how do you mask your greenhouse for stealth yet let the light through?

[moonharvester]

I was thinking of that white lime wash paint and some white netting on the inside. I wonder if anyone tried bubble wraps on top, are they uv permeable? I dont want to loose much benefit of the glass and it seems the limewash already dims the light considerably

thx for the tips

[Brysee]

I'm not sure bubble wrap on top will help with stealth but you do see lots of white washed greenhouses mate so that's probably best

[moonharvester]

Just now, Brysee said:

I'm not sure bubble wrap on top will help with stealth but you do see lots of white washed greenhouses mate so that's probably best

someone also recommended shading cloth about 40% shading ability but its darker in color would probably attract lot of heat

[McHazy]

See plenty greenhouses up here wi the walls lined wi bubble wrap 

[Brysee]

Just now, McHazy said:

See plenty greenhouses up here wi the walls lined wi bubble wrap 

I stand corrected down here we have to take most of the glass out to cool it down

[MindSoup]

Lime wash, fluted plastic sheet instead of glass, polytunnel material anything you do will stoo a bit of light, but they'll still have plenty to bud properly if it gets a good amount of sun. 

[moonharvester]

22 hours ago, Brysee said:

I stand corrected down here we have to take most of the glass out to cool it down

you replaced glass for bubble wrap? how things look like from outside? and any overheating problem?

I was about to buy new glass structure.

Edited June 10, 2022 by moonharvester

[moonharvester]

22 hours ago, MindSoup said:

Lime wash, fluted plastic sheet instead of glass, polytunnel material anything you do will stoo a bit of light, but they'll still have plenty to bud properly if it gets a good amount of sun. 

should the limewash be applied from inside or outside? I applied it from inside since it was safer to clean the glass from inside. It let some light inside but also block some sun.

Im curious if the plastic acryllic sheets or polytunnel foil material would be better solution, also clear poly tunnel foil or milky one?

I would really welcome good amounts of light with little bit a stealth with it

[MindSoup]

Yeah you have to put it inside or it will just wash off in the rain, the downside to that being that you have to stop things touching the sides. Anything you do to add stealth will stop some light, but none of the things mentioned above would block too much.

 

One thing to keep in mind in greenhouses/tunnels is humidity. Without some sort of humidity control it will get way too high, especially in late flower, couple that with little to no air circulation and you've got a great recipe for bud rot. I usually recommend people who can't control humidity to finish their plants of outdoors, only bringing them in when it rains. 

[moonharvester]

Just now, MindSoup said:

Yeah you have to put it inside or it will just wash off in the rain, the downside to that being that you have to stop things touching the sides. Anything you do to add stealth will stop some light, but none of the things mentioned above would block too much.

 

One thing to keep in mind in greenhouses/tunnels is humidity. Without some sort of humidity control it will get way too high, especially in late flower, couple that with little to no air circulation and you've got a great recipe for bud rot. I usually recommend people who can't control humidity to finish their plants of outdoors, only bringing them in when it rains. 

What do you mean by stopping touching the sides? I have only experience with limewash + white builder netting.

The advantage to glass house would be vents that can be opened,but poly house with some netting as side panels would maybe better choice.

For humidity control couple of fans and vents opened would be enough or is dehumidifier a must?

P.S Now you got me bamboozled mate I can get old ass glasshouse  for 100-200 quid, not sure how it would compare as investment as poly tunnel structure, but I can get rebarb, Im not sure what type of plastic pipe is used for the hoops, but hopefully by grace of god I will find that too, along with some wood. On the other hand with glass house there is only assembly needed.

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by moonharvester

[MindSoup]

If plants and stuff touch the side the lime wash will get all over them. 

 

Ideally yes you want a dehumidifier and a big extractor fan with a Carbon Filter and some circulation fans, think of it as a big clear grow tent. If you keep the greenhouse/tunnel relatively empty and have a lot of ventilation then you might just get away with it, but put a Bluetooth hygrometer in there and keep a very close eye.

 

TBH there's so many strains that will do perfectly well outdoors that making a greenhouse a suitable environment might not be worth the hassle, It's probably easier to get a successful harvest growing completely outdoors. What's your latitude?  

Edited June 10, 2022 by MindSoup

[moonharvester]

2 hours ago, MindSoup said:

If plants and stuff touch the side the lime wash will get all over them. 

 

Ideally yes you want a dehumidifier and a big extractor fan with a Carbon Filter and some circulation fans, think of it as a big clear grow tent. If you keep the greenhouse/tunnel relatively empty and have a lot of ventilation then you might just get away with it, but put a Bluetooth hygrometer in there and keep a very close eye.

 

TBH there's so many strains that will do perfectly well outdoors that making a greenhouse a suitable environment might not be worth the hassle, It's probably easier to get a successful harvest growing completely outdoors. What's your latitude?  

they are not there yet Im afraid I hope I did not messed up entirely and will get some harvest, I sprinkled some epsom salt on the top of build a soil type mix should I scrape it off before watering and only use it as watering?

I do not want to kill the microbiology in the soil, I have put much quid in those amendments

 I only wanted to use the structure for stealth and smell

thank you for helping me out mate and north

[MindSoup]

Sprinkled epsom salts on the surface??? That's a strange one . Did they show signs of deficiency? If you're worried about smell/stealth then I would advise growing somewhere else, indoors is actually a lot more secure than the garden for the most part, or out in wild geurilla grow style.

[Gimps]

Bubble wrap.

Can’t see through it. In an ideal world, you’ll put it on either early in the year, or late...frost protection if anyone asks.

[Black Venus]

Everyone's situation is different, but this is what works for me...

 

I grow honeysuckle and ivy up the outside of my greenhouse, on the two sides which are potentially overlooked. I let it grow all the way up the side and just a little way up the roof panels, which effectively screens off the line of vision from next door's garden (if the nosey bastard sticks his head up over the fence as he's prone to do) while allowing plenty of direct sun still to reach the plants from above through the roof panels. It does block some sun, obviously – especially at times of the year when the sun isn't getting as high in the sky. But I manage to produce good plants in there with the available sunlight. It's a compromise.

 

One of the advantages of the honeysuckle/ivy is that it makes the greenhouse look a bit scruffy and neglected, which tends to make people take less notice of it. My garden is quite scruffy and untidy anyway, so it just looks like a neglected mess which nobody would bother looking at, and that's part of the stealth strategy for me.

 

Incidentally I don't use any fans or humidifiers. With neighbours as nosey as mine, it would just draw too much attention. I just keep the door and windows/vents open to create as much through-draught as possible, and generally the rot in the greenhouse is no worse than in the outdoor plants – though it varies from year to year depending on the weather. A bit of rot/mould is a fact of life for all kinds of outdoor grow, but IME the worst rotters are the varieties with really fat, dense, sticky buds, as the moisture gets trapped deep inside the buds and can't evaporate. So choosing strains which don't have excessively dense buds is half the battle. Anyway, I'm going a bit off topic here!