The GreenHouse Tipi®

The Reese Tipis “GreenHouse Tipi” will extend the growing season in any climate. Out unique double-wall design lets you use our GreenHouse Tipi as a greenhouse, hotbed or cold frame depending on your needs and budget. GreenHouse Tipis are available in sizes from 13.5 ’ to 26’ diameter to meet the needs of the production produce farmer to the home gardner.

The Plains Indian tipi structure is ideally suited for the solar heating and convection cooling requirements of a greenhouse. The Indian tipis unique ability to control circulation, combined with its insolative double-wall construction, its unique ability to withstand high winds, its portability and its aesthetic beauty combine to create the perfect mobile greenhouse.

The ideal location for a GreenHouse Tipi is a southern exposed area free of any shade with good drainage and maximum solar absorption. A sheltered spot with a wall or hedge to the north will provide protection against winter winds. It should be conveniently located with a source of water nearby so that plants inside can be easily watered. If using heat cables, lights, fans or a furnace, a nearby source of electricity will be needed. When using a cold frame, plants may have to be brought indoors when very cold temperatures are expected so locating it near your home can be advantageous. To simplify use of your GreenHouse Tipi, consider a walkway to the front and allow adequate space around the tipi to allow operation of the “smoke” flaps.

Cold Frames, Hotbeds and Greenhouses

Cold frames and hotbeds are small greenhouses that utilize the sun's energy for heat. They are useful as season extenders, for propagating cuttings, for starting vegetable and flower transplants, etc.

Hotbeds use the same basic construction as a cold frame but the sun's energy is supplemented by, heating cables, fresh manure or other organic compost to warm the soil beneath the greenhouse.

Heated Greenhouses have supplemental heating (and possibly cooling) systems so that they can be used year-long. Our GreenHouse Tipi can be used as a cold frame, hotbed or greenhouse.

A cold frame tipi is simply setup over a cleared area of soil. Soil or straw can be mounded against the base of the structure to prevent heat loss and winds from entering. During mid-day heat, uncover a section of the bottom to allow air into the Greenhouse Tipi.

An organic hotbed, on the other hand, will be located over a bed of fresh manure (or other organic compost) and soil. Usually a hole slightly wider and longer than the dimensions of the frame is dug to a depth of approximately 3 feet. Fill the hole with 24-30 inches of fresh manure and top this with 6-12" of topsoil. The tipi is then setup over this bed of organic compost.

A heated greenhouse can be heated with any thermostatically controlled heat source. We offer a compact thermostatically controlled furnace that is ideally suited to heating any small greenhouse.