We just ordered a Rion 8X16' greenhouse and don't care to put a gravel floor in it. We will use the weed-cloth but what would be best to cover that with? Bark chips are too hard to walk on. What about shredded bark? It sure looks nice in the adds. What are the pros and cons of shredded bark? Ants? Mold? What are you people using?

I eagerly await your replies.

What do you grow in your greenhouse? I'm into orchids, geraniums, cactus and succulents.

As for cost, the clay pavers were somewhat pricey...I think it was about $4 a square foot, but I splurged because I wanted something permanent and easy to maintain. However, Home Depot carries some nice concrete pavers (in red or gray) that are 8" X 16" and go for $0.79 apiece, which works out to about $1 a square foot. I used some of them to finish off the top of my foundation and they look good. They would be easy to lay on a sand bed...and faster than the small size pavers I laid. I think that's about as good as you'll get price-wise for a solid, easy to maintain floor.

We still have to budget for the shelving. We'll make the shelving as deep as the average flat. That how we were able to grow so many seedings in the 6X8 HFGH. The expenses are running a little higher than we originally thought they would, so we're trying to find a floor that is inexpensive and that will work. We both like the looks of gravel and shredded bark. My concern was mold or ants invading the bark.

Those who have cautioned against using bark are correct. It will rot, grow mold and fungus and not only harm your plants, but stink.

If you are on a tight budget but have the energy to put in some sweat work, dig out the interior base of your GH at least a foot deep and lay down gravel to about 4 inches below what will be the floor surface.

With an 8 ft. wide GH, you will presumably have only a single, center aisle? If so, see if you can stretch your budget to a pair of 16 ft. treated 2 X 4's, to attach to the base at each end, to frame the aisle that you would fill in with concrete patio blocks on sand.

That would give you dry, easy to keep clean and comfortable to walk on footing where you need it, good drainage, and you can later fill in the remainder with more blocks on sand, if that appeals to you. Or, fill the in the remaining space under the benches with more gravel.

We've pretty much decided to floor the new GH with the ground cloth and several inches of shredded bark. That's about all we can afford right now.

I had a problem with too little humidity in the HFGH this past winter. No amount of spraying and wetting down helped for long. It stayed around 20% all winter. The geraniums and cacti thrived. Even the ferns I kept over, set on the cool west wall floor did fine. The orchids were in the house in the sunroom which keeps a humidity of around 50 to 60%. There was no room for a humidifier in the small HFGH. It was wall to wall plants. I may turn the small GH over to just my cacti, succulents and geraniums once the new GH is up and running. Geraniums do well with the low humidity.

Every time I follow a link from here I lose this website. Is there a way to get around this?

I was afraid the shredded bark may be a problem with molds, insects and decay. I also thought it not only looked nice but smelled nice, was soft to walk on, wasn't expensive, drained well but would hold some humidity, the lack of which has been a problem with the small GH.

Rose

Another negative for using bark is that it attracts burrowing critters. Lay it down inside a GH, and every small creature seeking a warm nest will try to dig under your base to get to it.

In fact, and I hope you and other posters who have heard it from me before won't mind- I'll repeat my mantra on the subject of mice (and their natural predators, snakes) here.......

Whatever other cost cutting you need to do when erecting any structure set only on a timber or stone frame base, from GH to storage shed, if you want to avoid any diggers ever getting in, and having their slithering predators following them through the same little tunnels, lay out a barrier against them BEFORE you secure your base. The small additional cost for 2 ft. wide, 1/2" mesh hardware cloth will be well worth it for what won't be be destroyed later.

Before you secure your base, slide the hardware cloth under it all around, leaving no gaps. The remaining 18 or so inches out on the ground will prevent any mice from burrowing in under the base. Use large U shaped wire stakes to hold it down snugly all along the outside edges: Very important, as the object is to prevent them from getting under the wire.

Later, when you have recovered from your initial cost shocks, you can fancy up the GH exterior with additional timbers or stones laid on the outside edges of the wire, to use as a planting bed, as gardener did, or fill it in with nice looking river stone; whatever appeals to your esthetic senses. (You have lots of them, or your wouldn't be growing decorative plants)

Whatever decision you make regarding the floor in your new GH, just keep in mind that the last thing you will ever want will be the need to remove it from the base and retrofit beneath it.

So your spending the time and effort to try to get your base right- NOW- before you even unpack the GH, is a VERY wise move.

Next is what the heck we're going to use for shelving. We used the white plastic covered closet stuff in the small GH but it's not really wide enough. I want the shelves wider than that. I don't want any wasted space with an unnecessarily wide center isle in the Rion.

All suggestions are welcome.

I'll upload some pics of the HFGH tonight.

Yes, the 8 ft. width does present some issues re usable space. It also depends on your reach, and what you plan to grow. If you are able to stick with plants that would fit into a standard flat sized flat or tray, no shelf needs to be deeper than the 11 inch width of a flat, say 12 inches, to keep it standard width in shelving.

Then, if you can live with narrow aisles, you could use 12" deep wire closet shelves on the walls, and set a line of 24" deep plastic shelf storage units down the center, to hold double rows of flats.

That would leave you with 2- 2 ft. wide aisles. Not very wide, but wide enough to walk in, and would near double your space for flats.

Again, it all depends on your reach and agility to stretch, because if planting area is your most important issue, and if you think on it, you aren't really going to be hauling big wheelbarrows into an 8 X 16 ft. GH, you could buy or fabricate deep plant tables to use against the walls, and leave an asile just wide enough to be usable, but not waste an inch of floor space.

If I were trying to maximize plant space in an 8 X 16, I think I would go with 12 deep, waist high shelves in a U shape, along the side and back walls, with a center table adjoining the back in the center, extending toward the door, stopping about 3 ft away from it, like a 3 pronged fork, with a shortened center tine.

But while that would suit my shorter, elderly body and arthritic arms, it might not, for someone larger and more agile.

I started out with shelving in the U- shape, (across the back side too), but found I could make better use without it for now and removed it. The back shelving is a wire stand that fits just perfectly within my other shelves. That way I can use it for more plants of a potting bench, if I decide to.

The shelves are 2' front to back leaving me with a 4' walk way. That I do need for my bigger plants that sit on the flooring, so this set up accommodates me for my own personal uses.

Just thought this might give you some ideas of your own.

Rose

As far as watering, when I do water, I water to soak all anyway & no, not enough water goes onto lower shelves to hurt a thing. If I have things that don't need as much watering as the rest, they are on the top shelves anyway.

I have no use in putting "anything" on top shelf to keep things watered less. If I did that then yes, I would have a major problem with having to much shade to make lower shelves of any usable value.

I think it all just depends on everyone's own individual green house and just what they grow as far as what is useful and what is not.

My shelves may look like a problem for some, but isn't for me at all. I wouldn't change it if I were growing much of anything else either, as they seem to serve their purpose well enough.

Then you get pooling water, then fungal problems, mossies etc.

I THINK I HAVE A GREAT SETUP......NO EXPENSE FOR A FLOOR. MY DRIVEWAY IS INCREDIBLY LONG AND I KEEP MY GREENHOUSE AT THE VERY END. THE BLACKTOP HELPS KEEP THE HEAT IN TO DISPERSE AS NEEDED.

THE GREENHOUSE SITS ON A PRESSURE TREATED FRAME SO THAT THERE IS NEVER ANY WORRY ABOUT DRAINAGE.

For trays, we've been using cheap aluminum roasting pans from the dollar store.

The plastic plant flats were also at Lowe's, Wally World, and many of the hardware stores this year. They were going for under one dollar to just under two, depending on where you looked. Good snag on the throw outs! Most places anymore want them returned to the greenhouse that supplies them.

As far as 4 packs or 6 packs I am sure you can get them through one of the seed outlets online, but might have to order them early. If not, you can try using the shaped peat pots. Some of them come in 6 or 8 pack shapes.

You mentioned that you were short on felt gasketing/insulation material, you might check Lowe's or a smaller hardware store. They might have it with the insulation and weatherstipping materials, or you might look to see if your heating and cooling guy using anything like it.

Just some thoughts.

Kevin

We picked up over a ton of crushed limestone and made the floor with that. It's nice and level and not bad to walk on. It ran around $25. We're going to see how that works out before putting in walkway. We decided the shelves will run along the north wall only. The shelving is the next step. Closet shelving is costly so we're looking into welded fencing materials.