do I know you from somewhere? ([info]shlafe) wrote,
@ 2008-09-03 22:50:00
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Current mood:creative
Entry tags:cowboy, writing

common words
So, for the story I'm writing, I need to know how the air feels inside a greenhouse.  My memories of being in one are very dim.  So I Google it, and find a TON of information. Thermodynamics of a greenhouse sounds promising.  I click.

Great... different types of greenhouse and airflow, wall temperature, all good stuff.  But I notice that everytime the word greenhouse is used, it's prefaced by the word Martian.  Is this a brand name?  I click again.

Apparently, greenhouses can hypothetically be used on Mars as life support systems.  Not exactly what I was looking for.


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[info]sylvar
2008-09-04 03:36 am UTC (link)
I remember parking near a greenhouse just west of JWRU to go to VaxU meetings. If it's not still there, find a student who'll give you a tour on a weekend or something. That would be better than secondhand memories.

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[info]knobody
2008-09-04 05:33 am UTC (link)
if by west you mean south then they were there as of a few years ago when i worked on campus. no clue if they are there today, but the main groups of greenhouses are all out in the hinterlands, mostly to the east of fifield hall.

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[info]shlafe
2008-09-04 01:53 pm UTC (link)
Thanks! Good ideas, both.

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[info]meandering
2008-09-04 03:40 am UTC (link)
Not exactly what I was looking for.

I know, but isn't it cool? ;-)

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[info]shlafe
2008-09-04 01:54 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, it was pretty cool. I read a bit about it before I got back to the research I was *supposed* to be doing.

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[info]meandering
2008-09-04 07:23 pm UTC (link)
Hooray for Science!

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[info]knobody
2008-09-04 05:31 am UTC (link)
our small greenhouse was air conditioned, so it was warm, but not overly so. the large greenhouse had vents and fans, but they were old and broken, so it was just frigging hot, but it was very tall so it didn't get too hot down by the plants. actually, many of the greenhouses on campus that i have been in/around were either air conditioned or had large fans and vents. see, here in florida in the summer the greenhouses actually get too hot and can fry the plants or at least hinder their growth. ours didn't have a very strict range of temp/humidity that we needed, but i'm sure some are kept within narrow tolerances. in general expect to be warm to very hot and anywhere from humid to sultry. sweat is to be expected even if it's not too hot just because of the humidity. sometimes there's a nice breeze from the a/c or fans, though.

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[info]shlafe
2008-09-04 01:55 pm UTC (link)
This one is in Wyoming. Probably no air conditioner, but I might put in some fans.

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[info]penguinicity
2008-09-04 03:06 pm UTC (link)
I haven't been in a greenhouse in Wyoming, but I've been to ones in eastern Colorado many, many times...

The biggest thing for me was the smell. All the plant, dirt, and fertilizer smells get concentrated - like going to the garden center of a hardware store times about 5. (Actually, that's an idea - are there any garden stores or nurseries in town with greenhouses? Surely there must be. Go there and pretend that you want to buy a plant and you can experience it first hand.)

The humidity makes the air feel thicker, heavier, and hotter than it really is, especially compared to outside.

Greenhouse glass gets incredibly dirty - actually more like yellowed since in many cases it's plastic. This affects the light. It's not really dimmer, but it is a lot more diffuse and warmer. The disconnection from the outside feels very real, at least to me.

Fans are usually going pretty strongly if it's summer. In winter, they have those big gas fired heater things going (http://www3.modine.com/v2portal/page/portal/modine/modineMarketsDefault/modine_com/markets/building_HVAC/level_4_content_004.htm), which are noisy, but the plants+dirt smell usually completely overrides any gas smell.

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[info]shlafe
2008-09-05 02:05 am UTC (link)
Excellent. :)

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[info]heyharmony
2008-09-04 03:49 pm UTC (link)
To me, greenhouses are... contradictory? When first walking into one, I find it stifling (hot, humid, etc.). At the same time, though, it's almost easier to breath, which I attribute to the plants--the greenery--and it feels like breathing something more pure.

And they smell. Agreeing with penguinicity here. The concentration of dirt, fertilizer and all those different scents from whatever is growing can be too much... and yet refreshing. If a particular scent like lavender smells good, when it is concentrated and protected from the outside influences (pollution), it's just better.

It's both darker and brighter in a greenhouse, to me. Darker from the shade produced by the walls and taller/higher plants/trees, and yet brighter. It's like the greens in a greenhouse show brighter and more vivid.

They are wet. Always just wet. Water in patches on the floor, the humid air, the wet soil. Wet. (I have issues with wet stuff.)

I usually dislike a greenhouse when I first enter one because of the warm, wet, stifling nature. But it doesn't take more than a minute or so and I just acclimate to the atmosphere and am just happy to be in such a natural place, which leads to my last contradiction..

It's like being immersed in nature.... but it's man-made. Huh.

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[info]shlafe
2008-09-05 02:08 am UTC (link)
Wow, when you said contradictory, you weren't kidding!!

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