Geodesic Greenhouse Question and Answer Article

Posted on February 23, 2011 by admin

Geodesic Greenhouse FAQ

Some commonly asked questions about building a greenhouse dome, food security and other geodesic things.

Why a geodesic dome and not a frame type greenhouse?

I suggest a geo dome for several reasons:

Number 1: The dome shape is is the most efficient use of space and (to some more importantly) its very beautiful. Because a geodesic greenhouse dome gives the absolute maximum volume of space while using the very least amount of materials it is amazingly energy efficient AND cost effective space.

Number 2. Domes handle snow and wind loads better than any other shape of building. They are incredibly strong, self supporting and withstand earthquakes too! Think about radar domes down in the snow and ice of antarctica for a dome in a harsh climate.

Geodesic Dome at Minus Fifty Degrees!

Number 3. Domes of all sorts, but especially ones designed for growing have a very even heat cycle throughout the day and night. Nice slow changes of temperature and no odd corners for chills and drafts to develop, it all adds up to happy plants.

Can I really grow food in my geodesic dome greenhouse all year long?

Absolutely 100% Yes! Dome greenhouses have two main seasons: warm and cool. During the warm summer months you will be growing: cucumbers, pepper, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, etc.

Then during the cooler winter months you plant and harvest hardier, cool weather crops like: leeks, lettuce, peas, spinach, kale, swiss chard, brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts) and herbs. If the temperature does go down near freezing, you may notice that growth slows and but as soon as it warms up with solar or other heat, growth picks right back up. These unique features are specific to greenhouse domes and allow you garden any time you like and produce fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers every day of of the year!

Why should your greenhouse dome kit have a water tank in the back?

The water/fish tank is the heart of the dome. In cooler weather it soaks up the heat of the sun during the day and then releases it at night. Then when the weather is hotter in the summer the water tank acts as cooling, helping your dome to not overheat. You can use your tank as a water garden growing aquatic plants, or for growing fish (which makes a great source or organic fertilizer too).

How much food can I grow in a year in my Dome?

Everyone will be different, but in my experience most people end up with more food than they can eat at home and end up trading, giving or selling some. If you have a reasonable grasp of basic gardening and decent soil fertility, the figure that most people use is 2.5 pounds of finished food per square foot per year (this can be increased exponentially by using growing tubes and multi tier beds).

Based on the minimum calculation, a 350 sf (22ft diameter) dome will produce over 800 pounds of food per year. Considering the average north American consumes about 200 pounds of vegetables per year you can size appropriately.

Will my geodesic greenhouse dome ever freeze?

Maybe, possibly, potentially, it depends, probably not. Your dome might possibly go below freezing during extended, severe cold weather with low sun exposure. However by adding a small chicken coop with 6 hens you will probably never go below freezing (gives a whole new meaning to the idea of a “hot chick”!).

In the worst case scenario where you have had a few hours at or below freezing, plants will continue to grow, especially if you are planting with the seasons. Read the chapter in Kacper’s book on the amazing space age insulating, transparent material that scatters sun so plant don’t get “leggy” while keeping your dome toasty warm.

Is all this greenhouse dome stuff going to be a lot of work?

Most people find growing and harvesting their own food to not be work at all. More like Zen meditation with amazing food at the end. However if you are only doing it for the end result, then you might find that your main “work” is harvesting all of your wonderful produce, deciding what amazing meals to create and finding enough people to share it with!

Generally most greenhouse gardeners find that they invest around 4 hours per week in their dome. And as many happy “domer” will tell you, it’s not a chore! Because the geodesic greenhouse is such a rejuvenating, peaceful and relaxing place to be they actually save money, on therapy! The main “problem” most people find is staying away from it!

Remember the automatic non-motorized vents mean you never have to worry about overheating, while the solar water tank / fish pond means you never have to worry about turning on the heat if you are away for a day or so.

Do I need a building permit?

In many jurisdictions a growing dome is regarded as a temporary structure, as it does not have a foundation and can be easily disassembled. That is another advantage, if you do ever need to move you can take your dome with you! Be sure to double check with your local departments, officials, homeowners associations, etc. because its best to find out about permitting before you build a gaint dome.

Does my greenhouse dome need a concrete foundation?

No, because your dome is so light and self supporting it can sit on a gravel foundation. You will need to anchor it to the ground, which can be done in a number of easy and inexpensive ways.

What about pests and diseases in my garden?

Every greenhouse is different. And generally because the plants are getting ideal growing conditions they are in the best shape to fight off disease and pests. However because its a good place for plants it can also become a nice home for insects as well.

Use beneficial predatory insects and organic methods of biological pest control and good care and feeding of your dome garden and you should have no major problems. In the end keeping on top of things is the best weapon!

Happy greenhouse growing!

Posted in Geodesic Greenhouse FAQ | 6 Comments

How to Heat Your Geodesic Greenhouse – When Needed

Posted on February 21, 2011 by admin

Heat – The Missing Link to Amazing Geodesic Greenhouse Crops

So you have your very own geodesic greenhouse, maybe you bought a greenhouse kit or maybe you ordered the Biodome Revolution eBook and built a greenhouse in your back yard. No matter how you did it there will most likely be days when the sun hasn’t been shining, (unless you live in the southern United States in which case you can skip this post) your water tanks are cooling down and its looking like it might stay that way for a while.

Now as many gardeners know the secret weapon of greenhouse growing is heat. Right after light most plants love heat, especially on the roots. Not sauna like heat just enough to keep the metabolism working well. Say between 50-80 degrees. So when the sun isn’t out and things are starting to cool down what do you do?

Well if you have thought ahead and used “appropriate” technology you can keep your precious plants warm with a few sticks of wood a couple of times a day. How might you do this you wonder? With the amazingly clean burning Rocket Mass Heater!

Originally designed for cooking in developing nations but modified for heating in our colder climates this type of stove has many advantages over a normal wood stove and can be built with cheap or free materials by almost anyone with some basic skills.

Here are some of the benefits of heating with a rocket mass heater:

  1. Complete combustion. Because it burns very hot it leaves almost no smoke, creosote or ash behind
  2. Cheap to build. Many home builders have made these amazing stoves for free!
  3. Efficient. The inventor Ianto Evans of Oregon’s Cob Cottage Company went from using 4 cords of wood per winter to using .5 of a cord!
  4. Uses small fuel. Easier to deal with. Less cutting, stacking, etc.
  5. Uses free fuel. If you are in a suburban location troll the construction sites and back alleys and you will have all the small, dry scrap wood you can burn!
  6. Safe. Because of the unique design it can not overheat, have a chimney fire, blow up or generally ruin your day.
  7. Fun! It roars!

Drawbacks:

  1. You have to actually build it. (This is a plus for me because I like building things!)
  2. You have to feed it oftener than a regular wood stove. True but you have to run it for a shorter time so it all works out.
  3. Non standard. Because each stove is custom built there are some concerns however if you study and follow established design you will have no problems

The sketch above is a side view of a rocket mass heater with the exhaust going through a seed starting bed. The used hot water tank provides radiant heat to the air of the greenhouse and the duct heats first the bed and then even the water tank for storage.

Start it for an hour in the morning and once again before bed and your geodesic greenhouse will stay well above freezing.

Have fun! And check back here as I will be posting pictures of my rocket mass heater build soon.

Posted in Heating Your Geodesic Greenhouse | 6 Comments

Building Your Own Goedesic Greenhouse… Baby Steps!

Posted on February 19, 2011 by admin

Building Your Own Goedesic Greenhouse Test Dome

Before you go to the trouble to buy a great “how to” dome book or start building a giant geo dome like my friend Kacper I suggest you do a test build a test dome as a garden shed, meditation space or kids play dome.

So without doing any fancy calculations, cutting tons of struts or any other stuff here is a 3v geodesic dome you can build in a weekend with recycled plywood and a few things from your local lumber yard.

Lots of  people want to immediately build a geodesic greenhouse using triangular frames (this is what my friend did) they look cool but what can you use your test dome for except a jungle gym for your kids or as yard art. The other problem with strut type domes is when you use the 3v frequency (most dome kits use this as it is the easiest to build) you don’t end up with a flat base. So in order to actually use it you have to mess with strut lengths and angles, which makes can make the whole “build a small geodesic dome as a test” much more complicated.

After some digging around on the net I came up with a plan that should address these problems and still be easy, cheap and fast to build. In fact this type of geodesic dome has several other advantages too including:

  • Its so easy to make anyone can do it. Even a youngster (with help)
  • You can make a solid (panel), open (frame) or hybrid dome
  • It doesn’t have wild compound angles to cut
  • Has only two different pieces to cut/work with
  • Is flexible enough to sit flat on a foundation even though it is a 3v

Here is what you will need:

Materials:

  • 2×2’s
  • plywood
  • recycled hinges
  • deck screws (I love deck screws for building domes!)

Tools:

  • Skillsaw or chop saw
  • Drill gun or electric drill
  • Pencil
  • Hammer
  • Step ladder

Finally! How to build your own geodesic greenhouse dome (1/4 size test dome)

Use one of the many online dome calculators to work out the triangle size you need for the inside size of your 3v dome.

Note: Try and fit the triangle size to fit best on a standard 8×4′ sheet of plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) sheathing.

Because your dome will be a building a 3v dome you will only be making two different shaped triangle panels. You will need seventy five panels in all so do the math and see how much plywood you will need. Layout and cut all your panels.


Once you have cut your panels cut the appropriate number of 2×2″s to make screw to each edge. This will give something solid to screw the connecting hinges too and a place to put solid foam insulation in if you are in a colder climate.

Now that you have the panels constructed screw two hinges to each side of panel A then attach a panel B etc. etc. If none of this is making sense see my paper dome construction project lower down on the page.

Using the hinges join together six pentagons from the 30 B panels and then make 5 hexagon panels from the A panels, the remaining B panels are mated into half hexagons. Because of the use of hinges the five panels are able to deform a litttle to assume the concave shape required.

This article assumes you have built some small basic domes already and have basic construction skills. If not get the book it will save you a ton of time and heartache when building your geodesic greenhouse test dome!

Assemble the remaining pentagon and hexagon parts till the dome is complete, leaving one triangle panel unconnected so you can get inside unless you are leaving some panels open for windows. Also if you want windows make sure to make a few triangles without plywood so you can cover them with glass or UV resistant greenhouse dome plastic later.

Later your dome is up and secured to a pressure treated wood foundation, hinges are handy aren’t they! cover the dome with shingles, duroid roofing, fiberglass or what ever you want for a waterproof exterior.

So there you have it an easy, fast, durable dome garden shed or kids play dome you can build in a weekend for a few hundred bucks.

Have fun and remember if you get confused or frustrated come back and buy Kacper’s great book which lays it all out with color pictures and step by step tutorials!

Building Your Own Goedesic Greenhouse… Baby Steps!
Posted in Build Your Own Dome - Model | Leave a comment

Grow Veggies and Fruit in Your Geodesic Greenhouse

Posted on February 17, 2011 by admin

Growing Vegetables In Your Geodesic Greenhouses

Talk to anyone with a greenhouse I guarantee they will talk your ear off about how much fresh veggies they have grown. And they should because food grown in a dome greenhouse is healthier and tastes better than food grown outdoors. Why is this you might ask? Well it comes down to the fact that when you grow in a geodome greenhouse you can totally control humidity, temperature and water. Therefore when you use top quality plant nutrients, add a little TLC and presto! You get food of the finest quality and taste whether you are growing fruit or veggies in your greenhouse dome.

Because of the advances in materials and techniques available to the geo dome greenhouse farmer, you now have an amazing choice of vegetables that you can grow for fun or profit once you have built your solar heated greenhouse. Many seed producers have developed garden seeds that work very well in the dome greenhouse – this means you get the most veggies for your time and energy.

1. Growing Cucumbers in Your Dome Greenhouse

Ever since people started gardening indoors the cucumber has been a very popular choice. They are a great vegetable to start with because they are so easy to grow. Also they taste great, grow fast and produce like crazy. One trick to maximize production is to prune the vines to one main trunk once five or six main leaves appear. Then as the plants start growing train them to add support for the maturing cucumbers. Use a potassium rich fertilizer and lots of water and you will soon have more cukes than you know what to do with!

2. Everyone Loves Tomatoes

Mainly because they are so darned expensive, tomatoes are also a very popular vegetable to cultivate in your geodesic dome greenhouse. Popular varieties include cherry, beefsteak and Roma – but for overall ease of growing the best are the upright cordon varieties – as they allow more space for production.

Note: If you want to know the absolute best kept secret to growing amazing tomatoes check out my friend Kacper’s amazing Tomato Book!

Amazing Greenhouse Tomato Production

Use high potassium feeds and pay attention to watering and pest control and you will yield baskets and baskets of ripe juicy tomatoes. In fact there are varieties that have been specially created for the indoor greenhouse that produce higher yields then outdoor varieties by several times.

3. Use Your Dome Greenhouse to Start Early Crops

Your nice warm greenhouse makes the perfect place to sow seeds as soon as the light starts to come back in February. This provides an early yield of leafy veggie crops as well as creating tons of starts for outdoor gardening too.

Veggies – like lettuce, chives, arugula and herbs – are perfect for the geo greenhouse. As winter is ending, your young tender leaves are ready for harvesting – imagine fresh vegetables while everyone else is just starting to look at seed catalogues!

If you are adventurous or have a nice tall geodesic greenhouse you can even try growing fruit bearing trees and shrubs indoors. The extra heat and protection can stretch your growing season and result in abundant harvests of amazing fruits and veggies all through the winter (if you time your plantings properly).

So don’t wait! Build the greenhouse and get growing!



Posted in Geodesic Greenhouse Growing | 6 Comments