campngolf

Looks awesome. I love a good project that comes together on the fly. I did my front yard on drought tolerant landscaping at the first of the year and pretty much winged it the whole way.

Mark Dragt

Both layers of hoops installed.



You can see all the fittings. I used couplers, tees, and crosses.



Another view from the front. The door will be in front of the ramp on the right.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Mark Dragt

Finally I have a door.



And now a wall.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Mark Dragt

Posts in the ground for the back wall.



Now the back wall framing complete.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Mark Dragt

Thanks campngolf. That's exactly what was going on here. I had a bunch of ideas that I found online, or in books. I just had to make those ideas work together in a greenhouse that would fit my budget, and my yard.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

edwmax

What diameter PVC is that and what is the width of the base?

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Mark Dragt

edwmax,

All my hoops are made from 1 inch pvc. The greenhouse is 33 feet long by 17 feet wide. I know it is a oddball size. That is because of the tanks. I had to set them first, then build the greenhouse around them.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

edwmax

Thanks. I built a small one about 25 years ago using 1 1/4 TW PVC ... 9 ft wide by 20ft long. The hoops were 20 ft. Actually that frame is still standing.

I've never seen double hoop frames before, that's interesting.

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Mark Dragt

I will post the pictures later, but I will tell you now. I used the double hoops so I could keep a air gap between my two layers of plastic. I thought the insulation factor would increase. With the double layers, and 790 gallons of 65f fishpond water, I should sail right through winter.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Mark Dragt

This was not fun at all. Trying to get this greenhouse plastic between the hoops, and over the hoops, and all by myself was a real chore. It took a while. I think the effort will be worth it. It should help with insulation.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Mark Dragt

I would say that after the first layer of plastic is installed, a short tour is needed.



Inside back wall. I wasn't sure what to do with the extra plastic. So I just twisted it and screwed it to the wall.



Inside roof.



Inside front wall and door. Ramp to door was later replaced with homemade steps.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Mark Dragt

2nd layer of plastic installed. This one I had some help with. It went on much better than the 1st.



Here is an example of how I am holding the plastic on. 1/2 pvc pipe. Drilled and screwed with 1 3/4 wood screws.



Here I placed soil all around the greenhouse to seal the plastic against the ground.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

CraigSS

Great Job

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GreenFin

Awesome project, and an awesome thread!

Thanks for sharing this with us, Mark

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Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

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Mark Dragt

Thank You GreenFin! It's your banana house that inspired me to build Mark's Banana Forest Paradise.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Mark Dragt

Plastic trimmed and secured.



View from front looking back.



View from back looking to the front. On the right some potted plants. The first ones to make it into the greenhouse.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

mushtaq86

Hi Mark

Looks great you have put a lot of hard work in there, just wondering if you have taken these things in consideration with a pvc build greenhouse and how you will deal with them.

1 Keeping the greenhouse vented

2 High winds

3 Heavy Snow on top of the greenhouse

4 Having a single door, instead of double doors, for moving plants

5 will the height be enough as most bananas get tall

kaczercat

It really looks good Mark, well done! Whatever you put in there will be happy. What do you plan on doing with the soil? are the bananas going to be planted in ground?

mushtaq86 west coast climate there is much like the UK. except they have mountains LOL mild wet and little snow

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Matt

Mark Dragt

Thanks mushtaq86,

I have considered those items you pointed out.

1 Greenhouse venting is mostly needed to remove excess heat. Since I don't have excess heat this time of year, I decided to leave it sealed up till spring. In the spring I will add vents near the door and fans on the back wall.

2 High damaging winds are very rare here. We do get wind up to 35 or 40 mph on occasion. 2 weeks ago we had a wind event and the greenhouse sailed right through it. My biggest concern is if the plastic rips, and the wind gets under it. That would be one big kite! This plastic is very tough, I just need to cycle it out every few years to keep it from getting brittle.

3 Heavy snow is extremely rare here. Usually if we get snow it is less than 2 inches and it is gone in 1/2 a day. If I do get a snow event, I will probably just pull the snow off with a long broom.

4 Except for the potted plants and extra pups, the bananas are staying planted directly in the ground. So the single door is perfect for my needs. There will be very little back and forth with the plants.

5 Many of my plants will get too tall for the greenhouse. This is the part I am excited about. I have a idea in my head, not my idea, of a way to deal with that. I will not go into detail until I get to that point and have pictures to back it up. But I will leave you hanging. There is a way to shorten a plant without loosing leaves. So I get to try this idea, which has been successful for the member who told me about it. Very exciting!!!

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Mark Dragt

Thanks Matt,

The bananas are all planted directly in the ground, and I plan on leaving them there. Many plants that have stopped growing a month ago, started growing again after being planted in the greenhouse. I do have a real test coming next week. Cold and snow in the forecast.

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Mark's Banana Forest Paradise