An Introduction To Greenhouse Gardening
April 24, 2008 – 4:51 amThere are three different ways of gardening. One is to have your garden inside your house. The other is to use whatever space your garden has and plant your crop outside. The third way is to do your gardening under glass. This is called greenhouse gardening.
Greenhouse gardening is very similar to outside gardening. You need to be able to control the greenhouse temperature. Keep in mind that plants do much better in temperatures that are a little lower than house temperatures and they need much more humidity. This will be the perfect environment for your greenhouse plants.
You need to build your greenhouse in a spot that maximizes the amount of sun that it can get through the year. This is very important for the spring and fall when the sun is at its lowest point. Locate your greenhouse where the sun will be at a southeastern to southwestern direction.
To ensure that ventilation flows throughout the greenhouse you should space your plants evenly around the gardening areas. One method of having good ventilation is to open the greenhouse doors in the morning and close them in the late afternoon. This is a fine method in the winter time as well, providing that you keep the weather report in mind and make sure that winter frost does not creep into your greenhouse in the late afternoon.
You can also hose down the floor in your greenhouse and open the vents in the ceiling. This will quickly cool down the greenhouse.
Commercial potting soil works well for greenhouse plants. It is preferable to grow the plants in large trays rather than in pots or containers. The best soil mixes include fir bark, sand, peat moss, vermiculite and perlite for some drainage.
Make sure that plants will get enough water. You need to take special care and not over water plants. The moisture level is regulated in a climate controlled greenhouse.
You can use your imagination in a greenhouse. Leave yourself lots of room so you can add new plants and move around to look after them.
You will need to plant vegetables like carrots, beets, turnips and other root vegetables in a deep box tray which will fit under benches. Lettuce and other low growing leafy vegetables can be planted in tubs with vegetables that have a taller growth. Vegetables like peas, cucumbers and tomatoes do well in tub type containers.
All you really need for successful greenhouse gardening is your imagination. Let it loose, and see what happens!
Tags: Gardening
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