Water, Water, Everywhere

Making the greenhouse shipshape with interior siding and a sprinkler system

About 18 months ago, I built a new greenhouse. “The greenhouse was done,” I claimed. In truth, though, it wasn’t actually finished. I simply had gotten it to a point where it was good enough for now.

That was then. In the year-plus since, two issues have been gnawing at me. One is that the walls under the benches are super ugly thanks to the pink and yellow insulation foam I had put in place. The other is the lack of a good watering system.

To fix the first problem, I considered a few options — plywood, vinyl panels, sheathing — before realizing shiplap was the correct answer. Handsome, easy to install, and relatively cheap, I was able to cover the insulation within a couple of hours and vastly improve the look of the space.

Shiplap took the under-counter walls from hideous to not bad without much fuss.

With that finished, it was time to solve the other ongoing issue: watering.

Although I had a hose in the greenhouse — and look, I realize what I’m about to tell you reveals my unabashed laziness, but bear with me — I didn’t always remember to go to the greenhouse to water the plants inside. This was especially the case, ironically enough, when it was raining outside. That’s because if it was raining, I didn’t really want to venture outside. But of course, the plants still needed watering because it wasn’t raining in the greenhouse itself.

Also, on hot, sunny days, I might need to water the plants several times. What a pain!

So, I decided I needed a sprinkler system. For this, I bought two things: a Meross smart two-zone sprinkler controller and a set of drip-irrigation kit.

Once both arrived, I connected them all together and sure enough, the system worked — sort of. It turned on and off and sprayed water through the nozzles. That was all fine. But finding a way to route the hoses and direct the nozzles was not at all obvious. How would I attach, support, and aim them?

I tried different options — staking nozzles in plants; holding them down with weights; tying them with string and wire — and nothing was working. Water was spraying everywhere and also nowhere I wanted it to go.

Then I hit on an idea: I’d make wooden brackets, or arms, that I’d screw into the framing of the greenhouse. Each arm would have a small hole in the end that the hose would run through. This would give the system plenty of support. Each nozzle could be fine-tuned to drip or spray or be closed off entirely. Success!

Greenhouse sprinkler system in place and working as intended!

Now I can quickly and easily water my plants from anywhere I have an internet connection, just as nature intended.

And now, finally, the greenhouse is done.

At least until I think of something else.¹

1. Like a heating system.