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asimpson
02-07-2017, 08:29 AM
Hello everyone
Im a new member located in Flamborough, Ontario which is in Canada. I recently completed a 4200 sq foot greenhouse which is heated with a climate battery (see my profile picture). When its hot in the greenhouse during the day we store all the heat in the soil below the greenhouse (if anyone in a cold climate wants to know how this works let me know, it was 85F yesterday inside). Im new to growing bananas and started growing namwah and cavendish. They are in pots at the moment but will be transplanted into the ground inside the greenhouse (the soil is insulated so its warm). Theres a picture of my greenhouse in my profile picture.
I also grow citrus (meyers, persian lime, navel orange, cara cara, eureka etc) and avocado. Id like to start collecting more tropicals for the greenhouse and I have a loquat I started from seed.
On our farm here we grow plums, cherries, apples, pears, apricots and grapes in our orchard.
HMelendez
02-07-2017, 08:42 AM
asimpson,
Welcome to the banana gang!....:2723::bananarow::2723:
JBijl
02-07-2017, 09:01 AM
Welcome Here A Simpson
subsonicdrone
02-07-2017, 10:29 AM
awesome
i would like to build something similar some day
what is the height
is it at ground level or a pit greenhouse?
Snarkie
02-07-2017, 12:12 PM
Greetings, and welcome aboard the Banana Express. :nanerwaveytrain:
asimpson
02-07-2017, 01:20 PM
The greenhouse is at ground level with an insulated foundation 42' wide by 100' long, the soil is insulated to R20 to 5 feet below the ground. I have tubes under the soil which we use to heat and cool the greenhouse. Its 26' feet tall and has a shade curtain and two vents.
sputinc7
02-07-2017, 01:34 PM
WOWOWOWWW!!! Awesome but I am sure it's expensive. Definitely easier to control pests and disease... Don't let them in.
beam2050
02-07-2017, 01:41 PM
I built a garage back in the early 70's with floor heat. it was up in North Dakota 45 miles from the Canadian border. I used 1/2 inch copper pipe 3 ft apart in the cement, had a 40 gal.,4000 btu hot water heater for heat with a water pump. the garage was 24 by 28. started it in October and had green grass all winter long 6 inches from the foundation and snow bank after that. it was wonderful, work underneath a car it made you want to go to sleep.
subsonicdrone
02-07-2017, 08:37 PM
nice!
i have seen videos of similar heat banking
no supplemental heating? if the answer is no... what is youre min temp so far
what depth are youre pipes as i have heard too shallow can be to hot and too deep is an issue too but i guess it depends on the outside temps a bit
You should get more varieties from canadabananafarms. They're in Huron county. Prices are low and his plants are very healthy. Not too far from your place, no?
asimpson
02-08-2017, 08:17 AM
JP what varieties do they have?
asimpson
02-08-2017, 08:23 AM
subsoncidrone,
Great question. It does depend on outside temperatures. The climate battery provides the heat we need most of the year but there are 10-20 nights a year especially during polar shocks where we have to switch to conventional backup. For instance we have the thermostat set such that once it goes below 50-55F then we switch off the climate battery fans and go to our natural gas unit heater which is 250,000 BTU. Basically once the climate battery cannot maintain the indoor temperature on its own our system turns it off for the night. My greenhouse was only finished recently so I don't have a lot of data collected yet on its performance, but the other greenhouses they have designed have been running over 7 years.
My greenhouse was designed by Michael Thompson of ECO Systems Design, and his website is at Climate Batteries - eco systems design, inc. (http://www.ecosystems-design.com/climate-batteries.html). He also wrote a book which details several of these greenhouses they have built at their website “The Forest Garden Greenhouse” by Jerome Osentowski (http://crmpi.org/about/the-forest-garden-greenhouse-by-jerome-osentowski/)
The system is quite remarkable in that we are always pumping heat and oxygen into the soil so instead of growing in warm air but colder soil, we are growing in warm air and warm moist soil.
Take a look at this youtube video of one of the authors greenhouses in Colorado, he has some nice bananas in there, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKMi4Vlt_Ys
HMelendez
02-08-2017, 08:54 AM
asimpson,
Nice setup you have there!.....Good luck with The Greenhouse!.....:bananarow:
Strong bird farm
02-08-2017, 08:54 PM
Welcome. I am new here too. Are you near Canada banana farm? I've heard they are on their game up there.
Welcome. I am new here too. Are you near Canada banana farm? I've heard they are on their game up there.
You heard right. You can buy nanners from them or fresh organic tropical fruits that they grow. Veggies too. They know their stuff. Nice people to deal with. Too bad it's too far from where I live... And welcome to you too!
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