Geodome Project

 7th December 2021 Storm Barra hits Ireland. RTE news report of Storm Barra A bad day for the dome. I watched from the safety of the house to see the dome initially handle the buffetting of the high winds but eventually succumb to the forces of nature. Initial weathering of Storm Barra Eventually succumbing to extereme buffeting The storm was intense and ongoing for many hours on that fateful day. For many many hours the wind strengthened and waned changing direction as the storm passed over Ireland. The shelter from the surrounding buildings , trees and hedges protected the dome from the worst of the gusts of wind but at certain orientations the protection is very limited. It is difficult to know what the point of failure was.... During the storm it was unsafe to investigate , my sole activity being to dismantle / flatten the geodome remnants as portrayed above to try and prevent further damage and material flying away. However, it was clear that the frame had not broken as such....ie

 Its been a few months since the completion of the Bamboo framed Polythene Skinned Geodome was constructed and I wanted to summarise how things went during the first season. Setup - Watering was supplied by an external tap / hose / battery operated timer and distribution kit as described below. Tuning in the amount of time the water was switched on, number of times per day, the size and drainage of each plant pot led to some plants being overwatered. After adjusting the sequenece over time the system worked very well ...even during the extended periods of absence from the house,dome. Environment Once the water was sorted the other big variablke is temperature. During sunny days the inside of the Geodome rose to the high 30's such that any work to be performed inside became almost impossible. (think Sauna!) During overcast / windy days the dome sat around the mid 20's and probably got no lower than 18 degrees or so during the Spring, Summer nights. Excellent growth conditions fo