A mushroom house is judged on two things the crop cannot do without: darkness and humidity. This kit is built for that rather than adapted to it, so the covering is a three layer blackout tarp in place of a clear film and the humidity is held by ultrasonic units rather than by damping the floor. The frame is galvanized and comes pre drilled and numbered, and the kit includes the roll up side walls and the film rolls, so the house is raised with hand tools rather than fabricated on site.
Growing mushrooms under cover is a different problem from growing a vegetable under cover. The crop wants darkness rather than light, humidity held in a narrow band rather than ventilation to dry it out, and a house that can be cleaned down between flushes. This kit is specified for that crop, not converted to it.
The house is a single span tunnel at 8 m by 30 m, which is a working size for a small mushroom unit: enough floor for a set of beds or racks, small enough that the crop is managed by hand. A single span house gives one clear room, which matters on this crop because the conditions have to be held uniformly across the whole growing area rather than per bay.
Everything needed to close the house arrives in the kit. The frame is prefabricated, the cover and the side walls are included, and the fittings are matched to the span, so nothing has to be sourced locally against a drawing. Houses of this family are grouped on the tunnel greenhouse range page on this site.
The covering is a three layer blackout tarp rather than a clear film. A mushroom crop is grown inthe dark, and light is not simply unnecessary to it but limiting: the house is closed down to keepthe growing area dark, and the covering is the part that does it. A clear film house would needinternal screening to achieve the same thing, which is why the blackout cover is specified from thestart here.
Humidity is held by ultrasonic humidifiers at 85 to 90 per cent relative humidity. That is therange the crop works in, and holding it with equipment rather than by wetting the floor is what makesthe level repeatable from one flush to the next. The house is closed while the crop is fruiting, thenopened and cleaned down before the next cycle.
The frame is 2 mm galvanized steel hoops with 200 micron polyethylene film over them. The kit isprefabricated: every frame member is pre drilled and numbered, and the parts arrive with the fittingsand an assembly drawing, so the house is raised with a wrench rather than with fabricationequipment. That is what makes the kit practical on a site where there is no workshop.
Span is customizable from 6 m to 12 m and the film thickness is set on the order, so the same kitcan be specified for a small unit or for a larger block without a change of design. Knockdown packingis arranged so that two units fit a 40 ft container, which is what makes a kit economic to ship inquantity.
The table below is the standard kit. Span, length, film and the humidity equipment are set to the site and to the crop.
| House type | Single span arch greenhouse, prefabricated kit |
| Standard size | 8 m wide by 30 m long |
| Frame | 2 mm galvanized steel hoops, pre drilled and numbered |
| Cover | 200 micron polyethylene film |
| Mushroom covering | Three layer blackout tarp in place of clear film |
| Humidity | Ultrasonic humidifiers, 85 to 90 per cent relative humidity |
| Side walls | Roll up side walls included |
| Kit contents | Frame, film rolls, fittings and assembly drawings |
| Assembly | Hand tools only, no site fabrication |
| Options | Motorized roof vents, shade nets, hydroponic bench system |
| Packing | Knockdown cartons with drawings, two units per 40 ft container |
| Span options | 6 m to 12 m, customizable |
| Customisation | Span and film thickness set on the order |
The frame is assembled on a level base from numbered parts against the supplied drawing, then thefilm and the side walls go on. Because the members are pre drilled, the assembly is bolting ratherthan measuring, which is what keeps a kit build consistent between one house and the next. Thehumidifiers and any optional system are commissioned once the house can be closed.
Maintenance follows the crop cycle. The blackout cover is inspected for pin holes and chafe at thefixings, because a light leak on a mushroom house shows up in the crop rather than in the fabric, andthe humidifier elements are descaled on a routine since scale is what reduces their output. The frame,the side wall mechanism and the fixings are gone over between flushes, which is also when the house iswashed down.
Kits of this type are used for small scale mushroom production, for a grower adding a fruitinghouse alongside an existing unit, and for nursery or propagation work that needs a dark, humid room.They suit a site with no workshop, an operation that wants the house supplied as a known set ratherthan assembled from local materials, and projects shipping several units in a container. A poly tunnelmushroom house on the same principle is described in the poly tunnel mushroom greenhouse page.
Standards for structures and their components are published by BSI. Production and technology reporting for commercial greenhouse growers is published by Greenhouse Grower. A mushroom house built with humidity control is described in the prefabricated mushroom greenhouse with humidity control page.
Because a mushroom crop is grown in the dark. The covering has to exclude light rather than admitit, and doing that with a three layer blackout tarp from the start avoids fitting internal screeningto a house that was never specified for the crop.
Yes. The frame arrives pre drilled and numbered with the fittings, and the film rolls, the roll upside walls and the assembly drawings are in the same shipment, so the house is raised with hand toolsrather than fabricated on site.
The galvanized steel frame is rated for 15 to 20 years under normal conditions. The covering isreplaced on its own cycle, and the humidifier elements, the vent drives and the side wall mechanismare serviced on their own schedules.
We provide a 10 year structural warranty and a 5 year anti-corrosion warranty on the galvanized steelwork. Details are set out in the contract for each project.
Send your site dimensions, the crop you plan to run and the room conditions you need to hold. We reply with a layout drawing and a full quotation.
