Tips for greenhouse gardening
Are you a serious gardener? If you are really serious about gardening and want to be able to grow plants year round, then you might want to look into greenhouse gardening. In greenhouse gardening, you are able to grow different plants and vegetables during the winter - which can be really helpful if you want to have small vegetables on your table during the cold months! Greenhouse gardening is also a great way to get starter plants ready for planting outdoors! If you are interested in greenhouse gardening, there are a couple of things that you need to know. Greenhouse gardening is not just like outdoor or indoor gardening. Here are a couple of tips for greenhouse gardening:
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- Greenhouse location: You will want your greenhouse to be located in an area that can receive the most amount of sunlight possible during the winter months. When you are looking for the best place for your greenhouse, make sure that you take into consideration how the angle of the sun will change between the summer and the winter months. In addition, you should also consider the trees in the area. Is there a good clearing of trees between the southeast and southwest areas? Will the area be too shady in the winter because of evergreen trees? Remember that the leaves on deciduous trees will fall down to still provide sunlight in the greenhouse during the winter! Will trees be growing over time to create too much shade in your greenhouse area? Take all of these things into consideration so that you can have your greenhouse in the best location possible.
- Greenhouse temperature: The more that the sun pours into your greenhouse, the hotter your greenhouse will be! As a consequence, you will have to provide more ventilation so that your plants do not get dried up or die. You will need to constantly monitor your greenhouse temperature with a thermometer, not only in sunny weather, but in cloudy weather as well. This thermometer should be placed in the shade near the center of your greenhouse area. You will need to make sure that the temperature in your greenhouse will be the right level for the plants that you are growing. For example, if you have a temperature of 85 degrees in your greenhouse, but your plants are supposed to be at a 60 degree level, you will need to provide more ventilation in the greenhouse to cool the temperature down.
- Greenhouse plants: If you are interested in growing root crops in your garden, such as carrots and turnips, then you could consider growing them in deep boxes. These boxes fit well underneath benches and you should be able to have even more space in your greenhouse. However, if you are growing tomatoes, cucumbers, or pole beans you will want to grow these plants in containers that are more like tubs. You also can grow leafy vegetables such as lettuce in a tub container with other plants that are a little bit taller.
- Large greenhouse plants: If you want to plant large greenhouse plants, such as corn and pumpkins, you should plant these directly in the floor of the greenhouse. You can set a bed aside in the greenhouse for these larger plants. It is recommended that you if you want to plant both of these, that you plant the pumpkins in between the rows of corn, so that you can save a little bit more space within the greenhouse.
