15 Produced interior decoration walls, painting frame elements. You can build shelving and bring in seedlings, for which the best conditions will be created.

We hope that the above descriptions, recommendations and instructions will help you create an effective and durable greenhouse for your summer cottage or garden plot.

Availability of a greenhouse at summer cottage– this is a common phenomenon. Using different materials, you can build greenhouses of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Work in them begins in early spring and ends in autumn. Having your own vegetables is not only economical, but also safe, since you can be sure of their quality. That is why many people have a desire to equip a winter greenhouse. You can grow vegetables and fruits in it all year round, even if it’s frosty outside.

Can an amateur summer resident build such a structure? In fact, the construction and arrangement of a winter greenhouse does not require much time and money, so you can handle the tasks yourself. In this article we will tell you how to build a winter greenhouse with your own hands and demonstrate necessary drawings, as well as photo and video instructions.

Features and differences from a summer greenhouse

When constructing a winter greenhouse, unlike a summer greenhouse, a strong and reliable design. It stands on the foundation. In addition, the winter greenhouse has a heating system. The quality and consistency of the temperature inside will depend on the latter. Every winter greenhouse must contain:

• lighting;
• heating;
• ventilation;
• watering.

The size of the greenhouse must be selected in accordance with the number of crops that will be grown. The coating material must be reliable. A simple film will not protect crops from frost and snow. It is also important to provide for the possibility of additional wall insulation.

When developing a winter greenhouse, several conditions must be met for good plant growth: light and temperature conditions, as well as air humidity.

Main types of winter greenhouses

A modern winter greenhouse can be built from various materials. Today, the construction market is filled with innovative materials. They are distinguished by increased strength, lightness and affordable price. This allows you to choose everything you need within even a small planned budget. At the preparatory stage it is necessary to plan the design. Her choice will depend solely on the plants that are planned to be grown.

Types of winter greenhouses are distinguished not only by the materials used, but also by their external forms.

1. Single-pitched - wall-mounted and with an earthen fill.
2. Gable - with main walls and a glazed roof.
3. Polycarbonate arched.

1. First of all, the parameters are calculated, since further calculations will depend on this.
2. It is also necessary to take into account functionality, that is, to know in advance the features of growing crops. In modern and modernized winter greenhouses, you can grow not only vegetables and fruits, but also mushrooms, herbs, and flowers.
3. The microclimate inside the structure will depend on the correct location of the greenhouse at ground level. If desired, the structure can be deepened inside and get the effect of a thermos, or construction can begin on the surface. Some people prefer to set up greenhouses in old buildings (garage or barn).
4. A wide variety of architectural solutions allows you to realize any ideas and ideas. You can build the structure yourself or buy a ready-made structure. You can also seek help from specialists.

Many people grow flowers of various crops for sale. When choosing exotic plants, it is necessary to calculate all costs, as well as study the requirements for the structure.

When developing a project, it is necessary to take into account the material with which the frame will be sheathed. The winter greenhouse must be durable and airtight, so for arranging the frame choose:

• tree;
• metal.

Both materials are very durable, so it is quite difficult to choose one or the other. Metal is strong and reliable, but wood is much easier to work with. In addition, the wood will not heat up in high summer temperatures. To support the weight of the entire structure, as well as the load of snow on the roof, it is necessary to use strong and thick racks.

Frame covering material:

• film;
• glass;
• cellular polycarbonate.

When choosing a film, it is necessary to sheathe the frame not in one layer, but in several. In addition, you should not use it to arrange the entire structure. Glass also has many disadvantages: heavy weight, fragility and difficulty in installation. The most suitable material for a winter greenhouse is cellular polycarbonate. The advantages include: light weight, light transmission, and ease of installation.

According to experts, the microclimate in a greenhouse made of wood is several times better than one made of metal. When choosing a tree, it must be treated with modern antiseptics and protective agents.

When choosing a site for the construction of a winter greenhouse, it is necessary to take into account three main factors:

1. Light. The winter greenhouse should receive the maximum amount of sunlight. The greenhouse is best placed lengthwise from west to east.
2. Wind. If the selected location often experiences gusty and cold winds, it is necessary to consider protection. This will save on heating costs and constantly maintain an acceptable temperature and microclimate.
3. Convenience. Access or passage to the greenhouse should be wide and convenient. Thanks to this, it will be very convenient to use the greenhouse for its intended purpose.

When organizing protection from strong winds You can plant a hedge. It must be remembered that the fence must be placed at a distance of at least 10 m. The distance is calculated depending on the height of the ridge.

The most important thing in a winter greenhouse is heating. This process is the most labor-intensive and complex. To organize it, the help of specialists is required. But you can do everything yourself. It is necessary to choose the right type of heating, on which the productivity of the greenhouse will depend. Today there are many ways to heat even a large area. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages:

1. Sun. Affordable and cheap option. But it is not suitable for winter, since the sun's rays are not so strong and will not be able to heat. It can be combined with other heat sources.
2. Biological heating. Biologically active substances decompose, causing heat to be released. The simplest biological substance is manure. As with the sun, this method will not be able to completely heat even a small area.
3. Electricity. An affordable and popular heating method. It can be installed in any area away from home. You can use different electrical appliances for it: convectors, air heaters, infrared radiation, cable heating, heat pump and water heating.
4. Air heating. It is organized at the initial stage of construction of a winter greenhouse, in particular, when pouring the foundation. With the help of heating and ventilation units, warm air is supplied to the middle and upper part of the greenhouse.
5. Gas. Gas heaters are installed in the greenhouse, in which direct combustion occurs. To avoid oxygen burnout, it is necessary to provide a good ventilation system.
6. Bake. An affordable and economical option involves installing a stove and heating the entire area of ​​the winter greenhouse. Gas, wood and coal can be used as fuel. Among the disadvantages is the heating of the walls, so planting plants next to the stove is not recommended.

It is necessary to choose the type of heating individually for each specific case. You must be guided by such criteria as local climate, planned budget and plant type.

Stages of construction of a winter greenhouse

Since the construction stages and technologies completely depend on the materials and design, there is no need to talk about standards. Using an example, we will look at the construction of a winter greenhouse, which is adjacent to the house. A brick is selected for the foundation. The frame is erected from wooden beams or profile pipes. The entire structure will be covered with polycarbonate.

To create the effect of a thermos, you don’t have to go deep into the ground, but only raise the base. The depth of the foundation is 50 cm, the width is 40 cm. For convenience, it is better to make a strip foundation. Don't forget about sand cushion or use fine gravel. The execution steps are standard and do not require any professional skills or equipment. After pouring, it is recommended to keep the foundation for a week. On hot days, the surface is moistened with water. A layer of waterproofing should be laid between the foundation and the plinth.

You can use used bricks to build the basement. If the financial side allows, then a new brick is selected. The height of the wall should be about 1 m. The thickness of the walls can be half a brick or a brick, at your own discretion. The frame is constructed from durable and pre-treated wooden beams. Anchors and dowels act as fasteners. Thus, a skeleton is installed that will be a reliable support for heavy loads. The frame for the roof must be made at an angle of 30° from the horizon.

The frame should be sheathed with polycarbonate according to the standard scheme and technology. For a good result, several conditions must be met:

• marking;
• precision cutting;
• accuracy of installation;
• use of special fasteners;
• sealing polycarbonate seams for tightness.

Several vents installed around the entire perimeter can serve as ventilation.

For greater savings, it is recommended to choose a location near your home. Thanks to this, one of the walls is already completely ready, so you don’t have to waste time, effort and money. In order for the main part of the greenhouse to be constantly warm, it is necessary to attach a vestibule at the front door. For high-quality sealing, you can use polyurethane foam and special sealants.

After all construction and sealing work has been completed in full, you can begin arrangement. So, it is necessary to supply water and electricity for lighting to the greenhouse. It is also important to take care of the shut-off valves, which will ensure a high-quality water supply.

When choosing light scattering sources, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of growing the selected crops. An equally important issue is the soil. The substrate is prepared, fertilizers and special additives (feeding) are added. They will ensure fast and proper growth of all vegetables and fruits that have been selected.

Guided by the given tips, you can build and prepare a winter greenhouse for growing various crops in just a few days. winter time. It is enough to use all available materials and purchase missing ones. You can handle all the work alone, but it is better to have an assistant, especially when it comes to installing the skeleton of a winter greenhouse.

Video

To learn how to make heating in a winter greenhouse, watch the video:

Blueprints

Photo