Marni's Current Cool Greenhouse

This is my cool greenhouse that is soon to be replaced. And the new one will definitely have a taller roof with more slope and the misting tube under a bench. It has a minimum night temperature of 50°F and a maximum of 75°F except on the very hottest days when it can go to 85°F. It was built in 2 parts. The first was a 10 x 12' section attached to my workshop to the north and a small shed to the south. Then a 9' x 17' extension was added on to form an L shape. It's a bit hard to get the sense in images, but this will give you an idea. The first four images are of the 10 x 12 section with the last of these images looking from the door of my workshop to the far corner of the L. The rest of this section extends around the corner to the right and those are shown in the next thread.

 

Here are a few shots of the addition.

 

It is an ultra-sonic mister. I got one last September for the intermediate house and was so happy with it I got another one for the cold house. The one in the intermediate house puts out a lot more because it as twice the generation capacity. The mist doesn't wet anything, just keeps the humidity constant. I love it.

 

Sorry, I missed this earlier. I think you are asking about the zootrophion. I don't remember the species name right now. Nice plant, really have to hunt if you want to see a flower.

 

Because of the building blocking a lot of the south light on part of the greenhouse I put up the reflective Mylar sheets to bounce back whatever light I can. The pipe on the ceiling delivers the mist only. I have a hose in the greenhouse and water all of the plants by hand.

 

It takes about 1 hour to water everything in the collection. Most days I average 15 to 25 minutes on misting/watering, less in the winter and more in the summer. Some days the only time I have to spend in the greenhouse is when I am watering. Because my collection is varied and I have hanging plants and plants on rings, the only way I can insure that each plant gets watered is to do it by hand. And even at that, some don't get watered. Restrepias are notorious for diverting water away from themselves and I still find ones that have been missed one time to many.

 

It is the shape of the leaves that directs the water away from the base of the plant. I think the masdevallia you're looking at is M. ova-avis or the brids's egg masdevallia.