Growing Dome

[@caroomsan9552]

I saw Shawn James and a man building one of these and it fascinated me. You guys did an excellent job. I hope his works out well for him. Thanks for showing the whole process and how well the garden grew.

[@aroundthecove]

Thank you. I like documenting projects around the yard. It's been a year now and we still have a lot to learn to about growing, but we love the dome kit from Growing Spaces. Our only complaint is that we wish we went bigger. My husband watches Shawn James' channel too :)

[@jonphillips8314]

Wow, fantastic video. It is exactly what we needed to make a decision on getting the 18" one ourselves. Thank you for making this public. I think growing spaces should give you some "kickback' on this, lol.

[@aroundthecove]

Haha. Yes. Kickback would be great.

[@esthermarcen7587]

that video is so really good, not only because you can see how is done (the building) but also because is possible to see very well the inside of the igloo, is the first video that I see where is possible to see the inside so so well, thank so much, love it. It will be nice to see how it goes the gardening inside now, a hug from Finland

[@aroundthecove]

Thank you for your nice comment. I'm glad it was helpful. We haven't been super successful this winter, but we have some herbs, spinach and chard. Not much else.

[@carole2dable]

Thank you so much for sharing this great video. That is a lot of buckets of dirt.

[@aroundthecove]

It sure was a lot of dirt. Lol.

[@m.m.9198]

Great Job! From Argentina, congratulations!

[@aroundthecove]

Thank you

[@osirisforward]

What a nice job on the video, a lot of work editing and getting some great coverage of the process, thanks for sharing that! I'm in BC and just ordered a 26' and looking forward to getting it up in the fall. --- Ron

[@aroundthecove]

Thanks Ron. I drive everyone crazy when I'm recording all the time, but I'm loving video memories over photos these days. Good luck with your new dome. It will be just in time to start your winter seedlings.

[@gamalmhmd3874]

I love this type of love.

[@SingerGuy59]

This is one of my dream projects. We live on a small-ish lot in the suburbs and I don't know if I have room for it (on the lot as well as in the budget), as well as how much shade my home would put on it in the morning hours when it really needs to start warming up to chase away the cool of the evening. I would dearly love to increase my food independence and extend my growing season, and have been sold on the concept of geodesic domes for years. The addition of the pond is an obvious necessity, as is the use of solar. Still mulling it over. Thanks so much for your excellent video (as well as watching Shawn James put his in).

[@aroundthecove]

Thank you. I like making little videos when we do a project. Ours is 18' but there is a 15' if that works better for you. There must be other companies with smaller too. I hope you can find something to meet your needs. We still haven't figured out what to grow through the winter other than chard...the endless supply of chard. Also many herbs are still doing fine. We have so much to learn.

[@old-man173]

Very nice looks great

[@aroundthecove]

Thank you.

[@natemurphy4367]

Looks amazing

[@aroundthecove]

Thanks!

[@debrapena-franson9530]

Great video!

[@aroundthecove]

Thank you.

[@jonphillips8314]

Now that its been up for a couple years are there any issues, other than it isn't big enough?

[@aroundthecove]

Yep, same as everyone else says: not big enough! I wouldn't say we had any "issues" with the dome, but there were tweaks we've made for sure. We consolidated the two solar panels Growing Spaces provided into one larger one and added a second pump to the tank. There wasn't enough water movement in the winter here in Nova Scotia and we wanted the pump to run more often to keep the water clear when it started to cool off in the fall. The internal drip edges were a must-have because of the humidity and cool air we get. Given how warm and humid it was inside, there was a decent amount of condensation and they keep it off the walls and back into the beds. We added some LED lights inside so we can work if it's a bit dark out and a custom controller to balance when all the different fans and pumps run so that we can keep it going off-grid. Yes, we have power a hundred feet or so away but we wanted to do everything we could on solar. Ultimately, two winters in and we're still more than happy with our Growing Dome!

[@jonphillips8314]

@@aroundthecove Thank you! We are definitely considering the 22' now!

[@DeanJohnson67]

what keeps it fro blowing over in a 50mph+ while its not complete ? the base sections all see to be inteinterconnected are they also then anchored to soe below ground footings ?

[@aroundthecove]

Hi Dean. There's multiple pieces of rebar in each section of the base driven at least 12 inches into the ground to keep it in place. Each section is pre-built prior to the overall construction (ie, all base sections before the base is put together) so it's only freestanding for less than a few hours. Same with the top structure. Dome sections go up all at once and there's not much for the wind to catch on the frames. Panels take a few hours but you do the 'into wind' side first and as soon as they're in place the shape of the dome starts flowing the wind around it.

[@amyparkerwilliams2944]

Where are you located? Lovely dome!

[@aroundthecove]

Thank you. We live in Nova Scotia. Zone 6 on a lake with high wind.

[@zvabl]

Is the plate used for water tank aluminum or steal? What thickness?

[@stevepatrickjarvis]

Saw Shawn James from the "My Self Reliance" videos make a very similar greenhouse. I know someone else already said this but I don't care.

[@aroundthecove]

I'm pretty sure it's because of his video that people watched ours. He does great work.

[@overthenever4262]

👍

[@daveharness70]

Great content! Is this the 18' dome? How has it been over the last year?

[@aroundthecove]

Hi David. This is the 18’ Dome. It’s done really well over the year, but we are still learning a lot. Everything still works without issue and no repairs. Our tomatoes grew until November and Swiss Chard grew all winter. I moved our annuals into the Dome so they could survive winter and it was nice to not have to buy new ones this year. We haven’t quite figured out the right balance with the water tank yet. We want fish, but the plants all died last winter and we figure there wouldn’t be enough oxygen for them. I do wish we had a bigger one, but mainly because of annuals and perennials that I want to propagate and grow over winter. This is a good size for a few fruit trees/vines and vegetables.

[@daveharness70]

@@aroundthecove thank you so much! We are looking at a 26 or 33 foot for next year. We are located in Indiana. I'd like to do fish too!

[@richardhavercroft7065]

I have a small pond that I put an aerator in during the winter to keep our fish oxygenated. It works great. Might want to try it in your tank.

[@nals1984]

What was the drainage tubing in the beds for? Just curious thanks.

[@aroundthecove]

Hi there, it's actually a tube with a fan on one end near the water tank to allow air to be sucked in and down through the soil to keep it warm (warmer than without, certainly not heated though). The water tank helps maintain warmer temperatures in the dome.

[@TheBowersj]

how do you calculate the lengths of the 2x4's? Can you make a bigger diameter with using more triangles or do you need longer 2x4's pieces with same number of triangles?

[@aroundthecove]

The number and size of each type of triangle changes depending on how big the dome is (there are more than one type of triangle in there). The dome kits from Growing Spaces have everything pre-cut for the triangles but there are calculators on the web that will give you the length and number of sections for a given geodesic dome.

[@TheBowersj]

@@aroundthecove Why does this have to be so confusing? No wonder this never catched on

[@aroundthecove]

@@TheBowersj It would be difficult without the kit.

[@beyoncesdaughter9128]

I am dying to buy something like this but I don't know where to buy it from or the materials.. Please help me where can I buy this materials or the whole thing?

[@aroundthecove]

Hi Catalina. We bought ours as a kit from growingspaces.com and we had a really great experience with them. We bought from an American company because Canada didn’t have a supplier at that time. I think the kit is the way to go for the growing dome as it includes everything you need.

[@schweizerballs573]

I was expecting a dome that grows. Silly me

[@aroundthecove]

I wish it did. Haha. It didn't take long to run out of room.

[@bclements5447]

Which vendor sold the dome greenhouse?

[@aroundthecove]

We purchased it from Growing Spaces (growingspaces.com).

[@GrowingSpacesGreenhouses]

👋

[@m.m.9198]

Hydroponic farm.

[@aroundthecove]

No plans for that right now.