Hey guys, I've got a weird question and don't know where to ask it...
I am thinking about greenhouses, and I've decided the gothic arch style is best. It provides a ton of headroom though, so you could add a second level. But then some plants might get smothered. Is there some kind of "one way coating" that would bounce more sunlight across? That way it lets light it and reflects it a little.
Then I started thinking about underground greenhouses.... could you use a series of magnifying glasses to concentrate sunlight down a series of mirrors and reflect it across an entire underground greenhouse?
Doesn't something like this exist already?
makes a change from shipping containers, ah spose..
http://www.thelowline.org/get-involved/lowline-lab/
- above is non-informational-tier (cant be bothered finding a good link specific to your interest) - but, google them a bit, prob. find some stuff.
oy mate - i know that there is a way they bring light down the underground in berlin with those tubes, i know its on a big plaza, but can't remember on which one.
pic related, these are those tubes
>>942671
kek, i am such a faggot.
Berlin. Potzdamer Platz. They bring light to the underground station with this.
>>942671
>>942673
Sweet. My next question is, is the light mirrors reflects the kind that plants need? I don't know if UV rays get reflected as well, and some rays and particles might just pass right through the mirror. Are those necessary to plants? If they pass through a mirror they might pass through the ground and get in the greenhouse anyways, lol
And what about a one way reflective coating? Or one way mirrors?
>>942676
sorry, can't tell you more about this, and plants and stuff. Maybe you should visit the nature board.
>>942677
I'll just wait here. There are people that visit /diy/ that know about gardening. I made a thread about it a few months ago, and I'm back with another related question.
I love this board, you guys are great.
>>942663
I know you're asking a very specific question, but if you're thinking of underground greenhouses, you can use grow lights with the right spectrum for whatever you want to grow
>>942676
Mirrors reflect visible light nicely, and go a wee ways into the infrared part of the spectrum, and quite a bit less towards the ultraviolet part of the spectrum.
Plants don't absorb green light, but red and blue light. At least for photosynthesis they'll be okay with reflected light.
Plants grow fine with grow lights; people grow weed in the walls of their flats in my old university town.
Give it a go lad, you could be the pioneer in this field. And maybe if the war with the anti-spirals reaches earth, we'll be able to grow plants underground, thanks to you.
>>942760
Thanks.
Unless you're looking for a completely underground greenhouse I'd look up Walipini. I made a smaller version in my yard a few years back and it turned out pretty awesome.
>>942962
Those are dangerous though. Animals or humans might try walking on top of them because they ground height.
I'm an idiot and I understand the need to childproof things because I derp really hard most the time.
>>943154
>humans might try walking on it
>I understand the need to childproof (the world)
natural selection is suppose to play a role in life.
>>943154
There's a lot of different designs online that wouldn't be dangerous.
>>943255
There's nothing natural about natural selection involving humans and human works, right?
Humanity defines themselves as being separate from nature, yes? Religious teachings all over the world say that our consciousness didn't come from earth, it came from God who existed before creation.
So... man-made structures playing a part in natural selection is a fallacy.
>>943721
>makes flimsy shit in yard
>knows shit in yard is flimsy
>walks on flimsy shit
yea, if you do that you deserve to die.
>>943255
>>943721
Well, religious teachings also say natural selection doesn't exist, God created all the animals. So... your argument that natural selection doesn't apply to humans because of religion is silly. religious teachings don't gel with the idea of natural selection in general.
Regardless, the point is that it's not just natural selection for the one walking on top, it's also for the guy who didn't childproof it who gets a beardeer studded with glass shards to the face one day.
>>943721
Also, Darwin VERY CAREFULLY didn't mention anything about people in his Origin of Species, specifically because he didn't want to get lynched. But he talked about it in Descent of Man, and basically started eugenics, and also talked about how sexual selection greatly outpaces natural selection in a cooperative civilized society.
If evolution relies on changes that are so small and slow they take thousands of generations the contribution to survival would be insignificant.
Checkmate Darwin
OP here, I still lurk the thread.
Nobody knows about a "one way reflective coating" that would improve light distribution in thick vegetation?
Also, anyone know which covering is best? I was thinking a hard corrugated plastic like pic related.
Covering anything that isn't glass in aluminum foil will help reflect the light. Using one way mirrors wouldn't work well since they don't let in light as well if I'm not mistaken.
>>944212
i don't have a greenhouse unluckily, but where i live (northern italy) greenhouses use just glass to insulate them.
But we never go below -5° C, so it might be different if your climate is different
Since this is a greenhouse thread, I've been meaning to ask: how viable are greenhouses in zone 5? I live in this zone and gardening is shit. Are greenhouses only worth it if I can run a diesel generator or some shit 24/7 to keep heat up?
>>944212
I'm almost positive I read once that the plastic you're talking about turns opaque, I guess is the easiest way to put it. Basically you'll have to replace it eventually. Although more expensive, the better option is glass. Can't answer your question about this coating though, friend
>>944397
Zone 3/4 border - we heat in the spring. Late spring and summer we need ventilation or it will hit 120+.
No way to economically heat in winter in case thats what you're asking.
>>944397
I'd look at >>942962 or some other sort of passive geothermal. If you look carefully, there are many plants that grow quite well at 40-45 degrees.
>>944445
yeah, nearly all plastics cloud due to damage from uv exposure. However, they tend to go from transparent to translucent, rather than opaque. so you lose some efficiency and looks terrible after a year or two, but several before it starts to fall apart.
>>944397
Look into solar heaters.
http://youtu.be/IvEfmDH_Y2o
You can make one from salvaged pallets, tin cans, cardboard as insulation, etc and you could probably stuff the cans with steel wool or something to improve heat retention.
