Module 3: Greenhouse Goals

Tuesday 8/9 – 5:30-7:00pm – Virtual Meeting

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Goal Setting

Each participant take 5 minutes to write down your Greenhouse Goals.

Create a new document on your computer or start on a fresh sheet of paper.

You can use these questions as a guide:

1. What is your end goal when it comes to greenhouses? Start by writing ONE SENTENCE to summarize your long-term goals (5-10 years). Don’t think, just write! Don’t take longer than 15 seconds.
2. What is the first major thing you need to accomplish? This is your first major short-term goal (2-12 weeks). 
3. How much time are you currently willing and able to devote to accomplishing this goal? How many hours each day / each week?
4. What is your budget? How much money do you have to spend towards this first short-term goal?
5. What are the steps to accomplishing this goal?
   1. .
   2. .
   3. .
   4. .
6. What is the next major thing you will need to accomplish after completing your first short-term goal?

Workshop

• Cohort will workshop a participant’s goals, and talk through the steps of what it takes to accomplish. 
  • Example 1): Mark has a greenhouse structure already erected (see photos) in HPP. Base soil is next to nothing, so Mark brought in a mix of mac nut compost and Pepeekeo topsoil and made raised beds. Crops failed, with plants experiencing high disease and pest rates, whitefly especially notable.
  • What is the GOAL?
    • What are the steps to accomplishing the goal?

• Example 2.) Sandee has  the parts for a Cattle Panel Greenhouse, but needs to level clear and level the area before assembling. 
  • What is the GOAL?
    • What are the steps to accomplishing the goal?

Cattle Panel Videos:

• • • • • Cattle Panel Greenhouse over existing raised beds: https://youtu.be/JVXzP646qV0
        • Cattle Panel Greenhouse customized to preferred length: https://youtu.be/BO9j9Tow_oQ
        • Cattle Panel Greenhouse build by one person: https://youtu.be/3rQZiUuQ0rg
        • Cattle Panel Greenhouse using repurposed materials: https://youtu.be/ED7E5z09-ZM

Resources

• Kratky’s Article on “Rain Shelters.”
  • “Passive rainshelter cooling issues include structure size and height, air exchange, roof and side vents, screen mesh, orientation according to wind direction, shading, irrigation type, relative humidity and transpiring crop surface.”
  • “Insect and disease control strategies include growing the same crop of the same age in an individual rainshelter, decreasing the time that a crop is in the rainshelter and decreasing the planting density.
  • “A unique problem solved by rainshelters in Hawaii was caused by an active volcano which contributed to acidic and pollutant-containing rainfall such that no marketable tomato yield was produced from unprotected plants, but those under a polyethylene-covered rainshelter grew normally and produced 5 kg/plant of marketable fruit.”
  • “Rainshelters may be home-made or numerous styles may be obtained from commercial vendors.”
    • “Rigid coverings such as fiberglass and polycarbonate are more expensive and durable than uv stabilized polyethylene films which are commonly used.”
    • “In the case of films, it is important to use only uv stabilized films specifically manufactured for greenhouses and rainshelters as compared to construction grade polyethylene which will fail within 6 months of exposure to sunlight.”
    • “There are a variety of commercially available devices which attach the polyethylene to the rainshelter including plastic clips, metal extrusions and ‘wiggle wire’ inserted into a metal channel.”
  • “Polyethylene film should be applied to rainshelters on a sunny day, because the heat causes it to stretch and then shrink somewhat when it cools, thus causing a nice tight cover.”
  • “There may be poor pollination in rainshelters with enclosed screens because many plants rely on insects or air movement for pollination. This may be remedied in the case of cucumbers by choosing parthenocarpic varieties (fruits which set without pollination) or by vibrating tomato flower clusters or shaking the plant or trellis wires. In a moist climate, growers usually wait to pollinate plants until the humidity drops (usually after 10 AM), because this facilitates the shedding of pollen.”

• Best spot for greenhouse tarps, shade cloth, especially custom sizes?

Rudy’s Shade, Inc

623 Kealakai St, Hilo, HI 96720

808-959-4295

• What is Wiggle Wire?
  • You can buy on Amazon:
    • Video
    • $61 for 66’ of track and wire w/ bonus gloves
  • Recommend self-tapping screws for attaching track to frames or even emt pipe

Three Styles of Greenhouse (see photo):

1. Gutter-Connected
2. Free-Standing
3. Single Gable
4. Lean-To

Goal Setting Part 2

• Each participant takes 5 minutes to revisit your Greenhouse Goals.
• What are the major steps you will need to take between your first short-term goals, and your 5-year long-term goal? This is your roadmap, or maybe let’s call it your greenmap…