high tunnel plans

[Ricky Shaw]

The Mt. Rushmore of high tunnels.

[Cole_Robbie]

Yeah, I'd want something for aeration. A lot of things will work, like perlite, rice hulls, or peat moss.

[Cole_Robbie]

Also, treated lumber leeches out arsenate. It is corrosive to greenhouse plastic. I wouldn't trust it against panels, either. All you have to do is paint it white. The paint has to be water-based, latex or acrylic.

[Uncle Doss]

Looking very nice.

what bender did you use?

[PhilaGardener]

Raised beds? You might want to pull the soil back from the perimeter boarding so it lasts longer. Probably don't want plants growing directly against the plastic anyway. What a nice looking greenhouse!

[pecker88]

Originally Posted by Worth1

You might think about mixing some sharp sand in with it.
Looks great.

Worth

Good idea.

What about a few bales of peat?
Do you think the straight compost will burn plants, especially seedlings?

[PureHarvest]

I would be apprehensive to grow in straight compost, mostly because compost is not a standard media. It can vary greatly from source to source, so how would you know what you are growing in?

When I worked for my parent's garden center, we sold two types of bulk topsoil.
One was amended with 25% compost. The other was just screened topsoil.
Both products had their own chemistry to start out. The company published the most recent analysis on their website so you had an idea of what you were starting with.
We also sold their straight compost. I would have never told a customer to grow in the 100% compost because you could see the soluble salts precipitating on the edges of the pile after a rain followed by sun and dry days for a week.

If you go with your straight compost, you are rolling the dice without an analysis on it.

[pecker88]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

I would be apprehensive to grow in straight compost, mostly because compost is not a standard media. It can vary greatly from source to source, so how would you know what you are growing in?

When I worked for my parent's garden center, we sold two types of bulk topsoil.
One was amended with 25% compost. The other was just screened topsoil.
Both products had their own chemistry to start out. The company published the most recent analysis on their website so you had an idea of what you were starting with.
We also sold their straight compost. I would have never told a customer to grow in the 100% compost because you could see the soluble salts precipitating on the edges of the pile after a rain followed by sun and dry days for a week.

If you go with your straight compost, you are rolling the dice without an analysis on it.

Got the compost from the city public works dept. They sent it in for analysis, I have all the paperwork, I'll have to look. Here is the test results from last year: https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/pwor...pring-2015.pdf

[pecker88]

Originally Posted by Uncle Doss

Looking very nice.

what bender did you use?

johnny seeds gothic bender, 14 ft wide. The bender was designed for 1-3/8" 17-18 gauge pipe, but we used 1-5/8" 14 gauge.

We mounted the bender to a steel workbench, but used our own hardware to do so. The 1/4" bolts that shipped with the unit would have never worked. We then used 3" tie-down ratchet straps to secure the steel table to the back of a 300 hp 4-wheel drive tractor 3-point hitch.

To get the tube to bend, we had to use a 6 ft. 2' steel pipe cheater bar. The cheater bars that shipped with the unit kinked like toothpicks with 1 pull; no good.

Honestly, by the last bow, the bender was about done in. (I have a cheap bender if anyone wants it .

In short, the JS bender worked great, and made almost perfect bows, but you really had to be careful not to "corkscrew" the bow, making sure it was bent on the same plane. We marked every 18 inches, so each bow was slid through the bender at the same increments.

A LOT of work bending the bows; I saved about a $1K doing it, but it took a lot of time, and I could have never done it without my dad's help and work shop. Drill press, chop saws, steel benches, all the tools you can imagine, ect... Def. could not be accomplished in a standard residential garage.

[PureHarvest]

My quick read on that analysis would concern me regarding:
Calcium to Magnesium ratio is very high.
There is no boron (could be added).

The challenge is figuring out how the rest of the nutrients like NPK relate to what area and depth you are growing at/in.

[pecker88]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

My quick read on that analysis would concern me regarding:
Calcium to Magnesium ratio is very high.
There is no boron (could be added).

The challenge is figuring out how the rest of the nutrients like NPK relate to what area and depth you are growing at/in.

I have tons of seedlings; I'll transplant 1 into pure compost and see how it reacts.

I think my plan is to add a few bales of peat then mix and level each side. The walkway will be 2.5 ft. wide, RR ties will be stood on-end so they are 8" tall, just like the backboard 2x8.

[Cole_Robbie]

Bending by hand is a lot easier with the thinner chain link top rail.

[PureHarvest]

Originally Posted by pecker88

I have tons of seedlings; I'll transplant 1 into pure compost and see how it reacts.

I think my plan is to add a few bales of peat then mix and level each side. The walkway will be 2.5 ft. wide, RR ties will be stood on-end so they are 8" tall, just like the backboard 2x8.

What is challenging me is that their report is formatted like you would for figuring out the nutrient load of a fertilizer or manure that you are going to spread onto an existing field/soil. You would then look at the soil analysis for your field soil and figure out how much of the material to apply to get what you need.

But you are growing in this stuff, so it is hard to tell you what to do

[pecker88]

Originally Posted by PureHarvest

What is challenging me is that their report is formatted like you would for figuring out the nutrient load of a fertilizer or manure that you are going to spread onto an existing field/soil. You would then look at the soil analysis for your field soil and figure out how much of the material to apply to get what you need.

But you are growing in this stuff, so it is hard to tell you what to do

What about starting with 0 nutrients, like a bed of peat? This is essentially what I'm doing. Like I said, the clay under the raised beds is so hard packed and gumbo-like, there is no way I could till it. I would have to use a 4WD tractor and plow.

Ugh, if it ain't 1 thing its another; never simple.

[PureHarvest]

What is the total square footage of your beds?