Tag Archives: indoor grow house

Turf Sweating, A Post Frame Addition, and A Grow House

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Hello, I am from Webster SD and I built a pole barn and insulated it.  I then put turf above gravel floor and use it for a indoor baseball practice facility.  It can be heated as we have heaters in there.  We have a huge problem and was wondering if you could help us solve it.  I went in there today and the humidity was 85%.  Under the turf is wet.  What is causing this and how do we solve it?  We have bats in there that are showing early signs of rust and it has been closed up for about a month.  Thanks, CHAD in WEBSTER

DEAR CHAD: The water is coming from the ground, and even makes its way up through concrete. You will need to remove the turf and then install a high quality sealed vapor barrier which is resistant to punctures or tears beneath it. In the research I have done, it appears the folks at Americover (www.americover.com) can probably make the best recommendations as to the product which will best fit your needs and budget.

Depending upon how you have insulated the building, it may also be necessary to add ventilation in order to remove excess humidity from the air.

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Can a pole barn be mounted to a house that has a cinder block foundation? RAY in BROCKPORT

DEAR RAY: If the question is can a pole barn (post frame building) be mounted to a block foundation, as long as the foundation is adequate to carry the imposed loads, certainly. Brackets are made to either pour into a foundation, or be retrofitted to one.

If you want to attach a post frame building to a house with a cinder block foundation, the post frame building would not structurally rely upon the block. Instead, it would typically be a free standing structure abutted to the existing building and foundation.

 

 

DEAR POLE BARN GURU: Is a 28×24 pole barn with 8 foot ceiling height large enough to start a grow room? ELIZABETH in DUNDEE

DEAR ELIZABETH: It will depend upon how many plants you intend to grow. A mature plant requires four square feet of area and you need to have space to walk alongside. The eight foot high ceiling might be a bit tight as well, as some plants have the capability to grow to be as tall as a house. My best recommendation is to err on the side of caution and construct the largest footprint building which you can economically justify and which will fit within the available space.

 

 

8 Foods You Can Grow in Your Pole Building All Year

A pole building grow house works a lot like a greenhouse. You control the temperature and moisture to mimic actual outdoor conditions for growing fruits and vegetables. Under the right conditions, there are foods that you can grow throughout the year – provided you monitor and maintain your indoor grow house appropriately.

Try some of these tasty and nutritious foods that require only a bit of care for an experienced grower.

Fruits

Making room for fruit trees shouldn’t be a challenge in a pole barn; a pole barn suits an indoor fruit garden extremely well. The room provided by pole building construction is ideal for growing trees that bear delicious fruit.

Lemons

Grab a 2-3 year old dwarf lemon tree to get started, especially if it’s your first time growing. A tree that’s been nurtured for a few years is more likely to bear edible fruit within the year. You’ll have to place the tree in soil formulated for citrus trees, but as long as you water and let it drain without oversaturating, you should be able to enjoy lemons shortly.

Oranges

Again, dwarf trees are your safest bet for bearing fruit. Give your tree a spacious pot with lots of sun and water it regularly. Be sure to let the soil dry slightly between waterings. Your tree will continually grow, so be ready to repot it when you see the roots pushing out of their current pot.

Vegetables

A pole building is perfect for an indoor vegetable garden. Vegetables need less space than fruit trees, but still demand attention and quality growing conditions in your pole building indoor grow house.

Avocados

Yes, technically they are fruit, but because of their savory flavor, we’re adding them to the vegetable category. Though you can grow avocado plants from the pit of an avocado, it’s a serious undertaking, and you’re more likely to get edible fruit from a dwarf tree. Put sand in the bottom of your tree’s pot and water regularly without letting the soil get soggy. Trees can grow up to 10 feet, so make allowances!

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are fruits, too, but we generally use them alongside vegetables, so we’ll place these in the vegetable category as well. Plant tomatoes from seed every 1-2 weeks to keep your tomato supply going. Water them until the soil is moist, and give every side of them lots of sun.

Mushrooms

Most home supply stores have mushroom-growing kits that make growing fungus easy. Fungus spores don’t germinate like plant seeds, so they need an outside source of nutrition to grow, called a spawn. You can fill a laundry basket with spawn and grow mushrooms, but it tends to be much more labor-intensive.

Herbs

Herbs are fun to grow, look beautiful, and take up relatively little room in your pole building grow house.

Basil

You can start basil from a seed or starter plant. You can water up to once a day in hot temperatures, but be ready to prune the plant when it starts to flower – if you don’t you won’t get the flavorful basil leaves.

Cilantro

Coriander is the seed of cilantro. You can start growing cilantro plants from coriander. Water the seeds then cover them with plastic until they germinate and push against the plastic. Remove the cover, water daily, and keep them in sunlight.

Rosemary

Plant seeds in a coarse sand and potting soil mixture with holes at the bottom of the pot for drainage. Water when the soil’s surface is dry, and keep the plants in a place that receives at least six hours of direct sunlight.