Gardening: DIY — How to make mini greenhouse with PVC and PEX
researching and designing takes the most times, building is simple.
Intro
When the baby spouts are growing, their leaves easily under attack by Slugs or Birds. The attack from Slugs can be mitigated by using the coffee compost that can be obtained from local coffee store for free, but the attack from Birds need some physical barrier.
The physical barrier I thought about was a mini greenhouse.
The mini greenhouse not only can help defeat Birds, but also it can be used as a shelter for plants that have to be started earlier before the weather becomes warm enough because those plants usually take a long time before being transplanted.
Research / Design
I didn’t know how to make a mini greenhouse although I saw several different styles at the community garden.
By googling, I did some research to get some ideas and materials I can use. And, I made a list of design requirements like below.
- re-using the materials that I already have
- easy to extend / assemble and disassemble when necessary
Sketching the design
In my mini greenhouse design, there are
- four 3/4 PVC 90 degree elbow
- one 3/4 PVC Pipe
- one PEX pipe
- one garden mesh netting
During the initial design, I was not sure how to mount the PEX pipe on PVC pipe which is the base of the greenhouse.
What’s the pre-owned materials?
I already had some pre-owned materials like
- Garden Mesh Netting — https://amzn.to/3MA9PUf
- PEX pipe from Home Depot ( 1/2" x 10ft )
- Cable Zip ties — https://amzn.to/3MA9PUf
And, I also have the pre-purchased some tool as well in case I need to use them.
- Makita Impact Driver — https://amzn.to/3MA9PUf
- Milwaukee Drill bits— https://amzn.to/3MA9PUf
Materials I had to buy
I bought those meterials from my local Home Depot store. The 3/4-Inch PVC Pipe wasn’t able to fit into my SUV, so I had to cut at Home Depot’s parking lot.
- 3/4-Inch 90 Degree PVC Pipe Elbow ( 4 EA )— https://amzn.to/3Gyxoca
- 3/4-Inch PVC Pipe ( 1EA )
Assembling the parts
Assembling the all parts were pretty simple. By the way, I didn’t use any types of glue to hold the pipes to support the one of design requirements. ( making it possible to assemble and disassemble )
The implementation decision in bonding the base PVC and PEX pipe that I wasn’t to able to make at the initial period was solved during the assembling. ( sometimes we get the ideas while working on it )
As you can see in the below images, I decided to make a hole that goes through the PVC and PEX pipe and tied them by using Cable Zip Tie.
One thing I learned about the Cable Zip Tie I used was that it wasn’t strong enough to hold the tension. Although the cheaper Cable Zip Tie is ok to use for cables, but not for these kind of projects.
Mini Greenhouse layout without a cover
Once the undetermined implementation decision was resolved, the left steps became faster. The overall project was completed in a hour.
How to mount the Garden Mesh Netting
After having built the frame of the mini greenhouse, the next question was how to mount the garden mesh netting I have.
I could use the cable zip ties as well. However, after some researches, I decided to use a Clamp that can be used for these kind of PVC Pipe based greenhouse.
2 pack of Circo 12-EZ Light Grip ABS Snap Clamp 3/4 Inch X 4 Inches Wide ( 14EA ) — https://amzn.to/3zJZI7I
I noticed one downside on this Clamp. It’s very strong, so when I took it out from the PVC pipe, it damaged the garden mesh netting little bit.
You should be careful when you use the Clamp.
