There is no count on how many times I have longed to have large space for my garden. Anytime I pass by a house with lots of garden space but not a single plant in it, I used to feel “Why life is so unfair?”. People with so much passion have only a balcony left to quench their gardening thirst and those that are not interested, have acres without a trace of green in it.

In my previous posts, I have pasted pictures of the lean garden spaces I had.The dimensions were like 1 feet x 10 feet or lesser than that. However, I managed to use every single inch of the available space. I was always trying to find new space to plant. There was a 60×80 feet site with walls next door. I even contacted the owner to check if he will let it for rent. “Don’t call me again in this regard”, said the owner. So I returned back to my thin balconies.

All this changed since last month, How?.. I decided to build a greenhouse/shade house on the terrace of my apartment. It is accessible by a single metal ladder. It had more than 1000 sq ft of open space. I thought it will be a great place to grow plants.. Excellent sunlight, water facility .. Awesome right?.. Wind was the only problem. But shade house overcomes it.

Met some metal grill fabricators and toyed with few ideas and finalized on one. The work started on Dec 14th. Since then, I was very busy with building my dream. I couldn’t respond to many questions on the blog for this reason.

Here is the greenhouse at different stages of its growth.

Day – Zero

This is how the terrace looked. Its on top of the 4th floor and wind is at its best here.

MyGarden 864

Stage One

Pillars made of metal pipes set in place. The dimensions of the greenhouse came out to be 24 x 21 feet.How cool is that?

MyGarden 878

Stage Two

The metal tubings on the roof completed.

MyGarden 892

Stage Three

The pillars are connected to each other by metal rods, horizontally and there are rods welded vertically as well. Here is a shot with first coat of painting done.

MyGarden 897

Stage Four

After like 10 days, the guy finally finished all the metal work and handed over the greenhouse to me. I had the New year long weekend for me to finish.

I went and purchased a shade net bundle ( 35% shade). It measured 4mx50m. But our roof is 24×21 feet. So we had to stitch two cut sheets to cover the roof. So, I started stitching using my ultra efficient shade net sewing machine.( a.k.a The Wife). The net was so huge that our living room floor got completely covered  and my wife was stitching the net all day long. She looked like a child labor in a beedi factory. Poor thing..

Here you see the top rectangle is covered with the shade net. It started to get a neat look but lot more work is pending.

MyGarden 921

And after week,

MyGarden 931

A peek inside the house..The drum stores water. The door has to be covered as well. May be tomorrow.

MyGarden 932

All the beefsteak tomatoes have been lined up and staked as well. You can also spot a tub full of Oak leaf lettuce.

MyGarden 933

MyGarden 935

This is a tub full of oak leaf lettuce and one loose leaf lettuce.

MyGarden 936

Here is yours truly, pruning in progress.

MyGarden 944

The trays are lined up for sowing. I am planning to sow whole lot of Palak, Methi, Coriander and amaranthus.

MyGarden 950

I am really happy about this greenhouse. I would like to thank my apartment neighbors for whole heartedly allowing me to use the common terrace.

A huge thanks go to my wife for her hard work in getting the netting done and to my mom who took care of the greenhouse construction while I was away at work!.

Regarding the building of the greenhouse, if people are interested I will write another post with the cost/material  details.

Enjoy!..

gg

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80 Responses

  1. Impressive idea and construction. A dream indeed for many flat-dwellers. It will be great if you could give details of the construction, especially on how the whole thing is supported.
    BTW will the apartment neighbors get a share of the produce?

    • Hi Argon,

      Thanks, I am writing another post exclusively about the making of the greenhouse. At times, I do share my produce with my neighbors and I think I will continue to do that.

      gg

    • please advise the percentage of shade net suitable for climate in delhi?
      a return reply is expected as I am going to purchase the shade net with 50% to day for my terrace garden

  2. Congratulations on fulfilling the first step towards becoming self sufficient – Wish you more success in your gardening endeavours!!!1 Keep us posted on your efforts.

    Revathi

  3. gg, this is fantastic! you are an example to us all in your enterprise and persistence, which it’s good to see are rewarded by success. The tomatoes and lettuce look great; really inspired to grow lettuce now. Do let us know where to get shade net from.

  4. Hi gg,
    Congratulations on building the green house. For your good heart everything good will happen to you. Keep it up.

  5. Hi gg,

    That’s fantabulous, superb and beyond ordinary! Feel very happy for you.

    Surely lot’s of questions crop up in my mind and here they go. Excuse me for so many questions. They are are more, because i probably share some of the dilemma’s that you faced before this greenhouse.

    1. How did you manage to convince your apartment fellows on this ? I too stay in a apartment with lot’s of unused terrace space. Similar thought of of using the terrace space crossed my mind several times but didn’t think it feasible and hence never made any serious attempt. Issues are myriad like, still a majority share of flats are yet to be sold, mostly land owner share of flats are unsold nd he wouldn’t tolerate it etc etc…

    2. Will you be using the green house exclusively for yourself ? Or there are others who are willing to pitch in and share? At least in my apartment there are lot of people who are interested in gardening (Did i play a role in that ? Not sure :)$%^&* ) but not able to do much due to lack of space.

    3. To me it looks like no water proofing is done on the roof. Won’t it cause issues ?
    4. Cost and logistic. If it’s a long reply then probably I would love to see another post with more details.

    Last but not the least, i have one complaint against you. Lots of my questions on your blog are not getting answered by you. Hope you i do get a response this time! just kidding 🙂

    Last but not the least. I have got one idea! Have you ever thought of conducting some classes for people who would like to learn gardening. May be at the elementary level some summer classes for kids?? Or at a more advanced level class for people who are keen on learning and would probably pay for it.

    • Hi Raja,

      Thanks a lot and I am really sorry If I didn’t respond to your queries. Not just your questions, but there were several comments from readers to which I have failed to respond. WordPress automatically approves comments from regular visitors and hence it doesn’t wait in moderation queue. Because of this I fail to respond immediately. But I do read every single comment that is posted and try to respond at the best/earliest I can. Hope you understand. Today I made some settings in WP such that every comment is moderated. Happy! ?..

      Now coming back to questions,
      1. I stay in an apartment that has 9 units and they are a very nice bunch of people, some of them are also passionate about it.
      2. For your second question, I am sure you are the culprit why your neighbors are hooked into gardening. About the usage of the greenhouse, I really didn’t chart out a terms & conditions document yet. But at times I do share some of the harvest with neighbors. Expense wise It was completely my own.!
      3. Good question. I am not sure if my builder did the water proofing. History suggests he wouldn’t have done it. Most of the pots have drain pipes and the plan is to collect all the outlets to a reservoir. This setup is still in the making and should be up and running in couple of weeks.
      4. Raja, Cost! as well as a post about, is rather huge and hence needs a different post. Just give me few days… Will provide as much details as possible. Ok?

      For your suggestion/idea, I have been thinking of training for a while but was waiting for a model garden to be setup. Now that the greenhouse is taking shape, I am working towards the training program. More details will follow.

      gg

      • Hmm.. that big and meaty reply does makes me happy :).
        Will be very glad if i can be of any help in your training plan.
        Also would love to get few lettuce seeds from your, that’s one green i love the most but still haven’t been able to grow well.
        Is there a way we can plan a meetup?

        Regards
        Raja

        • Hi Raja,

          Thanks for the offer and I will let you know when I need your help. You can drop by on weekends and i will be more than happy to share the lettuce seeds.

          gg

  6. Hi GG:

    I have no words to express my admiration for your persistence in getting the kind of space you always wanted! I have a question. For a terrace garden, is greenhouse necessry? The reason I am posing this question is that I am in the process of setting up my terrace garden (water profing done, planter boxes in place, tiling yet to be done) and I was planning to have the containers in open space. I am wondering whether I should go for a green house too! It would help if you could throw some light as it would be easier for me to get such work done when the construction work is going on! Thanks for posting detailed photographs! Congrats to your wife and mom too, for the team effort!

    Regards
    Meena K

    • Hi Meena,

      Thanks. For a terrace garden, a greenhouse is NOT necessary at all. The reason I got that done is, my terrace which is on the 5th floor is very very windy and keeping the pots from falling is very difficult.The greenhouse is mainly a windbarrier and also to reduce water loss/transpiration. That way I can water less and less frequently than I would without the greenhouse.

      gg

  7. Great job! I have been thinking of doing something like this in my terrace. Do let us know on the cost involved. I have a few questions..

    1. How do u handle the drain water from the pots? Would there be a problem with water seepage if roof isn’t water proofed?
    2. How often do u water the pots?
    3. I believe a lot of heat will be radiated from the concrete roofing. How’s the temperature like inside the shade house?
    4. Are the holes in the shade net small enough to prevent pests? or pests are still a problem?

    • Hi Satheesh,

      Thanks.
      The drain from the pots are collected in a common reservoir. I am in the process of setting that up right now. The idea is that water is not let to drain out. It is collected. I water my plants daily. Actually with the shade net in place, the concrete in that area gets less sunlight than outside, I don’t know what is the temperature inside and outside as of now. It feels relatively cooler.
      The holes in the shade net and large enough to let a caterpillar in.. so pests are still a problem. You can put Insect proof net ( IP-net ) to stop insects..

      gg

  8. Awesome ! 🙂 Great that you didnt get disappointed with your balcony and let your dreams die. This is a terrific way to start the new year!
    Cheers!

  9. Hi GG,

    Many Congratulations for making your dream come true in the beginning of this New Year! Wish you many more such successes!!

    Your passion and dedication for gardening and selfless service to spread the word via these blogs are very inspiring.

    I stay in Bangalore and am passionate about gardening. I have around 170 plants in my small balconies and would be certainly eager to share more about them in coming days and weeks. I have tried my hands on growing Spinach, Coriander and Fenugreek plants and they came out very nicely. Thanks for sharing your experiments and learnings with us!!

    Wish you all the best and Keep it up!

    Kind regards,
    Pratyush

  10. Kudos to you. Great to see such a lot of space being used up well. The guy staying below that will thank you for feeling cooler this summer 🙂
    A training program sounds fantastic. Hope that too works out well.

  11. Hi GG,

    Congratulations on making your dream come true.
    However, i did not quite understand the concept of a green house. can we not have plants just on the open terrace. I thought green house was to start plants.
    I have a small garden on my huge terrace:). i have around 50 pots on the terrace – 40*50. Hence i am wondering why did you have to invest in a green house. I am a beginner though. Earlier we had a huge plot which was mainly a kitchen garden, i used to tend to the plants with love, but the gardener and servant used to do all the other things like seed starting, etc. right now i am a novice as i am on my own doing all the stuff that too on a terrace – container gardening.
    I find it difficult at times moving the materials up – 3rd floor, even though i have stair case. Wonder how you plan to go up carrying all the load using the metal ladder – Good Luck and be careful.
    Must say that i wait for your update on the blog. I would like to visit your geek garden sometime. let me know if that is okay.
    Thanks
    Vani

    • Hi GG:

      Pls permit me to respond to Vani’s concern …

      Hi Vani:

      I am Meena, staying in Jayanagar IV T Block, in a plot slighlty larger than 60*40. Recently, I have just started container gardening in the terrace. I too face a similar problem as yours- that of carrying material to the terrace (above the 2nd floor). I have the additional issue of the existing staircase beng inside the house. With expansion currently happening, I explained the problem to my contractor. He said he would fix a motorized pulley – like what they use to carry cement bags upstairs, during construction – not a heavy duty one, he says it will take 20 min for a 20 KG bag to be moved to the terrace… While he is yet to fix it, he is confident it will solve the problem of having to carry material via the terrace…

      I will keep you updated once he fixes the pulley and will share my experience…

      Regards
      Meena K

      • Hi Meena,

        Please feel free to share your views/answers other question/clear any doubts here. The whole Idea of this blog is just that. Sharing info. Please do so by all means :).

        I had the same idea (actually my wife’s idea) of installing a metal pulley based system to move my potsIf you see the metal stairs in my previous post of making of the greenhouse.I kind of broke my back moving heavy pots and took a week’s rest to recover from it. But I didn’t go for it as I was not sure if the guy who did the greenhouse will do a nice job fixing the machine.

        Please go ahead and share your experiences/expertise..

        Thanks
        gg

  12. Dear GG,

    This is superb. I was just thinking about doing the same and your efforts give me a great boost to do the same. From the pictures I see some interesting concepts implements. You have put hrozontal pipes between the two pole which on which pots/trys are monted. What is the ht. from the ground. Is this to collect water/liquid fertilizers dripping out of nipple? Are you planning to install drip irrigation as not it will not be very difficult.

    You may also want to reserve one section of the shed house for vining vegetables such as cucumbers/gourds for which you may have to put a wire mesh at around 7 ft. ht.

    Once again congratulations and all the best

    Shashank

  13. Hi GG,

    Congratulations GG!. Your green garden looks great! You again proved that, where there is a will, there lies the way! Wish you all the very best.

    I too am looking forward to your post on the greenhouse and also the classes.

    Regards,
    Sumathy

  14. Hello GG

    Congratulations to you and your family and I was really happy to see that such thoughts are set into action successfully.
    Like Raja I also think you should take a beginners class where we get a lesson on how to mix thesoilless media among other basic things.
    We can pay for the materials used and take it with us after the class , to start our own garden.

    It has become a routine for me to now check ur site every morning 🙂 as soon as Im in office.The positive energy flowing out of it is very contagious 🙂

    Keep up the great work.
    Chitra

  15. Hey GG,

    Man ! you are simply totally amazing guy with great determination. Congrats on dreaming big and making it happen too. I think you rightly deserve such a greenhouse for yourself. Wish you tons of green vegetables and good health. Do keep us posted on the experiments.

    Btw. I would be interested in knowing every single detail on how you planned this out. Especially considerations for building the structure, water management, material for covering up the metal frame, budgets etc.

    Deepesh.

  16. Fantastic GG, I think this will be something that make you feel happy when you go to sleep. I feel proud for you.
    I wish all the best for whatever you are going to achieve in future.
    Regards,
    Sunil

  17. Hey yes, do keep us posted if you have a training workshop planned, will be good fun.

    Thanks for responding to my earlier comments, quite handy and actually getting a response from someone who is into it, motivates one further into getting into gardening!

    Need a further prodding and encouragement from you for me to kick this off:

    1.
    The one thing i remain confused despite trawling the net, is to figure out what soil / soil mix to get. Being just a beginner I don;t want to get into specific formulas for different plants, and am sure one can start off with a basic mix? So basically, what do i go looking for soil wise? Do I ask for a potting mix, soil + compost / manure, in what ratios do i mix… help!

    I plan to start off with coriander, curry leaves and mint. I am also hoping to pick up a few plants and seeds from the upcoming flower show in Lalbagh.

    2. Then do i need to invest in fertilizers and insecticides? Am worried about the latter especially when it comes to using them for consumable plants, esp the herbs I intend to start with!

    3. Then the question of where to get them. As you mentioned in one of your earlier posts, sometimes asking for these in the nearby nurseries gets you blank stares…how true! There is a big nursery near my place selling plants and flowers and they don’t know their names! 😛 Plus I don’t know Kannada so communicating is a tad difficult. Anyway, in such cases there’s always Lalbagh, so do let me know what exactly I can ask of them! I heard Spar hypermarket keeps some fertilizers…

    Will be grateful for your help!

    Swapna

    • Thanks swapna,

      For your soil mix question, You can get a bag of soil mix in Lalbagh. Ask for Ready-Pot-Mix. It is good. I have tried it. I would suggest one thing though, the ready-pot-mix compacts quickly. So mix ready-pot-mix and compost in the ratio of 2:1 and use. This avoids compaction and increases soil drainage and porosity.

      Regarding fertilizers/pesticide, you don’t need to invest in pesticides. Fertilizers, if you don’t get good quality compost or potting mix,You can get yourself a complete water soluble fertilizer ( NPK 19:19:19) and 2-3 /liter of water is sufficient for plants. However for most plants, the compost that we get outside should do.

      I didn’t know about Spar stocking fertilizers ( never been there either). I would love to visit one. any specific location?

      happy gardening.
      GG

      • Hi GG,

        I just happened to visit Spar Koramangala yesterday… they have a tiny plant section just next to the veggies cold storage section…

        They had some plants for sale there too… some poinsettias, ficus, and some peace lilies too. I did think that the quality of these plants were fairly good, the two peace lilies I saw were definitely healthier than the one i got from the local nursery, and the poinsettias were a 100 bucks cheaper than what Indam was selling at Ambara.

        In terms of materials, they had some biofarm packs, and happened to also see that they were selling a product called “FlowerGro”. Heard of it? Any good?

        And thanks so much for your inputs…

        Hey do you know when the flower show is going to start? Should be sometime now, no?

        Swapna

        • Hi swapna,

          Having plants in super markets is a nice idea. Infact I always had the idea of markets selling veggie plants right next to that veggie. It will be cool :D. I haven’t heard of flowergro. But I am guessing that is a fertilizer with more phosphorus and potassium to induce flowering. How much was it priced?

          and for the flower show question, i guess its too late huh?..

          cheers
          gg

  18. dear gg,
    i am really envious of green house! even though i have enough spare land i am not able to build one. actually for me also it is a dream . now i have made an initiative by building 3 arches of 5 feet length and 5 feet breadth to build a green house. but still have so many questions to be answered. what i heard is humidity is required for flowering and seeding. if we put shade net is it possible to maintain humidity? unlike bangalore, manjeri,a small town in kerala, the climating conditions are extreames. very hot and heavy monsoons.
    dear gg, can u give me some tips and clear the doubts that i mentioned above.
    with warm regards
    mano

    • Hello Manohar,

      I am happy to hear from you about your dream of greenhouse. For bangalore weather, we don’t have to provide any humidity to boost flowering or seeding(atleast artificially). Also, shade net impacts the humidity indirectly. It reduces the light entering and there by reducing water loss through evaporation/transpiration. The plants wont go through stress during hot weather. Since the shade cloth has lots of holes, it may protect the plants from heavy rain but not completely.

      Hope this helps
      gg

  19. This is exactly what I have been planning to do. I do not think I will be able to justify the expense though. I just have to convince my wife that the joy of gardening is more than money put into it.

    I have lots of ground space but most of it is either covered with Lawn or does not get enough sunlight. I currently have about 45 pots on the terrace. I have some veggies growing in hydroponically. All in all I am currently growing Spinach, Methi, Mint, corriander, Chukka Koora (that is a Telugu word – sour tasting leafy vegetable), Tomato, Brinjal, Ladies Finger, Cucumber, Bottle Gourd and Ridged Gourd. I have a terrace that is about 1500 sft.

    I am interested in knowing the following.
    1) Construction details with cost
    2) Drainage
    3) Watering
    4) Humidity Control
    5) Pollination

    I have one basic question for you though. Why are you going for a Greenhouse in the first place? Why not just line up the terrace with the pots?

    Thanks,
    Srikanth

    • Hi Srikanth,

      I will answer your last question first. Why a greenhouse? why not just lineup. Yes we can and it will grow beautifully.

      Ok. One doesn’t need a greenhouse to grow veggies on their terrace. I will make it very clear. They why did I build one?.. Several reasons.
      1. I live on 4 th floor and greenhouse is on the 6th floor i.e Terrace. There is so much wind that it the plants in pot can’t help fall. So much dust as well. This I came to know last week, after I looked one side of the greenhouse fully with dust and very little dust on the plants.
      2. If you want to grow veggies/plants that don’t like it hot.. shade net is one of the way.
      I will answer your other points in an exclusive post.
      gg

  20. Brilliant blog – Looks like you’ve done some pioneering work in rooftop veggie gardening here. Will definitely come in useful as I’m about to start mine! Congratulations on your new greenhouse and wish you much success and happiness in it!

    One huuuge issue we have here in Malleswaram is that of monkeys. We’ve practically given up growing anything that monkeys like (including jasmines, leave alone veggies), as they gleefully relieve the plants of even the tiniest of buds or fruits. But maybe a weld-mesh enclosed greenhouse similar to your design with the green net will work. Keeping my fingers crossed!

    Cheers and keep up the good work!

    • Thanks Bikerdude,

      I haven’t done anything pioneering actually. Rooftop gardening has been there since years, I am trying my best to bring it to people in apartments thats all. Glad to hear that you are starting your veggie garden. Do read the posts about seed starting.

      Oh monkeys.. I will be pissed if my yields are taken by some ape. I think this structure might come to rescue. Check it out. Keep me posted of your progress.

      Thanks again
      gg

    • Oh crikey, monkeys… they have been heard to visit our place too… hopefully it will be rare… I have only a balcony and don’t think will be in a position to build a structure here… Hey could i grow at least the coriander and mint and curry leaf indoors but with access to plenty sunlight?

      • Hi Swapna,

        I have grown coriander and mint in balcony with no problems. Didn’t try curry leaves but i dont see why it wouldn’t grow.

        Thanks
        gg

  21. Dear gg,
    Very interesting, because I too have this ambition of having a greenhouse on my terrace to grow veggies. I have a much smaller space as it is an independent house. But the other major hassle here (Sadasivanagar, Blr) is monkeys. I can’t even grow a pot of coriander without the monkeys ripping out every shoot.
    So, I look forward to reading the detailed blog on cost and construction of the greenhouse. Also, if you can let me have the details of the people who fabricated this for you, it would be really nice!
    Regards,
    Ananth

    • Nice to hear you have the same ambition. To start with, you can just grow veggies and see how it fairs out. If monkeys are really menacing then greenhouse is the way out. Bear with me for some more time, I will get the post on greenhouse construction out soon.

      thanks
      gg

    • Thanks Krithika,
      Ever since the greenhouse got ready, anything looks like a planting material ;)..
      Watch for more updates..
      gg

  22. I always feel the same ““Why life is so unfair?”. People with so much passion have only a balcony left to quench their gardening thirst and those that are not interested, have acres without a trace of green in it.” 🙂

    You are lucky that you finally got the greenhouse. All the best.

    • Thanks guru,

      The net is actually to reduce the sunlight and it keeps the area little cooler than outside. It also helps to lower the water loss through transpiration and evaporation..

      gg

  23. Hi Mohan,
    I got to know about your blog from my friend Asha. It’s amazing and very inspiring.
    I have a balcony garden and I only have ornamental plants. Lately I have observed that there are a lot of mealy bugs on my plants. I have uprooted the ones which were badly effected. But I still find a few here and there. I keep removing them with the help of a toothbrush dipped in soap water, but cannot completely eradicate them. I water my plants every evening. Do you think too much of water is making the planst more vulnerable to bugs?
    Lately I have also observed that the leaves of most of my plants dry up too fast (even the ones not infected ).
    Really looking forward to your suggestions.
    Thank you so much.
    Regards
    Reema

    • Hi Reema,

      Thanks for taking to effort to stop by my blog. Like one of the readers mentioned, you can use a cotton soaked in rubbing alcohol and dab on on the places affected by mealy and it should take care of it. I always water my plants in the morning and by evening there is not much moisture around. If you water in the evening, too much moisture can encourage bugs/fungus to grow. Also don’t water the plants leaves, keep them dry.

      Thanks
      gg

  24. Congratulations!! It’s very impressive to get your own sunny space, close to house to do gardening. I am really impressed with your greenhouse. I am sure you have many kinks like watering, shadow to still work out but this is definitely great step towards ‘eating most from own yard’ concept.

    so you have become one of those people who occupy common terrace 🙂 while growing up in Mumbai, our 1/6th apartment terrace was occupied by a lady’s garden – mostly rose bush container. As kids (and even our parents) we were barred from going to her gardening space (even though it was common). We hated her growing up as even smelling her roses was not allowed. Please make sure you don’t become that…. please share your abundant wealth of gardening knowledge with your neighbors and share the bounty too….. please don’t mind my blunt talk.

    also, thank you for posting ur pic. It’s nice to have a face to the blog 😉

  25. Hi, I had one more question. One of the issues I’ve heard with greenhouses is that they keep out pollinators like bees – which means that many of the fruit bearing plants like chillis or tomatoes won’t succeed. What has been your experience?

    • Hi Ananth,

      That is true if you have a completely closed greenhouse( made of polysheet/glass). I have covered the framework with 35% shade net and hence there are holes in the net. I dont have any problem with pollination. Infact I just captured a picture of a tomato truss with so many flowers all trying to set fruit. I even saw a bee inside ;)..

      Thanks
      gg

  26. Hello. I’m a U.S. garden writer doing an online article for garden centers about gardening blogs around the world and wonder if I could use the photo of you pruning, with a link to your blog, of course? Susan

  27. hi gg
    read your blog for the first time today at 2 p.m spent the next 3 hours reading all posts since jan 2008 amazing!!!!! used to search the net in vain for something that can give so much good info on so many things but with indian sensibilities…… will b following ur posts regularly from now on. also ur seed starting posts very informative… have so many seed packets staring at me like orphaned children. can do them justice nw. thanks a lot….. also loved ur greenhouse. aspire to have one someday

    • Hi Ayaan,

      Thanks for stopping by and spending time to read my posts. I am glad your seed packets are seeing daylight.

      Happy gardening
      gg

      • may i ask a question…..
        just opened a 10 kg bag of compost .it is garden gold organic manure bought from lalbagh……..as i opened it 2 insects of some kind flew out and then when i turned the pile around found some very very teeny tiny bright red worms. is that a good thing or a bad thing??? if bad should i throw it away??

        • Hi Ayaan,

          Is it the one from Karanataka Coir board or something like that. I remember seeing a black heaped up compost. If it is very few you see then I think it is ok. Check if they are earthworms. You can keep the compost spread in sunlight and it should take care of it. You dont have the throw it away.

          gg

  28. Hello GG,

    I would take time and appreciate your efforts in the field of Hydroponics. I’m a first timer and it’s been a privelege to know nore about Hydroponics from your website.

    However, I would appreciate if you could kind take note of the following inputs:

    I had come to know of the manufacturing process of ” Plastic ( PU ) Foam ” used by you as per the earlier pictures. I’m told that these foam contains poisons while in the manufacturing process.

    It would be harmful if the roots of the hydroponic plants absorb these poisonous substances. The fruits of the same plant may contains these harnful sources.

    I was personally told about this by the manufacturer of PU Plasticv Foam who in turn recommended to use Coco Peats.

    Looking forward to your comments and suggestions on these as it would give us a technical know-hon on safe Hydropnic cultivation.

    Regards,

    Swapnil (09372254865)

    • Hi Swapnil.

      Sorry for the delay and thanks for sharing your concern. Regarding the usage of PU Foam, if you see the pics closely we dont use Foam as a medium to grow plants at all. It is to just hold the plants. I am assuming you saw the pics from Tomato cutting propagation Post.

      GG

  29. hi gg

    great job of the greenhouse – i live in new delhi and and have a similar terrace as yours – only thing is i thought of making my greenhouse with removeable shadenets in winters as sunlight reduces a lot and days are short ……….also to make only 40 pct of the terrace for vegetables and rest for flowers and sitting out under arbors in winters.

    any ideas how to make the terrace with removeable shadenets from say end october to mid march ? ie a good almost 5 months in the year !!

    any design with pulleys to pull the nets up and remove them ?

    deepak

  30. may i know how much u spent on this? its completely planned and done by yourself or took help of any organization ?

  31. Hi. You are doing a great job. Wanted to ask you if its profitable to look at this as a business venture? If yes, what is the min. area one would need to begin with and investment alongwith economics (sales / profits etc.)? Also what is the easiest to grow and which would have decent profit margins if we were to sell it retail? Appreciate your thoughts.

  32. Hello GG,

    I intend to purchase a shade net .
    Can you please let me know the % and color for ornamental (Rose/Dalhia/Hybiscus).
    Also can you post the address of the vendor where i can purchase the shade nets from.

    Bhavani

  33. Its been two years since you built your green house. Hearty wishes for many more years. Request you to update this post with the experiences you gained in these years of running the green house. If you could share more recent photos, additions and improvements you made and learning in hindsight if any.
    Thanks,
    /Madan

  34. Hi GG,

    I have been wanting to create a shaded structure for my garden too as i think a lot of my plants have ben dying due to heat. Where did you purchase the shade cloth from in Bangalore and how much does it cost?

    Thanks a bunch.

  35. Hi folks,

    I have a huge balcony aea, i would love to plant some to go organic and i did love the above green house, its been long time u started of green house. i cant imagine how its now. Please do suggest me how do i start off.. i am really a novice..

  36. Hi,
    I am impressed with your Terrace Greenhouse. We are doing something similar on a commercial building terrace. I actually have a question regarding the fabric. So we are constructing this greenhouse in order to let people hang out on the terrace without having to worry about heat and rains. What we are planning to do is to cover the green fabric with creeper plants on the top, so when they fully grown, they act as a barrier to keep the rainwater from passing through. You think, this will work out? I am worried about the rain water passing through and completely wetting the entire hangout place. Please let me know your thoughts.

    Thanks,
    Aruna

  37. hi gg…
    it was a wonderful things to see plants in a home now a days. Being I don’t have good space of terrace to execute it, I can do it to others place with their permission. but still now I don’t have knowledge in this planting. so please give me som e tips or training to execute this plantation. and I also want to know how much time it takes place and cost takes place to set the total place. And some training to do dis from you…please guide me.
    really im waiting for your training classes…plz do inform me sir.
    really it is an excellent job. congratulations for you brother. And thanking you behalf of nature.

  38. Hi,
    Really you blog and effort is amazing, I would like to keep green house in my terrace, I would like to know cost to made complete set up of green house and what are the plants can plant
    What are the pesticides you are using
    Thanks

  39. Hi, I am super impressed with your effort taken and the result you achieved. Please could you share the cost of this project?

    • Thanks Akrit. The cost approximately would be around 150-180 per sq.ft. Though it depends on the location you are in and the choice of materials and the fabricator.
      hope this helps

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