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Build a $300 underground greenhouse for year-round gardening

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Interesting ...any of you guys ever try this? I'd think a few inches of snow would do in a plastic roof.

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Build a $300 underground greenhouse for year-round gardening

Growers in colder climates often utilize various approaches to extend the growing season or to give their crops a boost, whether it's coldframes, hoop houses or greenhouses.

Greenhouses are usually glazed structures, but are typically expensive to construct and heat throughout the winter. A much more affordable and effective alternative to glass greenhouses is the walipini (an Aymara Indian word for a "place of warmth"), also known as an underground or pit greenhouse. First developed over 20 years ago for the cold mountainous regions of South America, this method allows growers to maintain a productive garden year-round, even in the coldest of climates.

It's a pretty intriguing set-up that combines the principles of passive solar heating with earth-sheltered building. But how to make one? From American sustainable agriculture non-profit Benson Institute comes this enlightening manual on how a walipini works, and how to build it:

The Walipini utilizes nature’s resources to provide a warm, stable, well-lit environment for year-round vegetable production. Locating the growing area 6’- 8’ underground and capturing and storing daytime solar radiation are the most important principles in building a successful Walipini.

The Walipini, in simplest terms, is a rectangular hole in the ground 6 ‛ to 8’ deep covered by plastic sheeting. The longest area of the rectangle faces the winter sun -- to the north in the Southern Hemisphere and to the south in the Northern Hemisphere. A thick wall of rammed earth at the back of the building and a much lower wall at the front provide the needed angle for the plastic sheet roof. This roof seals the hole, provides an insulating airspace between the two layers of plastic (a sheet on the top and another on the bottom of the roof/poles) and allows the sun's rays to penetrate creating a warm, stable environment for plant growth.

This earth-sheltered greenhouse taps into the thermal mass of the earth, so that much less energy is needed to heat up the walipini's interior than an aboveground greenhouse. Of course, there are precautions to take in waterproofing, drainage and ventilating the walipini, while aligning it properly to the sun -- which the manual covers in detail.

Best of all, according to the Benson Institute, their 20-foot by 74-foot walipni field model out in La Paz cost around $250 to $300 only, thanks to the use of free labour provided by owners and neighbours, and the use of cheaper materials like plastic ultraviolet (UV) protective sheeting and PVC piping.

Cheap but effective, the underground greenhouse is a great way for growers to produce food year-round in colder climates. More over at the Benson Institute and the Pure Energy Systems Wiki.

Video at link: http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/build-underground-greenhouse-garden-year-round.html
 

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REDDOGTWO

Unemployed Veg. Peddler
SUPER Site Supporter
It may work for some parts of the country, however cannot see this working to well in ND without an auxiliary heat source. It is five below right now and that is going to be the high for the day. Ten hours of daylight will not be enough to heat it up for the long cold nights and then you have cloudy days.
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Interesting ...any of you guys ever try this? I'd think a few inches of snow would do in a plastic roof.
Agreed on the roof collapsing with the first snow.

I also want to know who dug that 6' deep, 20x74' hole alone for under $300.

I'll stick with using the basement and grow lights.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
they have done this in bethel Alaska with some success it did cost a little more than 300 bucks as they used corrugated clear fiber glass for the roof and have to do some heating on the plus side in the summer it needs less ventilation because it stays cooler wit the root cellar effect.
 
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