Recycling and growing plants is not something new, it has been happening for decades. Here is the story of one such case from 1956.

Glass houses aren’t usually built for $200.00 even in a do-it-yourself project. However Mr Milan, of Tulsa, built one for that amount including benches. His 8 by 20 foot orchid house had walls and ceilings made from spent 48-inch fluorescent light tubes that have weathered four years of Oklahoma’s hailstorms and occasional winter temperatures as low as 10 degrees. He calls it his “spent lighthouse.”

Milan’s idea for the structure came from one he had seen in California. As far as can be learned the Tulsa one was the first one built in Mid-America. Under California conditions orchids had needed shade and under Oklahoma’s sizzling sun their need was greater. Then Mrs. Milan was specializing in raising ferns and they could not survive the usual greenhouse structure. Now the tube is frosted which gives filtered light and it is also vacuum sealed which makes it a good insulating medium; both are qualities that ordinary window pane glass did not have.

Under California conditions where the doors and windows are kept open most of the time, African violets refused to flower for the Milans, as the plants abhor drafts. In the spent light house African violets grew as wild as they do in their native Africa, flowering prolifically. As they were crowding out other plants they had to be given away.

The plants survived the 1956 summer – seventh hottest in recorded weather history at that time – without benefit of any cooling apparatus. From July through September 100 degrees and above temperatures prevailed. However the plants were sprayed with water every day which lowered temperatures slightly.

The glasshouse was 20 by 8 by 9 feet high. Constructed of redwood, fluorescent tubes and sponge rubber. The structure was supported on a base of 4 by 4 inch redwood, bolted together. For convenience in leveling this base, it rested on bricks, spaced at intervals.

The sides of the house were 2 by 3 inch redwood framing, 8 feet high with the 20 foot section divided by four vertical studs and a 2 by 3 member at the mid-point of the vertical height. Spent fluorescent tubes, 48 inch, were placed vertically in the ten panels. In order to provide a tight fit in each panel a strip of sponge rubber inch thick was nailed to the vertical member as required. Additional wooden spacers were nailed on these studs in order to make a tight fit of the tubes. Wooden strips, 3/4 inch wide, were nailed on the horizontal members, top and bottom, on each side of these members in order to prevent the tubes from falling into or out of the house.

In each panel the wooden strip, on the outside, had a small section installed with screws in order that it may be removed for replacing any tube that would be required in case of breakage. To provide additional bracing from the wind, two 16 gauge wires were installed diagonally across the sides from top to the bottom plate for additional stability. The one end was similarly constructed except that it consisted of four panels. The other end had narrow panels and a door frame and door installed.

The roof consisted of six arches, each made with three 1 by 4’s laid together which have been bent into an arch resulting in the rise of approximately one foot at the center of the greenhouse. These arches were approximately four feet apart on center and maintained their curvature by means of 16 gauge galvanized wire which forms a bow string. A retainer plate was nailed on the arches on each side and 48-inch fluorescent tubes were placed on the arch in a horizontal position. Three-quarter inch wooden strips were also nailed over the arches to keep the tubes from moving lengthwise. The result – the tubes formed a corrugated roof effect. Two strips of plumber’s tape held the tubes in place.

To prevent leakage from rain and to decrease heat loss in the winter time and to protect your plants such as schefflera amate, a blanket of clear plastic sheeting, 9 x 20 feet, was laid on top of the tubes on the roof.

Ventilation is provided by means of two small openings in the center of the arch at each end. In addition, the door is left open as required in warm weather.

By the way the orchids prospering in the Milan glasshouse included the Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Phaius, Cypripedium, and Oncidium tribes. Other plants being raised are begonias, hoyas, wood rose, philodendron, anthurium and a collection of ferns. During winter two 15,000 BTU orchid house unit heaters are used to hold the temperature at 60 degrees.

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