Mini-greenhouse (57 Photos): Making A Polycarbonate Greenhouse With Your Own Hands, The Best Projects Of Small Greenhouses

2024 Author: Beatrice Philips | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 05:33

A mini greenhouse is an irreplaceable thing both in the country and in the house. With its help, you can prepare seedlings for planting in the ground, despite the surprises of the unpredictable Russian climate, grow flowers, cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables. It is convenient to choose and buy mini-greenhouses in the store, or make them yourself from scrap materials.

Requirements and location

The greenhouse should be easy to use and meet a number of requirements:

• provide good access to plants for their maintenance;
• freely conduct sunlight;
• have good ventilation;
• have excellent strength characteristics so that it can be used for many years;
• have an attractive appearance.

There is a place for a small greenhouse not only in the country . It can also be placed on a balcony, loggia or even in a room in an ordinary apartment, which will allow not only to carry out preparatory work for the summer season, but also to provide yourself with fresh greens throughout the year.

In a residential area, a mini-greenhouse should find its place depending on the degree of illumination of the selected area. Often, home "houses" for seedlings and vegetables are equipped with additional lighting - this allows you to compensate for the lack of natural light and put the greenhouse where it will not interfere.

The difference between a greenhouse and a greenhouse

When it comes to greenhouses, this concept is mixed with the concept of a greenhouse. This applies to those cases when it comes to mini greenhouse-type structures. The fundamental difference between such structures is that both a large greenhouse and a small greenhouse are heated under the influence of solar energy due to biological processes taking place in a “cushion” of manure or compost, which creates a greenhouse effect under the roof of the structure.

In the greenhouse, the atmosphere is closer to natural , although here, too, the defining moment is heating by the sun or another source of heat. In a small greenhouse, the differences with the principle of the greenhouse are smoothed out, and the microclimate in them becomes approximately the same.

Types and features

Mini-type greenhouses differ depending on the size, manufacturing method (branded or homemade), in their design, as well as, if possible, their transfer and transportation from place to place.

The purpose of the structures is also different . There are small greenhouses in which seedlings and seeds are germinated in a summer cottage. There are also similar designs for "balcony application".

In addition, on Russian private farmsteads you can find the best implemented projects of compact greenhouses for growing cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and other crops, the fruits of which delight Russians fresh or cooked.

Many commercially available mini greenhouses have an eco prefix. However, it is obvious that this does not affect their structure, as well as the quality of the vegetables grown.

Portable

This is a simple and convenient design that can be easily installed on any level place within the garden. It is better to find a point for her where there is no constant shadow from tall bushes, trees or walls. This construction is usually covered with foil or polycarbonate. The foundation for such a structure is not installed, which provides the building with mobility. In this case, you need to think over the fasteners of the structure, otherwise it will be carried away by the first gust of wind.

Closet

The advantage of such a mini-greenhouse is that a large number of plants can be compactly placed on several shelves - this allows you to grow a good harvest even in an apartment. Those who are more interested in flowers can put such a showcase in the room, which will make the interior unique. Among mini-greenhouses for a city apartment, there are very small ones, while others in size and general appearance are no different from cabinet furniture, which in a particular situation can be both an advantage and a disadvantage.

You can buy a ready-made greenhouse closet . The most economical option is the mesh shelves inside a metal frame covered with a transparent cover with a zipper. With its help, it is possible to regulate the access of fresh air to the "green tenants", and to serve them without any problems as needed.

There are more advanced models that are endowed with a ventilation system, heating and other functions. However, such models are more expensive.

Branded greenhouse cabinets often have wheels. This "furniture", if necessary, in the spring-summer period can be transported to the cottage or moved to the balcony.

To reduce the cost of such a cabinet, you can make it yourself from improvised means. For a person with at least some construction experience and a little knowledge of technology, this will not be difficult.

Wall

A small greenhouse can be attached to the wall of the house, which receives a lot of sun. This approach is very common in Western countries, but in Russia it is adopted quite rarely. This greenhouse option has many advantages. For example, this design takes up little space on the site.

A wall on the sunny side can store enough heat to create a comfortable microclimate inside the extension. It should be borne in mind that heat is transferred from the wall to the "green veranda" even at night. This fact leads to the fact that the growing season of plants in this structure is stretched. Consequently, organic fresh vegetables of our own production will stay on the table longer.

But since the useful area of such a greenhouse is small, the harvest from it will not be enough for a large family.

With a thoughtful approach, a mini-greenhouse of this kind can be turned into a real decoration of the site ., especially if you grow flowers in it. It is only necessary to think over the original flower arrangements, which in a glazed house will look like in a shop window, attracting the views of everyone around.

Film

Greenhouses of this type have their positive and negative sides. The film is inexpensive, and it will not be difficult to mount it on the frame. When it is necessary to provide ventilation of the plants, then it is also easy to remove such a covering. At the same time, this material does not differ in good strength, does not last long and has to be periodically renewed.

For the winter, the film must be removed from the greenhouse body ., since under the weight of the snow it will still break. Although, on the other hand, doing this work, you do not have to worry about the need to periodically go to the dacha and shovel snow from the roof so that the structure does not break.

Greenhouses of this type can only be used in the warm season - it is impossible to keep the heat under them in freezing conditions. So this option is not for those who are ready to grow vegetables all year round.

Automatic

Even a greenhouse nowadays can be turned into a high-tech structure - automatic structures belong to just such a category. In appearance, they can be categorized as wardrobes. These are the so-called grobks. They grow small plants. The necessary atmosphere is artificially created in an automatic greenhouse, starting from the approach to the organization of lighting.

The work includes fans, special lamps, timers, voltage relays, hygrometers, filters, an irrigation system and other attributes of a closed biosystem. Outwardly, such a greenhouse can look like ordinary furniture, or it can be something like a tent made of special fabric - such greenhouses are called greenhouses.

All these miracles of agricultural technology are very expensive . You need to think and calculate well how justified is the cultivation of various crops using such technological features. The cost price of vegetables obtained from a miracle cabinet sometimes turns out to be prohibitive.

You can significantly reduce the cost of an automatic mini-greenhouse if you buy a kit for its creation in a specialized company and assemble it all yourself in an old cabinet, refrigerator or other suitable case.

Decorative

The meaning of decorative mini-greenhouses is to create comfort for indoor plants. You cannot use them for more practical purposes.

Such designs are usually very small in size .fitting on a windowsill or table. You can make them yourself from the container of a small aquarium or a glass jar. At the bottom of such dishes, drainage is arranged, a layer of earth is poured on top, and then flowers are planted. In such a "house" those of them who grow slowly feel the best.

A decorative mini-greenhouse can not only provide special comfort to a "green pet", but also become a decoration of the room, giving it coziness.

How to do it yourself?

Often, for those who are used to growing seedlings, flowers, greens for the table, cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables for the home on their own, it is just as important to build additional devices for the beds or indoor garden with their own hands, including a mini-greenhouse for growing different crops (normal or enhanced).

Backlit shelving

A backlit rack can be just an irreplaceable thing in the house before the opening of the garden season at the dacha itself. It is made of different materials: metal profile, plastic pipes or wood. The choice of material for construction is the one with which you are more accustomed to work. The rack is a structure of several shelves, one above the other. If there is a lot of space in the house, then you can make a stationary structure.

Collapsible shelving is good because it can be rearranged from one place to another, adjusting the size. It is mainly used in the spring, when you need to prepare the seedlings before planting them in the garden, and then dismantle them before the next season. It is also possible to build a window rack with spacers to the full height of the window opening.

The implementation of a project for the construction of such a structure begins with the development of a diagram and determination of the dimensions of the rack.

To make a simple wooden mini greenhouse, you need to prepare:

• timber;
• drywall;
• corner profile;
• foil.

To work, you should stock up on a hacksaw, drill, hammer, nails or screws.

First, the first side of the rack is manufactured. Crossbars are attached to vertical bars with a step of 60 cm - these are the bases for the shelves. The first crossbar should be 15-20 cm from the floor.

The second half of the structure is assembled in the same way. Plasterboard shelves are fixed between the supports. At the top, there are two crossbeams that will hold the plant lamps. The inside of the rack is sheathed with foil - it will increase the light output. Then, two lamps are installed above each shelf, which should be bright, but not hot, so that excess heat does not damage the leaves of the plants.

If you want to make a metal rack, then you need to prepare the following tools and materials to create it:

• bolts;
• electric drill;
• drill;
• welding machine;
• metal corner;
• plywood or thick glass.

In addition, when the shelves are made of plywood, then you need a saw, and if they are glass, then you need a glass cutter.

You need to think about how large the structure should be . The metal corner must be divided into four racks of the same size, and cross bars must be prepared. Then you should make horizontal supporting sides for the shelves and drill holes for bolts at the joints. After that, you need to connect the racks and transverse strips, and weld along the places where the shelves will be located. When the frame is formed, you need to cut out the shelves of the required size and put them in the places specially designated for this purpose.

There is an option for making a rack without shelves. The width of the cross bars should be such that boxes with seedlings or flower pots do not fall through them.

It remains to make the lighting. You can fix the lamps with wire, tin strips or using other available means.

If there is no desire to engage in the construction of a solid shelving, and the size of the window sill for boxes with earth is not enough, you can simply attach the supports to the window slopes and fix the shelves. Despite the fact that in this case, special lighting for seedlings should be provided, it is better to place the shelves near the window facing south.

In order not to touch the window itself, you can make a rack from a finished furniture board suitable for the size of the window sill. Side racks with shelves are fastened with screws or nails.

It remains to install this simplest structure in the window opening . Usually no more than four shelves are made in it. This amount is just enough to accommodate all seedlings, if they are not prepared "on an industrial scale". As for the lighting of any of the rack options, sodium lamps, as well as fluorescent lamps with cold light or LED (blue or red in color), are suitable for such a mini-greenhouse.

Phytolamps designed specifically for greenery are becoming more and more popular. They also shine in red or blue. Thanks to their use, plants grow stronger, grow quickly and look good. The simplest shelving unit with such illumination will be a great help in your country house business.

With pipe frame

If there is a need to make a mini-greenhouse on the site, then the garden bed itself can be surrounded by a wooden frame, and the upper part, which provides a suitable microclimate for plants, can be built from plastic pipes and covered with film.

The advantage of using plastic pipes to create a frame is that they allow you to make a structure of any size, including the smallest. At the same time, the shapes of mini-greenhouses can also be very different, since pipes are bent, have different diameters, and they can be connected in a variety of ways: using clamps, furniture bolts that are screwed into specially made holes, and even putting on glue. This is a kind of constructor that opens up wide possibilities for garden construction. Another thing is that a greenhouse on such a frame will be an easy structure. Therefore, you need to take care to properly strengthen it on the base.

To make an arched frame for a mini-greenhouse, you should put the pipe on a metal pin previously driven into the ground . Then you need to bend and put it on the pin on the other side of the future greenhouse to make an arc. For the strength of the future frame, the resulting element must be screwed to the wooden base with staples.

In the same way, the required number of arcs is set at an equal distance. Then the end parts of the greenhouse are made. A doorway and vents can be made from plastic pipes, if they are provided for by the scheme.

In order to properly cover the structure with polyethylene, it should be distributed throughout the structure, leaving a small supply of material on the sides, and then attached to the frame using clamps.

Polycarbonate

When making a mini-greenhouse from this material, you need to keep in mind that it must be built at a temperature of +10 degrees. This condition is associated with the properties of the material of the future coating, which, depending on the temperature, contracts and expands.

If built in warmer weather, the polycarbonate sheets will turn out to be larger than they are. However, later, when it gets colder outside, they will shrink, and gaps will appear in the structure. For this reason, the microclimate under the roof of the mini-greenhouse will be disturbed.

If you take up construction in the middle of winter, then later, with the onset of hot days, the greenhouse will be skewed due to the fact that the expanded elements of the coating will no longer fit into the distance allotted to them. As a result, all the work done will go to waste.

To build a small mobile greenhouse, you need to prepare the following materials and tools:

• plywood sheet for the bottom;
• bars for fastening rafters;
• polycarbonate;
• self-tapping screws.

In order to assemble a frame on which the coating can hold, you need to take bars of small thickness. They are connected end-to-end with self-tapping screws. The sides are the harness to which the rafters are attached. They are built so that later a gable roof is obtained. Cover it with polycarbonate, securing pieces of material with self-tapping screws.

Folding doors are made from the ends of the structure, thanks to which it is possible to provide ventilation inside the mini-greenhouse.

Wheels are attached to the "house", and the bottom is covered with a film on which the earth is poured. The polycarbonate mini greenhouse is ready.

Similarly, you can make a structure with a lean-to roof or in the form of a small transparent "chest" with a hinged lid.