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Last year I started an allotment and felt the need to build a green house to enjoy the delights of tomatoes and cucumbers. Having built a 30 foot diameter dome before out of steel tubing I thought that there was a good possibility I could make a smaller dome using some scrap wood I had left over from taking apart some old pallets.
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Signing UpStep 1Selecting the dimensions
Fortunately the Desert domes http://www.desertdomes.com/ site has a handy calculator to work out the size and type for any size of dome you need.
I elected to make a 9 foot wide 3 V dome this would stand on a 3 foot high sub frame to give the necessary height I needed.
Desert domes gave me the necessary dimensions for the 3 different length struts.
A=3.13 feet
B=3.63 feet
C=3.7 feet
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How well does the cling film stand up to the elements and the UV sunlight? Ah well at least it will be easy to replace if it does tear.
Its a nice idea to use cling film as you can remove it at the end of the season before the rough weather hits and carries the dome of to Oz, and in spring time you can re wrap and not need to clean a load of glass or perspex panes which is a total pain to do.
Does the cling film have any UV protection, the reason i ask is a friend used that hollow perspex stuff for a green house and it was not as good a success as would be expected, I noticed that my reactions lens did not darken as much as normal and a few areas of expanding foam did not turn brown as they normally do in direct sunlight, I think that the perspex was blocking out to much UV light.
a) your able - ask your Doc
B) a yoga teacher will take you on with a bad back. - should with doc permission.
It's not all about putting your feet behind your head!!! Mostly they help by getting your posture and "core" muscles in the right place and condition.
I have been watching my posture since seeing a physio a few months ago who pointed out narrowing of the disk at the point where the nerve goes out to the arms and I have been very careful not to aggravate things, I have cut out all heavy lifting in favor of trolleys, I also had to cut out a few people who had the ability to aggravate the condition too.
I recently had to help a friend move house in a hurry and did it knowing I would suffer, but I managed to lock up so bad that the doctor finally gave me a muscle relaxant and with a bit of help from a Homemedics deep muscle massager I have got the thing to a manageable level, I even am starting to see some of the muscle mass I lost in my left arm starting to build again and the cold just don't seem to hit me as hard as before.
So at the moment with ice on the ground I'm actually in a reasonable good order with a little gleam of hope some recovery come the better weather, the secret is not to over do things but its hard to do when you have a s**t load of work that needs doing and has stacked up because I'm not fit to do them.
I even have hope that once we have the winter over us that I may actually start to become much more active and maybe even reach the goal of trying to find some kind of part time work.
The new meds are going good at the moment and I have managed to get out in the shed i weather i would have not ventured beyond the front door in so that is a moral booster, I'm looking forward to the oncoming spring as I will get out more
As for the growing no problem tomatoes & cucumbers grew well in there.
I may make another to go over the raised beds I have in the garden. If for no other reason then it attracted a lot of interest when I was building it.
If you have a bad back raised beds and no dig gardening is for you.
Deep composting to avoid digging - talk to your local council parks division they generate more compost than they know what to do with and may be willing to share a lorry load for the asking.
No replacement for a) the cost of home grown and the taste of really fresh produce.
I will also experiment to see if I can make them snail and slug proof I have a sound theory that I'm going to give a go to see if it works.
I have never been a gardener but I've heard it can become an addiction once started but can be very therapeutic so for that alone I'll give it a shot.
grow things that are quick - Salad stuff if you like that, Tomatoes give a good return for little more than watering, You will be surprised how many things can be grown in tubs and grow bags. Remember that the grow bag has little nutrient in it after the first 4 or 5 weeks and will need some help with fertilizer, natural or chemical.
We have never grown potatoes before, I guess that after seeing a farmer rent my land and grow 9 acres of spuds that a few little drill looks kind of on the lame side of things. The land was used for turnips for a number of years (that would have made you tired watching the people working the fields then) but it has been grazed for the last number of years.
I have looked at getting a dome shrink wrapped. Although the film is opaque it lets through a considerable amount of light and there have been efforts to use it on poly tunnels.
Cost is of course an issue hence the cling film. I did look at cutting 2 ltr PET bottles up into window panes but unfortunately this would have require smaller triangles and I didn't have enough wood freely available at the time. - back to cling film.
How is the Picaxe world??
I don't need one this year, but next year! - that's another story.
Thank you for this instructable! Very very cool. I'm also going to forward it to my SIL, who may need another greenhouse in the near future. This would be right up her alley.
L
The frame does not need to be made from aluminium steel tube is cheaper and a coat of paint stops rust. These things are not as they are long term dwellings and lightness is irrelevent as you have to build on site in situ anyway with something that big.
HOWEVER you can use as much of the dome as you like so by starting from a higher ring you get a lower dome you just need to work out how wide you need to enter in the calculator to get the dome width you need.
IF you looking at a more permanent structure I would strongly recommend you use 19mm (3/4 inch) steel tubing and flatten the ends and bolt together (see desert domes site) - It's not as costly as you might think.
I built a 30 foot diameter dome out of this tube and it was strong enough for me to climb over - I weigh 200 pounds.
For a more permanent cover approach a company who shrink wrap boats. they can wrap the structure in a drum tight skin that will last a long time and they heat seal it all together.
This is a UK based example.
Domes are used for all sorts of coverings and this example below is for an event dome from a UK company Gala tents cost is about $12000 BUt you could build for a fraction of that cost.
Good idea though.
I am planing to produce ball pit for preschools
thnks
koray
his spans were rough cut lumber furring strips, and his junctions were allthread and washers and nuts.
the ones that lasted he covered in thin aluminum triangles (they were scrap aluminum from old newspaper printing plates)
i know of two that are still operational.
HOWEVER you can use as much of the dome as you like so by starting from a higher ring you get a lower dome you just need to work out how wide you need to enter in the calculator to get the dome width you need.
IF you looking at a more permanent structure I would strongly recommend you use 19mm (3/4 inch) steel tubing and flatten the ends and bolt together (see desert domes site) - It's not as costly as you might think.
I built a 30 foot diameter dome out of this tube and it was strong enough for me to climb over - I weigh 200 pounds.
For a more permanent cover approach a company who shrink wrap boats. they can wrap the structure in a drum tight skin that will last a long time and they heat seal it all together.
This is a UK based example.
Domes are used for all sorts of coverings and this example below is for an event dome from a UK company Gala tents cost is about $12000 BUt you could build for a fraction of that cost.
If have covered and make a solar water heater will be able to use most of year as Tn not that cold and figured the heated water would keep total enclosed space warm.
I made a domed cover of pvc, but while I was gone cover collected rain water so whole thing collapsed into pool (husband didn't like pool so didn't go flip cover to remove rain water).
Think to start might need 4 or 5 foot base and go from there, but don't want center that tall or weak...rain and snow.
cararta
HOWEVER you can use as much of the dome as you like so by starting from a higher ring you get a lower dome you just need to work out how wide you need to enter in the calculator to get the dome width you need.
IF you looking at a more permanent structure I would strongly recommend you use 19mm (3/4 inch) steel tubing and flatten the ends and bolt together (see desert domes site) - It's not as costly as you might think.
I built a 30 foot diameter dome out of this tube and it was strong enough for me to climb over - I weigh 200 pounds.
For a more permanent cover approach a company who shrink wrap boats. they can wrap the structure in a drum tight skin that will last a long time and they heat seal it all together.
This is a UK based example.
Domes are used for all sorts of coverings and this example below is for an event dome from a UK company Gala tents cost is about $12000 BUt you could build for a fraction of that cost.
The other is to drill a hole in the appropriate place and put a headless screw or nail in the end of the strut so it goes through the hole.
According to the number of joints they are hexagons (6 sides) or pentagons (5 sides)
The bottom rather than have 4 way joint is a paddle shaped structure so the bottom ring could be connected to the stakes that were driven into the ground to hold it down.