Texas Greenhouse

This year, after 3 years of planning and begging, Bryan and I finally got a dog. He's the perfect companion and walking partner.

Buddy is Halloween ready

But now with a dog in the house (and a shoebox apartment) the plumeria cannot overwinter in the house. Plumeria sap can be toxic to dogs. As well, my little Buddy has a real fondness for for investigating and, more importantly, digging. 

Buddy likes to help me in the garden

Taking all these factors into account, I had to find a new way to protect my delicate plumeria and other houseplants from frost. It doesn't happen too often in Texas but enough that it would kill if they were left exposed.

So I came up with a plan. A portable greenhouse. Since we have a fenced in back porch, I could put one up without having to worry about it blowing away or anyone messing about with it. 

Of course the plumeria and their increased growth this summer presented a few issues. A normal bookcase sized standing greenhouse was far too small to house the growing trees. So a full sized walk-in greenhouse was required. It took a great deal of measuring and Amazon reviews to find the right one but I managed.

Putting it together wasn't hard. It took about 2hrs working alone. As it is a portable greenhouse, the materials are not meant to last years but will last me several seasons, if I'm careful. Vinyl taping for the outer layers, metal piping for the frame, and plastic joints. The only real downside is the metal grates that are the shelves are flimsy and held on the piping by zip ties, which is my only real complaint. 

I had to remove the shelves on 1/2 of the structure because the plumeria were too tall. They couldn't sit under the shelves without damaging their leaves and branches and on top was too short. 

What it did give me was plenty of storage space though. Now I can keep my tools and soil fresh over the winter in the greenhouse. It also allows me a workplace to make adjustments and some minor pruning while overwintering.

Overall I am thrilled by the whole process and will keep updating with my progress.