A greenhouse for the forest garden nursery

How to select a greenhouse?
We have the following requirements for a greenhouse:
- large enough for approx. 300 plants
- very energy efficient heating
- low cost per plant
- very fast to build (the winter is near)

I selected a 12m long Filclair ‘Nordiclair 800′ gothic arched polytunnel greenhouse.
This polytunnel greenhouse fulfils all the needs we have.
It’s 8m wide and 4m high. So we have 100m² for our plants, the heater and the water buffer storage.
It has a screw auger fastening system and is very quick to set up like to pitch a tent. Only 2 days for complete building.
The good thermal insulation with this type of polytunnel is made with a double-foil with a lot of air between the layers.

I originally wanted the new highly transparent and UV penetrable ETFE foil for the polytunnel.
But neither the polytunnel manufacturer nor the dealer wanted to sell ETFE foil to us (with warranty).
They said the ETFE foil is difficult to handle and it’s not yet ripe for productive use.
So we used the 5 season polyethylene foil with a light penetration rate of 80%.

The fully automatic gravity-operated water system is installed (later more about that topic).
The temperature-controlled heating is installed.
The fully automatic ventilation system isn’t ready now.

Anchor anchorage system

The contractor on the ladder

The foil tubes. There is a rope in the foil tube to spread the layers and put air in between them.

Nearly ready

Greenhouse ground

Moved in

It’s slowly filling up with plants

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