Stefan van der Wal

Preparing for a storm

Storms can be some of the most dangerous situations you will run into for the greenhouse. The strong winds can damage or destroy windows and even blow whole window frames away. In particular danger of this are the top windows. These can be opened using the orange ropes, but can be very difficult to fully close. This means that the wind can get under the frame and blow them further open. If this happens in even one place in the greenhouse the wind will have a much easier time with blowing the other window frames open. There are several preparations that can be done to reduce the risk of damage to the greenhouse.

Vergroot

Storm damage to the greenhouse - Storm Corrie on 31-01-2022 Storm Corrie blew out one of the window frames from the greenhouse. This destroyed 4 windows and damaged the frame itself. The normal weights and rope constructions are not enough to keep the windows fully closed during a storm. Additional measures are necessary to prevent a repeat of this damage. Stefan van der Wal

The most important step is to ensure that the windows are as tightly closed as they can be using the orange ropes. These can be tied down instead of just relying on the weights to hold the frame in place. If you are unable to tie the rope down due to the length you can make them longer with other ropes or by using zip ties.

 

Tying the windows down is followed by locking the window frame fully by inserting a zip tie through the hole in the frame and around the bar that sits right below the window frame as can be seen in the picture below. This is the most reliable frame to prevent any movement in the window frame, but can be difficult to install. Feel around with your zip tie through the middle bar of the window frame until it goes through the hole. The location can be seen in the picture below

 

Also important is to remove the cilinders from the automatic arms. These will try to push the window open and can potentially break if the window is locked down with a zip tie. Removing these is very easy: just take the clip out that connects the two rods together and then screw the cilinder out of the frame.

 

Something else that needs to be done is to remove any objects around the greenhouse that can be blown against the windows. This can easily break a window and throw the glass throughout the grow beds. The large beach umbrellas from the restaurant terrace for example can be moved around by strong winds. Also be on the lookout for anything above the greenhouse like sunscreen weights or open windows.