Bamboo Greenhouse (pics)

[Eastlandia]

Dear BambooWeb,
Over 4 years ago I ran into 75 - 12' 'tonkin' poles for free. I have used most of them in hobbys and what not, but for a final project I pulled the ol' culms out of the garage and set to make a greenhouse. After working on it for three days (naturally ignoring homework) I have noticed a few major problems and successes:
First, to attach anything to bamboo, it must be in the means of a screw as we have all found out. This is a problem concidering there isnt one board that isnt 'tonkin'. Staples dont work. In fact, they dont go in very far at all. I am making progress with rapping the culms with plastic, then attaching plastic to plastic, then lightling tacking them together.
Besides the obious blunders, I have had great fun and success with the structure. It is 12' by 12' for starters and is very strong. I latched 4 -6 culm "posts" and then sunk them in concrete blocks along-side an already existing concrete platform. Latching the poles went fast and I was surprised how everything fit together. Plenty of room! I will post some pictures once the entire structure is built plastic and all.
As for comments, I always attract insults and cronstructive critizisum. Plus, what have you built out of bamboo? (other than flutes)
From the boy who can't spell, -Eastlandia
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Alright, Everthing is made out of bamboo. Just latched them together with rope. I am very happy with how strong it is.
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Almost done... -Eastlandia

[Eastlandia]

It might look silly, but It sure works. And strong it is! Twisters have been comming here the past few days/weeks. Had its first HAIL storm!! (last one we had in BC was in 1988! haha it does wonders. Starting to fill already. -Eastlandia

[Thuja]

Nice-looking greenhouse frame! Pretty resourceful too getting all the parts to fit. I just noticed today that my little greenhouse has holes in its roof from a hale storm on Thursday. I guess if yours can take hale and tornadoes then I may need to switch to tonkin cane.

[kstanwick]

first off....nice. Second....lucky guy to have all thosed Extra culms....as i only have maybe one....thirdly I think you are right that rope and lashings are the best way to tie everything together. I typically have a general rule of thumb when building something if you are not sure about how to build something. "think like water" when i say that it generally means lap everything so water DOESN'T leak in...I did a bit of reading about bamboo building and it is different than your typical stick building.....I think i have some pdfs on some joinery. if you want i'll look around for it and post.

[Eastlandia]

Two days for bissetii shoots to grow 6 inches in first divisions from last year. Amazing. Hail last night didnt even damage it. 6 mm plastic. Works good. -Eastlandia

[Eastlandia]

Oh, sorry forgot to say this. The Psudsasa Amabilis culms or "tonkin cane" were mass supplied to many retial centers. In fact many books mention that under 'tonkins' name. Its main use is for garden stakes, vaulting polls etc. The public was buying "lukcy bamboo" faster than they could put it on the shelves, but the dry stuff lay quiet. I was lucky enough to know a very nice man who owns a nursery here. He had over 500 12' canes up in his rafters of an old barn. I took as much as I wanted. I still owe him. Look around. The canes dont sell, so maybe you can get a good deal. -Eastlandia

[Cactus Joe]

Nice work! Greenhouses are so amazing. But beware, that will not be your last greenhouse. Like bamboos, once you have had the taste of one, you will yearn for more and better.

I constructed a bamboo frame for a retractable shade for our deck last year. I used "liquid nails" (construction glue) in addition to latching the structure together with nylon ropes. There are, however, three critical weight bearing joints in which I used zinc plated bolts and nuts in addition to glue.

[Eastlandia]

Do you have a picture of that frame Catus Joe? I would like to see it.
I thought about putting screws in the structure, but it seemed more of a chalenge to just use rope and poles. It makes me feel its more organic....whatever that is.... -Eastlandia

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

Nice work!

[Eastlandia]

April's Issue of the ABS magazine has diagrams how to latch poles together...I think they call it diagonal latching. (?) I didn't look it up, I just did it. -Eastlandia

[CadyG]

Eastlandia,
Using twine and knots to tie poles together is called "lashing." Man, that reminds me of Girl Scouts. We made outdoor tables, chairs, benches and all sorts of "rustic" furniture using pine branches and jute string.

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

"....is called "lashing." Man, that reminds me of Girl Scouts."

Gee, I'm glad you went on to explain.


Thanks for the vocab lesson!

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

And cadyg, shouldn't you be lashing up a raft in case the floods come?

What a mess!

[Eastlandia]

Being a cub-scout-drop-out I think that there is more than one type of latching. ..i could be wrong tho-eastlandia

[Cactus Joe]

For the intricacies of "lashing" bamboo, speak to one of the guys who built this:

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