Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

Mark Dragt · 11-27-2016, 11:53 PM

I started this project back in September after reading GreenFin's thread about his new banana house. I read that thread over and over. Thank you GreenFin, you inspired me.

This thread is about my new Greenhouse. Through conversation with my good friend HMelendez, a name was given to this Greenhouse. Mark's Banana Forest Paradise. Thank you Hector for helping me with this identity of my greenhouse.

Thank you also to my friends Al, Kevin, Ty, Don, and Keith for cheering me on.
Thanks Guys, your the best!

Mark Dragt · 11-28-2016, 12:02 AM

This is where it all started. This area was my garden and chicken coup area. My gardening isn't over, it is just different.

CraigSS · 11-28-2016, 08:18 AM

Good Luck
Remember always talk to your plants and leave them feeling wanted.

HMelendez · 11-28-2016, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Dragt

I started this project back in September after reading GreenFin's thread about his new banana house. I read that thread over and over. Thank you GreenFin, you inspired me.

This thread is about my new Greenhouse. Through conversation with my good friend HMelendez, a name was given to this Greenhouse. Mark's Banana Forest Paradise. Thank you Hector for helping me with this identity of my greenhouse.

Thank you also to my friends Al, Kevin, Ty, Don, and Keith for cheering me on.
Thanks Guys, your the best!

Congrats Mark!

I know you will have a great success growing 'nanas in your "Mark's Banana Forest Paradise!".....You have a very good setup!....Your hard work and dedication will pay off!....Whishing you the best my friend!.....

kaczercat · 11-28-2016, 12:16 PM

YES YES congrats,keep us posted!!

Mark Dragt · 11-28-2016, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CraigSS

Good Luck
Remember always talk to your plants and leave them feeling wanted.

Thanks CraigSS. I walk through my banana forest every chance I get. I check for this, I check for that, and I feed my fish. I do talk to myself in there. I will try talking to the plants, but if they start talking back, I am taking the greenhouse back down. Lol!

Mark Dragt · 11-28-2016, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMelendez

Congrats Mark!

I know you will have a great success growing 'nanas in your "Mark' Banana Forest Paradise!".....You have a very good setup!....Your hard work and dedication will pay off!....Whishing you the best my friend!.....

Thank you Hector! Very kind words. I hope it works as good as you say it will. So far so good.

Mark Dragt · 11-28-2016, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaczercat

YES YES congrats,keep us posted!!

Thanks Matt. My greenhouse is located close to my house in the backyard. So close, that my house wifi works in the greenhouse. Some of these updates will be posted from within the forest itself.

Mark Dragt · 11-28-2016, 10:29 PM

The grass was really thick in this area. This was outside the fence of my old chicken coup. My garden always had the best fertilizer. Chickens are gone, I was done with them. Garden plot is gone, not even close to being done with that.

Mark Dragt · 11-28-2016, 10:47 PM

This is where we finished the first day. Having my brother and his small excavator, we got a lot of work done in one day. Around 30 yards of soil were removed. The tanks were installed for 2 reasons. 1, to hold back the 1 1/2 feet of soil all the way around. 2, the tanks are filled with water and give mass to the greenhouse. This mass will help to regulate the temps inside, up or down. The concrete tanks have my goldfish in them. Stray bugs that fall in the water are history.

Mark Dragt · 11-28-2016, 11:12 PM

Then morning came. A large pile of soil in my yard. Tanks lining the walls of a hole in the ground. Since I didn't buy a kit, I had no instructions, I was overwhelmed at this point. I was scratching my head as to what my next step was. Hint to anyone taking on a large project. Keep moving forward! Positive gains, even small ones, keep the project moving. So I started backfilling the walls. Positive gains!

Mark Dragt · 11-28-2016, 11:47 PM

Water line installed. This was not planned. 2 pictures ago you will notice 1 concrete tank not installed. There was a 3/4 inch pvc water line in the way. I didn't know it was there, I still don't know where it goes. O well, I know where it stops now. After the line was finished up, I set the last tank with my forklift. In this picture, it is the 1 on the left.

Mark Dragt · 11-29-2016, 12:16 AM

This tank was much more of a challenge to put in place than any others. It was full of water and fish.

The blue container on the right is a small aquaponics setup, upside down fish tank on the left I call a skylight. More on this, and better pictures later.

Mark Dragt · 11-29-2016, 12:49 AM

I went out to the greenhouse for a few minutes. Some of the plants are starting to grow again, the same plants that have been stalled for many weeks.

High temp outside today 52f
High temp in the greenhouse 73f
=+21f
Current outside temp 46f
Current greenhouse temp 53f
=+7f

We will see how it goes from here.

kaczercat · 11-29-2016, 12:24 PM

you lucky guy. Wifi in the greenhouse I'm jealous! everything looks great! I know this is so many steps ahead but have you planned out watch bananas you are going to be planting? PS. nice fish

Mark Dragt · 11-29-2016, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaczercat

you lucky guy. Wifi in the greenhouse I'm jealous! everything looks great! I know this is so many steps ahead but have you planned out watch bananas you are going to be planting? PS. nice fish

Thanks Matt, that was a easy question. The greenhouse is mostly done. Just need a little tweek here and there. I wanted to start this thread from the beginning of the project. So to answer your question, I built this greenhouse to plant all my bananas. I currently have 27 different bananas planted in there. That's why Banana Forest is in the name. When these plants get big, it will be a forest in there.

Mark Dragt · 11-29-2016, 10:54 PM

This is a sample size of the PVC I had to cut and glue together to make the ground frames. This pile made 2. Then I had to do it all over again to make another 2.

Mark Dragt · 11-29-2016, 11:02 PM

Here is 1 ground frame all glued together. There will be a total of 4 of these.

Mark Dragt · 11-29-2016, 11:09 PM

Here are 2 frames clamped together.

And a closeup of the clamps and the offset for assembly.

Mark Dragt · 11-29-2016, 11:17 PM

At this point I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to see what the shape was like for the hoops.

This was my goal. This was the reason I lowered the floor 1 1/2 feet. This was the reason I used 30 feet of PVC pipe to make my hoops. 12+ feet of inside height.

:woohoonaner :

11-27-2016, 11:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Mark's Banana Forest Paradise I started this project back in September after reading GreenFin's thread about his new banana house. I read that thread over and over. Thank you GreenFin, you inspired me. This thread is about my new Greenhouse. Through conversation with my good friend HMelendez, a name was given to this Greenhouse. Mark's Banana Forest Paradise. Thank you Hector for helping me with this identity of my greenhouse. Thank you also to my friends Al, Kevin, Ty, Don, and Keith for cheering me on. Thanks Guys, your the best! __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise Last edited by Mark Dragt : 11-29-2016 at 10:11 PM.

11-28-2016, 12:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise This is where it all started. This area was my garden and chicken coup area. My gardening isn't over, it is just different. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

11-28-2016, 08:18 AM	#3 (permalink)
CraigSS CraigSS Location: Smith Mountain Lake; SW VA Find me on the map! Zone: 7 Name: CraigSS Join Date: Dec 2015 Posts: 238 BananaBucks : 6,351 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 365 Times Was Thanked 319 Times in 145 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 172 Times	Mark's Banana Forest Paradise Good Luck Remember always talk to your plants and leave them feeling wanted. __________________ Find me on the map!

11-28-2016, 12:16 PM	#5 (permalink)
kaczercat kaczercat's Photo Gallery Location: Southern ON Find me on the map! Zone: 5b 9b Name: Matt Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1,874 BananaBucks : 169,701 Feedback: 3 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,116 Times Was Thanked 2,098 Times in 748 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 11 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise YES YES congrats,keep us posted!! __________________ Matt

11-28-2016, 10:29 PM	#9 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise The grass was really thick in this area. This was outside the fence of my old chicken coup. My garden always had the best fertilizer. Chickens are gone, I was done with them. Garden plot is gone, not even close to being done with that. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

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11-28-2016, 10:47 PM	#10 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise This is where we finished the first day. Having my brother and his small excavator, we got a lot of work done in one day. Around 30 yards of soil were removed. The tanks were installed for 2 reasons. 1, to hold back the 1 1/2 feet of soil all the way around. 2, the tanks are filled with water and give mass to the greenhouse. This mass will help to regulate the temps inside, up or down. The concrete tanks have my goldfish in them. Stray bugs that fall in the water are history. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

11-28-2016, 11:12 PM	#11 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise Then morning came. A large pile of soil in my yard. Tanks lining the walls of a hole in the ground. Since I didn't buy a kit, I had no instructions, I was overwhelmed at this point. I was scratching my head as to what my next step was. Hint to anyone taking on a large project. Keep moving forward! Positive gains, even small ones, keep the project moving. So I started backfilling the walls. Positive gains! __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

11-28-2016, 11:47 PM	#12 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise Water line installed. This was not planned. 2 pictures ago you will notice 1 concrete tank not installed. There was a 3/4 inch pvc water line in the way. I didn't know it was there, I still don't know where it goes. O well, I know where it stops now. After the line was finished up, I set the last tank with my forklift. In this picture, it is the 1 on the left. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

11-29-2016, 12:16 AM	#13 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise This tank was much more of a challenge to put in place than any others. It was full of water and fish. The blue container on the right is a small aquaponics setup, upside down fish tank on the left I call a skylight. More on this, and better pictures later. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

11-29-2016, 12:49 AM	#14 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise I went out to the greenhouse for a few minutes. Some of the plants are starting to grow again, the same plants that have been stalled for many weeks. High temp outside today 52f High temp in the greenhouse 73f =+21f Current outside temp 46f Current greenhouse temp 53f =+7f We will see how it goes from here. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

11-29-2016, 12:24 PM	#15 (permalink)
kaczercat kaczercat's Photo Gallery Location: Southern ON Find me on the map! Zone: 5b 9b Name: Matt Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1,874 BananaBucks : 169,701 Feedback: 3 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,116 Times Was Thanked 2,098 Times in 748 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 11 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise you lucky guy. Wifi in the greenhouse I'm jealous! everything looks great! I know this is so many steps ahead but have you planned out watch bananas you are going to be planting? PS. nice fish __________________ Matt

11-29-2016, 10:54 PM	#17 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise This is a sample size of the PVC I had to cut and glue together to make the ground frames. This pile made 2. Then I had to do it all over again to make another 2. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

11-29-2016, 11:02 PM	#18 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise Here is 1 ground frame all glued together. There will be a total of 4 of these. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

11-29-2016, 11:09 PM	#19 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise Here are 2 frames clamped together. And a closeup of the clamps and the offset for assembly. __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

11-29-2016, 11:17 PM	#20 (permalink)
Mark Dragt Location: Rochester,Wa Find me on the map! Zone: 8 Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 820 BananaBucks : 11,901 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,350 Times Was Thanked 1,683 Times in 628 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 332 Times	Re: Mark's Banana Forest Paradise At this point I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to see what the shape was like for the hoops. This was my goal. This was the reason I lowered the floor 1 1/2 feet. This was the reason I used 30 feet of PVC pipe to make my hoops. 12+ feet of inside height. :woohoonaner : __________________ Mark's Banana Forest Paradise

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