Greenhouse project over the last year! It's been a project

[carly]

So water butts in....... not too much left to do now.... plants well established in the garden in various places waiting to go in and a few in there already.
It has been a stressful experience.... we made it so much harder than it needed to be. But the soil we dug to pour the concrete into is now going back into pots etc to grow the stuff....

Oh, the table they are stood on we made yesterday from the wood decking we used as forms for the concrete pouring. Took us 3 hours just to do the table..... saw,saw,saw and drill drill drill

[veggiechicken]

Why are you storing so much water in the GH? You're losing a lot of growing space.

[carly]

Why are you storing so much water in the GH? You're losing a lot of growing space.

I don't want the butts on the outside, it will help with temperatures..... I have plenty of growing space.... I think lol!

[Jay-ell]

Are you going to hook the butts up to an automatic irrigation system?

[carly]

Are you going to hook the butts up to an automatic irrigation system?

Well I have thought about this and I don't think so.....no.
I plan on hand watering..... we rarely go away..... and if we do then I can set up one of those systems

[veggiechicken]

I don't want the butts on the outside, it will help with temperatures..... I have plenty of growing space.... I think lol!

Come back to this thread next year and tell me if you still have plenty of growing space

[veggiechicken]

Just a thought about the waterbutts. I can see the middle one has an inlet. Are the other butts connected to it?
Do you have an outlet/overflow for when the waterbutts are full?

[carly]

Just a thought about the waterbutts. I can see the middle one has an inlet. Are the other butts connected to it?
Do you have an outlet/overflow for when the waterbutts are full?

We just got these today and are waiting for the bits to turn up to finish them.there is a big white down pipe that we have taken off and that will go in the top of the lid..... all there water butts will be connect yes that's the bit we are just waiting for. There is no overflow just these 3 that will all be connected together

[carly]

Come back to this thread next year and tell me if you still have plenty of growing space

I plan on it being an absolute jungle in there..... hanging baskets from the brackets etc. I still have 60 feet x 30 feet of garden I can use.... I'm sure some things will need to be planted out eventually

[veggiechicken]

We just got these today and are waiting for the bits to turn up to finish them.there is a big white down pipe that we have taken off and that will go in the top of the lid..... all there water butts will be connect yes that's the bit we are just waiting for. There is no overflow just these 3 that will all be connected together

I have some interconnected waterbutts. Without some sort of outlet the water would overflow the top of the butt after a heavy downpour. Outside its not really a problem but it would be inside a GH.
The alternative would be to stop the water entering the butts when they are full.
There are better minds on here to discuss this - I'm just waffling about my own set-up

[Jay-ell]

I like the idea that they automatically fill if it rains, but If there's a downpour and the central butt fills quicker than the water can drain into the other two butts then it's going to overflow. The standard 13mm hose taps can be connected together but under a gravity fed system like this the amount of water that can drain out through one of these can be less than the water coming in through the down pipe.

If you used a sufficient diameter pipe to connect the three butts which managed to cope with a downpour then once all three are full where is the water going to go - probably straight out the top and onto something you didn't want all that water dumped onto.

As it looks like the in flow is coming from higher than the butts, the standard dawn pipe connection kit wouldn't work so you would probably need to take an overflow from one of them (probably the middle) so you can control where excess water gets dumped.

[carly]

I like the idea that they automatically fill if it rains, but If there's a downpour and the central butt fills quicker than the water can drain into the other two butts then it's going to overflow. The standard 13mm hose taps can be connected together but under a gravity fed system like this the amount of water that can drain out through one of these can be less than the water coming in through the down pipe.



If you used a sufficient diameter pipe to connect the three butts which managed to cope with a downpour then once all three are full where is the water going to go - probably straight out the top and onto something you didn't want all that water dumped onto.

As it looks like the in flow is coming from higher than the butts, the standard dawn pipe connection kit wouldn't work so you would probably need to take an overflow from one of them (probably the middle) so you can control where excess water gets dumped.

Husband will be doing an overflow area and it will go into the stream behind the greenhouse

[carly]

So, not too bad for only getting the thing finished about 3 weeks ago.... we still have the door side to put in but it's getting up to 85-90 without it and not dropping below 69 overnight. I took some photos ...... managed to get toms, chillies, courgette, lettuce, spring onions, carrots, herbs, peppers but can't wait for next year and will be nice to 'grow into' thanks for looking