These simple devices can significantly improve the harvest and avoid the consequences of weather vagaries, such as frost. They are easy to control temperature, light and humidity levels. All that remains is to find an economical and durable greenhouse option that will last for more than one year. And it is precisely this kind of greenhouse that we will consider today.
Greenhouse materials
Our greenhouse will be 3x5 meters in size, but its dimensions can be arbitrary. The material for the frame is PVC cold water supply pipes (CW).
The specification is as follows:
We will cover the greenhouse with a 7x9 meter piece of plastic film. Short pieces from pipes should not be thrown away. They can be adapted for auxiliary elements - door handles and clamps.
From accessories we will need: several window hinges, self-tapping screws with washers or wide heads (preferably anodized).
Tool: a hammer, a hacksaw or a grinder for cutting pipes, a screwdriver with an attachment for self-tapping screws, a knife, a tape measure and a pencil or marker. Well, every gardener will always have a shovel and a hoe. So let's begin!
Assembling a greenhouse from PVC pipes
Preparing the base for the greenhouse
For the stability of the greenhouse, a reliable foundation is necessary. Instead of capital concreting, we use sections of pipe with a diameter of 40 mm. We cut pieces of it half a meter long (for those with loose soil, it can be longer), and drive them into the ground at intervals of 1 meter.
Installing arcs
The shape of the greenhouse is given by the frame, which in our case will be semicircular. We take 32 mm pieces of pipe and bend them, inserting them into the racks. You should get exactly six semicircular arches. You can fix the arches in the racks in the following ways:
1. Soldering with a plumber's iron is a reliable method, but it makes the greenhouse arches non-removable;
2. With self-tapping screws - the internal hole of the racks is expanded with a milling cutter or knife so that a pipe of a smaller diameter can be inserted into it freely. The connection can then be easily fixed with self-tapping screws using a drill or screwdriver.
We fasten the connections
The next stage of assembling the greenhouse frame will be the installation of connecting crossbars. We make them from segments 5 m long. You will only need three of these elements. To avoid the accumulation of excess moisture inside the pipes, we solder plastic plugs of the appropriate diameter at the ends.
To connect to the arcs, the author used a special fastening clamp (photo).
You can replace it with anodized screws, nylon ties or an unnecessary piece of aluminum cable.
We install doors
In conclusion, it is necessary to install doors in our greenhouse. To do this, we take a pair of sections of 2 and 1.15 meters for each door, and secure them in the form of a rectangular box under the canvas on both sides of the greenhouse.
We make the frame for the door from a pipe of the same diameter, strengthening it with a cross member in the middle. We calculate gaps of about 1 cm around the entire perimeter of the rectangle. Any narrow window hinges of simple opening that can be installed on self-tapping screws are suitable as hinges. We make the door handle from a short piece of pipe, and mount it on plastic clips, fixing it with self-tapping screws. For rigidity, another cross member can be placed on the side of the handle.
Stretch the film
We stretch plastic film cut to size over the greenhouse. To secure it to the pipes, you can cut semicircular plates from waste from the same pipe, 10-20 cm long, and tighten them with self-tapping screws. A rubber pipe of suitable diameter will also work. If a piece of it is cut lengthwise, you get a flexible, tight-fitting clamp that is easy to install and remove manually if necessary.
The author advises making a 20x20 cm channel at the base of the greenhouse and pressing the film with earthen soil.
Such greenhouses have many advantages. PVC pipes can be purchased anywhere. This material does not rot or collapse in the open air for decades. The diameter of the pipes can be selected depending on the size of the greenhouse, and you can make the mounting clamps yourself. Otherwise, such a project provides complete freedom of creativity for a real gardener and lover of home farming. Happy harvest everyone!
