Great Greenhouse
Submitted by Tomato in Oregon on Fri, 05/01/2009 - 8:36am
We have had our Solar Gem for nearly 20 years and it looks great. We use it year round - storing plants over the winter - having greens most of the year - and I am known as the tomato man here in Eugene. I have ripe tomatoes about 6-7 months of the year. Most of my neighbors now have Solar Gems, after there glass and plastic greenhouses failed or fell apart. Just wanted to say it is one of the best investments we have ever made.
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Tomato in Oregon Sorry I can
Tomato in Oregon
Sorry I can not help with the shade cloth. I do not use any during the summer. I do not think you need one with this type of greenhouse. Only plastic and glass ones need shade cloth. Solar Gem has no direct sunlight to burn your plants.
I have my early girl or beef eater tomatos planted directly in the ground inside the greenhouse. My cherry tomatoes I have in hanging baskets and pots. This year I am trying an upside down tomato inside the greenhouse. So far, it is doing well.
In reference to the shade
In reference to the shade cloth comments, I can only say that my dad never used a shade cloth on his solar gem greenhouse. He used it all year. He had the best garden on the block and grew so many vegetables and fruits that most of his neighbors never needed to go to a produce stand. He spent his entire day in the Solar Gem Greenhouse. My dad had kindney failure and survived on diaylsis but he lived gardening in the Solar Gem!
If you are sincerely looking for a home greenhouse, the Solar Gem is what you are looking for. You don't need the shade cloth, and you don't need expensive fans. But you absolutely need a lot of neighbors to share your produce!
Thanks Solar Gem for being the best!!!
Summer & Winter Climate Control
Nice to hear from someone who has had a solargem for nearly 20 years and that it is still in use. I just got mine a month ago and am still working on little details. I got the brick sidewalk done and the concrete front porch. Now I a working on obtaining some sort of shade covering for the hot summer days ahead.
Do you plant your tomatoes right in the ground in there, or are they in pots? I too hope to extend my tomato season this year. I'm thinking of putting at least a couple of cherry tomatoes right in the ground in the greenhouse.
This is my first time to shop for shade cloth. I see that there is an Alluminette material that is said to deflect the sun. I was thinking it may also deflect the heat down from the underside in the winter. I'm not sure about this, I may be better off getting a seperate insulating type blanket to throw over in the winter.
Other shade cloth options are the % of shade, ranging from 30% to 70%. I'm not sure what to get. Any one out there with experience with shade covering material, I would appreciate your comments, also if you know of good places to buy this material and any ideas on how to fasten it on the outside of the greenhouse?
tomataoes
I plant my tomatoes three different ways: in the ground, in big pots, and in topsy turvy hangers. all of these are in the greenhouse. i also plant a 30' row of tomatoes in the garden under plastic hoops. They all do well in the greenhouse. I would say that the tomatoes in the greenhouse do better than the ones i plant in the garden under hoops. I think it is because the ones in the greenhouse are watered better and sometimes i forget to let the hoops breath on hot days.