The Tropical Fruit Forum

Two very good ideas, Millet, thank you.   My kit comes with two circulator fans, but I agree a ceiling fan would be better for heat distribution.   I'd like to do both.   I have a lot of vertical space to work with so ceiling fans should fit just fine.   And surfactant on the walls is something I'd never thought of.

One thing I'm wondering about now is that the kit is configured so that the front vents and rear vent-fans are mounted about mid-height, which seems inefficient compared to a higher mount.   However, because the front vents are relatively huge (3ft across?)  there isn't much room to move them up before hitting the roofline.  The vent-fans are only ~2ft so I may be able to move them around, but could require moving the supporting frame a bit which will take time that I don't have right now.  How important is it that the fans/vents are placed high in the structure vs mid-level?

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about pollination.   I'm leaning towards letting insects come and go, maybe just leaving front doors wide open in the daytime if they can't figure the vent slots out. 

One more thing... since I started building I'd completely forgotten that I originally intended to insulate the north wall.  However, beause the greenhouse is at a bit of an angle, the north wall  *might* be letting a significant amount of morning sun in during the summer months.  I doubt its that much, though.  Beacuse I dont have extra insulation on hand at the moment I am thinking I will leave it glazed for now and insulate it next winter if it doen't seem to provide meaningful light.

Mark, this kit comes with 6mm dual-layer polycarbonate.  I asked if they could do 8mm but was told it won't flex enough at the eaves.  It has been somewhat of a pain to install because if a panel isn't installed perfectly straight there is no way to adjust it - it doesn't flex sideways..  I had to shave an inch or two from the sides of some panels as I installed them to prevent overlap.  I am starting to see the attraction to polyethylene sheeting.

With valencia in the name... isn't there already a valencia-type blood orange - Smith Red?    I read about it a while back on our forum here:  http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=13814.0

Is Ruby Valencia a "juice orange" with the double juice production gene?   Or just confusingly named? 

Thanks for the links!

I have very hard water also, and am thinking same thing.... rainwater or RO system.

I oriented my greenhouse to align with my house and driveway for appearance reasons.  Here's a diagram:

I will likely grow some other tropical fruits also.   I'm not really sure how many trees I will have because it depends how large they grow.   I am thinking of having maybe a dozen larger trees and some smaller containerized ones around the edges or hanging from the ceiling.  Right now I have about forty containerized fruit trees which won't all fit as they grow.   I am planning to pick my favorite of each fresh-eating type and get rid of the rest, and keep small lemon, lime, etc. for cooking.   I have so many trees because most of the fruit I can't obtain any other way, so I have no way to try it than growing it myself.   A lot of varieties are clearly inferior to others, so not much reason to keep both.   

Mark, what soil do you use in the containers?  Do you ever change it or is it permanent? 

This reminds me... remember the article a ways back I posted about research in Spain where a citrus virus was hijacked to force maturity onto seedlings so they start flowering immediately?   I emailed the researchers but sadly never got a response.   I don't speak Spanish so its hard for me to pursue further.  I'll have to keep checking in on their work. 

Framing is nearly done. 

Millet, that is encouraging.  Perhaps the easy way is the right way to go here.  That would be a nice change of pace for me. 

As my greenhouse construction progresses I'm starting to think about soil.   I intend to plant trees directly into the ground inside my greenhouse.  My soil is clay but not too hard - the topsoil crumbles under hand pressure.  The dirt on my greenhouse floor is loose right now because it is recently excavated from the foundation trench.   I have an opportunity now to amend it, and/or shape it to affect drainage.   Any suggestions? 

• Doing nothing at all may be a viable option.  The clay drains poorly, but as I will have full control over how much water goes inside, I'm not sure if this is a real concern or not.   
• Mix in a large amount of mulch or some other organic matter and roto-till it in?  The greenhouse is 18'x32' so it would take ~10cu yds to fill 6in deep. 
• Mix in a large amount of perlite or sand to improve drainage?  But it would still be clay underneath so unless I shaped it to drain to the edges I don't see it making a difference other than perhaps improving root penetration.   Also I read that adding sand to clay is a bad idea unless you add a massive amount of sand. 
• Just add mulch on top, and renew every year or two and let it works its way down over time. 
• Create mounds or rows and plant trees there, perhaps with amended soil or 4x4 wood boxes to create "raised beds" that drain to the sides

Anyone know any mail order nurseries that carry Xie Shan? Or does anyone have any seeds they could send me?

Harris Citrus used to, thats where I got mine, but it looks like they don't currently carry it.  I've never seen another source for mail order. 

That reminds me, I need to check on my Xie Shan, wonder if it has fruit.

EDIT - it isn't doing so well.  It is is about the same size as when I bought it last year.  Cotton cushion scale hit it pretty hard and it had some dieback.  I need to get a systemic pesticide to reset my scale problem.

...  What brand? ...

Mark

This is a Conley's "Hobby House".  Given the date on the instructional video they've been making it since 1999.  So far everything is going together nicely.  If it wasn't for the huge effort to do the foundation I think it would have been a quick project.

I stucco'ed the outside of the foam.  I'll likely do another coat in the future, but its enough to protect the foam from scratches and dings. 


Set up a frost-proof spicket.  In theory the greenhouse will never freeze but i'd rather take this extra step just in case.  Frost line is 3ft deep here, I had to hand dig out a foot of dirt after rain collapsed the trench in somewhat.




My brother and I assembled the structure legs and attached all the purlin fittings.  I had to chisel-level the concrete around the anchor bolts a bit where it was rough.  I think we are ready to actually start putting the frame up.

Does this have another name?  Never heard of it and I thought I'd seen all the blood oranges/mandarins.