Geodetic greenhouse (low cost)

Step 6 Success!

Was the project successful - Yes - it worked well for the whole year growing many pounds of tomatoes and Cucumbers for us. The cost was minimal - about £14  and it took about a weekend to build.

The covering proved quite substantial although I guess your probably going to need to replace it every year - this isn't a big cost or issue as it only takes about 1/2 an hour to put a new layer on. The dome withstood storms, hail stones and high winds with no problems at all.

I used the wooden frame as a support for the strings that held up by large tomato and cucumber plants - this was perhaps a little ill advised as the weight of the vegetables towards the end of the season started to pull the structure inwards.  I would advise  anyone doing this to use separate support canes for your plants rather than the green house structure.

OR

Make the struts at least 1.25 or 1.5 inches (30 - 38mm)  square and glue and screw the support plates on and then they will take the weight.

I have built much bigger domes - up to 30 feet wide using 19mm steel tube flattened at the end and joined with nuts and bolts. Such a structure is easily strong enough to climb over. At that size a more permanent covering such as heavy gauge polythene would be better.

Domes are a very efficient use of materials and even a large 30 foot diameter dome can be built in the UK for less than £200 - covering with polythene  it will cost in the region of another £200.

Comments

[rwlh1950]

Very imaginative, I particularly like the way you used bike inner tube as a jointing method. And clingfilm. Wonderful stuff

[rickharris]

Thanks