Greenhouse Gardening Guide

By Queensley O. Evbooma

About the Book

Dive into the vibrant world of greenhouse gardening with our comprehensive guide tailored for absolute beginners. 'DIY Greenhouse Gardening Guide' is your passport to cultivating organic, pest-free fruits, vegetables, and peppers right in your backyard, regardless of your prior gardening experience.

This book serves as your trusted companion, unveiling the secrets of greenhouse gardening from the ground up. From selecting the perfect greenhouse to understanding microclimates, mastering plant care, and combating pests and diseases, each chapter equips you with the knowledge to flourish as a greenhouse gardener.

Discover the art of creating optimal growing conditions, harnessing natural elements, and maximizing your harvest throughout the seasons. Uncover the magic of starting from seeds, nurturing thriving plants, and relishing the fruits of your labor with delightful recipes straight from your greenhouse bounty.

Moreover, delve into advanced techniques like hydroponics, aquaponics, and controlled environment agriculture, elevating your understanding and practice to the next level. With a monthly planting calendar and troubleshooting advice, you'll be confidently planning and caring for your greenhouse garden all year round.

Experience the joy of sustainable, bountiful gardening and embark on a fulfilling journey toward homegrown abundance with our 'DIY Greenhouse Gardening Guide.' Let this book be your gateway to a thriving, organic oasis right in your backyard.

 

Key Takeaways when you purchase this book include:

 

Greenhouse Essentials: Understand the benefits of greenhouse gardening, why it's a game-changer, and how to select the right greenhouse for your needs.

Getting Started: Dive into the basics of greenhouse gardening, exploring different types of greenhouses, considering their construction, size, and the essential tools and equipment required.

Greenhouse Microclimates: Master the art of controlling temperature, humidity, and ventilation within your greenhouse, optimizing conditions for plant growth.

Plant Selection and Care: Learn to choose the right plants for your greenhouse, caring for them from seed sowing to transplanting and potting, with a focus on different plant types.

Maximizing Your Greenhouse: Discover strategies to create and maintain optimal microclimates in your greenhouse. Effectively manage pests, diseases, and maximize space utilization.

Harvesting and Preservation: Gain insights into preserving your greenhouse produce through canning and explore delicious recipes using your homegrown crops.

Troubleshooting and Maintenance: Understand common problems in greenhouse gardening, from soil depletion to pest management, and learn how to troubleshoot and maintain your greenhouse.

Advanced Techniques: Explore advanced greenhouse techniques like hydroponics, aquaponics, and controlled environment agriculture for a deeper understanding and future planning.

Planning Your Growing Season: Use the monthly planting calendar to strategically plan your greenhouse garden throughout the year, understanding the role of temperature in different seasons.

Greenhouse Gardening Terms: Familiarize yourself with essential terminologies, ensuring you understand and speak the language of greenhouse gardening fluently.

Whether you're a novice eager to start your gardening journey or seeking to enhance your greenhouse expertise, this book equips you with the knowledge and practical guidance needed to cultivate a bountiful and thriving greenhouse garden.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Queensley O. Evbooma
• Release date: Dec 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224348787

Book preview

Introduction

A greenhouse is a specialized structure for nurturing plants, granting control over environmental factors like temperature and humidity. These constructions vary in size, ranging from compact to expansive designs. Despite the diversity in their layouts, all greenhouses typically incorporate roofs and walls predominantly composed of see-through materials such as glass panes, rigid polycarbonate plastics, or polyethylene plastic films. These materials facilitate the entry of sunlight and warmth, establishing an environment conducive to fostering a diverse range of plants.

The term greenhouse is often interchangeable with glasshouse or hothouse, contingent upon the materials used and the heating systems in place. Contemporary usage favors the term greenhouse due to its applicability to diverse construction materials like wood and polyethylene plastic. In contrast, a traditional glasshouse exclusively utilizes glass panels to enable light penetration. The term hothouse implies artificial heating within the greenhouse. However, greenhouse can encompass both heated and unheated structures.

The concept of greenhouse gardening traces back to ancient Rome when Emperor Tiberius insisted on having an Armenian cucumber daily. To meet this demand, gardeners devised a system akin to modern greenhouses. In the 17th century, greenhouses were commonplace structures constructed from brick or timber, featuring moderate window space and some form of heating. With the declining cost of glass and the accessibility of advanced heating techniques, the greenhouse underwent a significant evolution. It transitioned into a predominantly glass-walled, roofed structure, minimizing wooden or metallic framework.

By the mid-19th century, the greenhouse had progressed from a basic shelter against harsh climates to a controlled environment tailored to the specific needs of various plants. This era saw a surge in exotic plant availability, fostering the growth of glasshouse culture, particularly in England and other nations. Large greenhouses became pivotal in botanical science, agriculture, and horticulture, while smaller structures found favor among hobbyists, home gardeners, and collectors.

Modern greenhouses, typically framed structures, employ glass or plastic coverings to cultivate fruits, vegetables, flowers, and plants requiring specialized temperature conditions. While glass remains the preferred glazing material, fiberglass and plastic films like polyethylene or polyvinyl are also common. The framework comprises galvanized steel, aluminum, or woods such as cypress, redwood, or cedar. Heating in a greenhouse derives from solar radiation and artificial sources like hot air, steam, or circulated steam. Ventilation is vital due to the potential for excessive heat or cold. Systems typically include roof openings operated manually or automatically and end-wall openings facilitating air circulation through electric fans.

Over time, greenhouse gardening has gained substantial popularity among seasoned gardeners and novices venturing into plant cultivation. This surge in interest can be attributed to the myriad advantages of a greenhouse. These benefits include extending the growing season, shielding plants from adverse weather conditions, and creating an optimal environment conducive to cultivating various crops.

The Benefits of Greenhouse Gardening

Many seasoned gardeners are fond of greenhouses as they grant control over planting choices, methods, and yields derived from their endeavors within this space. On the other hand, unlike their experienced counterparts, novices might harbor uncertainties about the benefits of owning and utilizing a greenhouse. Operating or even being within such a space may be familiar to them. Nonetheless, a greenhouse presents numerous advantages regardless of one's level of expertise.

Controlled Environment

In your greenhouse, you wield control. The humidity levels, incoming light, soil composition, and the variety of plants present all fall within your purview as the overseer of this space.

Healthier Plants

Being in control of the conditions means your plants and produce stand a better chance of thriving. Therefore, the optimal conditions you establish should align with the specific needs of each plant. By merging this understanding with safeguarding against extremes, you foster an ideal plant growth environment.

Limitless Season Gardening

It's widely understood that outdoor crop cultivation hinges entirely on favorable weather conditions for seeds to take root and flourish. In a greenhouse, you can regulate the perfect temperature for your plants. Employing diverse techniques, you can stabilize the temperature at this optimal level, lessening plant stress and fostering robust growth much earlier in the year. This control allows you to dictate the timing of planting, harvesting, and sowing, irrespective of the season or the type of produce. 

Expand the Variety of your Produce

Another beneficial facet of greenhouse gardening is the heightened diversity it offers. Vegetables fluctuate in availability and pricing with changing seasons due to various factors like demand, production methods, and availability. By investing in a greenhouse, your business gains the capacity to provide a wide array of produce even during off-seasons. This increased availability caters to customers when supplies are typically scarce. Additionally, it facilitates the cultivation of new varieties of produce or flowers that might not typically thrive in your climate. The freedom from external concerns grants you substantial control in creating an optimal environment for your crop's development.

Minimizes External Threats to Your Crops

Discovering your tender, newly sprouted seedlings devoured by a furry intruder can be utterly distressing. Suddenly, that seemingly adorable little rabbit loses its charm when it's feasting on delicate leaves that were once attached to your vulnerable stems.

Greenhouse gardening significantly reduces the chances of animals and harmful insects accessing and damaging your plants. While rabbits might not be the worst threat to your crops, controlling what enters and exits your greenhouse is invaluable. This control prevents diseases from spreading and keeps bothersome animals at bay, safeguarding your plants from being consumed.

Protect Plants from Bad Weather

Plants thriving in a greenhouse benefit from a consistent and stable climate, fostering their growth and resilience. Adverse weather can harm plants even in the most meticulously tended outdoor gardens. Moreover, abrupt temperature shifts or extreme weather conditions can disrupt the delicate balance crucial for the survival of growing plants.

A garden greenhouse might offer the solution if you dwell in an area marked by erratic weather or an unsuitable climate for your desired plants. This controlled environment mitigates the impact of severe weather events, such as droughts or heavy rainfall. It offers a more predictable setting and accommodates a broad spectrum of plants, from delicate to robust varieties.

Concerns about strong winds, downpours, or excessive sunlight become obsolete when cultivating within a greenhouse. The greenhouse maintains a consistent environment, easing the cultivation of the plants you desire.

Save Energy

Additionally, greenhouse gardening has the potential to conserve energy. It is possible to conserve energy sources such as water when using a greenhouse since these sources are easier to regulate than in conventional gardening.

Why Choose Greenhouse Gardening

All-in-One Gardening Place: Owning a greenhouse offers a dedicated space for all your gardening essentials, eliminating the need for separate garden shelters. Beyond nurturing a diverse range of plants—vegetables, flowers, and equipment—it also serves as storage for all your gardening tools, supplies, and accessories.

Save Money: Investing a significant amount each spring in plants is expected, only to find yourself wanting more flowers for your garden. However, with a greenhouse, you can cultivate an endless array of seeds, often resulting in an abundance of greenhouse plants you can generously share with others. This practice can lead to substantial savings on plant purchases.

Greenhouse Gardening is Healthy: Owning a greenhouse benefits one's overall health, and engaging in greenhouse gardening follows suit. Spending time amidst nature outdoors is an exceptional escape from life's stresses. Moreover, the diffused illumination within greenhouse gardens has shown potential in treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD), precisely offering a mood uplift during times of low spirits.

Growing Exotics: Should you have an inclination toward rare and exotic plants, a greenhouse provides an ideal space for their cultivation. Scientists often resort to greenhouse gardening to grow uncommon, exotic plants that struggle to thrive outdoors because of harsh climate conditions.

Reduced Waste: The efficient use of water is made possible by greenhouse gardening, which means that the likelihood of water and nutrient waste is reduced. This can aid in waste reduction and profit growth.

Reduce Weeding: Greenhouse gardening offers the advantage of reduced weed growth, attributed to the elevated position of plants above the ground. This elevation can aid in weed control and play a role in preserving the health of the soil.

Less Fertilizer and Water: Greenhouse gardening reduces the amount of fertilizer and water required by plants due to the controlled environment within the greenhouse. This may result in decreased fertilizer and water expenses.

Selecting The Right Greenhouse

1. Seek Out a Greenhouse with Light Diffusion to Promote Plant Health

It’s widely known that sunlight plays a crucial role in plant growth. However, natural sunlight doesn’t always provide the optimal lighting conditions for plants. Direct sunlight can harm plants, causing excessive heat within a greenhouse. This leads to plants expelling extra energy through transpiration, akin to sweating, ultimately reducing their photosynthetic rates and causing stress.

Diffused light, reaching plants from all angles, reduces shaded areas, eliminating the need for plants to struggle for accessible light. As a result, plants grow compact and robust within your greenhouse. Studies show diffuse light optimally supports plant growth, boosting growth rates by 20 to 30 percent compared to plants in direct light.

Different greenhouse covers offer varying light diffusion properties. While materials like glass and most single-walled greenhouse coverings provide limited to no diffusion, polycarbonate covers partially diffuse light. Solexx greenhouse panels stand out by providing 100 percent diffusion, ensuring luminosity throughout the greenhouse, even on cloudy days. Compared to alternative materials, Solexx greenhouse covering effectively diffuses light across the entire greenhouse structure.

2. Find A Greenhouse That Functions Well In All Seasons

For year-round cultivation, a well-designed greenhouse is essential. Opt for one with ample ventilation and efficient insulation. The greenhouse covering should retain heat, making it affordable to warm when needed and naturally maintaining warmth in colder weather. Crucially, the greenhouse design should accommodate the installation of solar-powered louvers, exhaust ventilation, and extra-base vents to prevent overheating in spring and summer. Additionally, light diffusion aids in reducing temperature fluctuations within the greenhouse.

3. Choose A Greenhouse That Can Be Modified

Engaging in greenhouse gardening can become quite fascinating. As your expertise grows, your aspirations and uses for the greenhouse may evolve, prompting the need for various adjustments. An excellent greenhouse should possess adaptability, allowing for the seamless addition of future components. Whether you aim to boost productivity by adding accessories or expand the growing space through an extension kit, ensure the chosen greenhouse offers easy customization. Cultivating a diverse range of plants—from succulents and tropical herbs to flowers—within the same space becomes entirely achievable with a suitable greenhouse.

4. Search for A Greenhouse That Is Solid and Long-Lasting

A top-tier greenhouse should endure both harsh weather and daily wear and tear. Hazards like stray baseballs, falling branches, and lawnmower-propelled pebbles pose risks to greenhouses. Additionally, severe weather elements such as wind, snow, and hail can wreak havoc on poorly constructed structures.

Consider investing in a low-maintenance greenhouse with accessible cleaning features to eliminate diseases or pests that infiltrate the space swiftly.

The greenhouse panels should be robust, boasting exceptional impact and scratch resistance. In regions prone to heavy snowfall or severe weather, the greenhouse covering must possess the strength to withstand such conditions without succumbing to damage.

5. Inquire About the Greenhouse's UV (Ultra-Violet) Warranty

Running your greenhouse should be hassle-free, requiring minimal yearly maintenance. Given the intense exposure to direct sunlight, a greenhouse's construction must prioritize durability to withstand such conditions. Opt for materials in the frame and cover that boasts UV resistance for maximum longevity. Consider investing in a greenhouse that offers a warranty against UV damage. Additionally, familiarize yourself with the availability and cost of replacement parts. This ensures the prolonged operation of your greenhouse without unexpected setbacks.

6. Look for A Greenhouse with Ample Interior Space for Growing Plants

The perfect greenhouse should match your plant needs and the available yard space. When choosing a greenhouse kit, remember that regardless of its current size, it will probably be fully utilized within a year. Ensuring ample space for growth is crucial.

The dimensions of your yard space might limit the greenhouse size options. However, a greenhouse equipped with built-in benches and hanging rods can optimize yields despite a smaller area.

7. Choose A Greenhouse That Is Easy To Maintain

Ensuring ease of maintenance and cleaning for your greenhouse is essential. Look for materials resistant to water etching, scratching, mold, and fungi. Be mindful that some greenhouse covers offer external UV protection, requiring cautious handling to prevent damage. Understand the maintenance needs of your greenhouse to guarantee its long-term durability and functionality, ensuring it remains visually appealing and operational for many years.

8. Purchase from A Greenhouse Manufacturer with A Proven Track Record

Constructing a home greenhouse demands a trustworthy company. Such companies ensure superior product quality, safety, and durability, backed by reliable warranty services and customer support. Choosing a reputable company saves time and money, steering clear of potential issues and costly repairs linked to subpar or inadequately built greenhouse structures. Assess the company's tenure in the industry and engage with their customer service representatives to gauge their expertise and the company's underlying values.

Chapter One

Getting Started

Types of Greenhouses

Various greenhouse structures cater to crop cultivation, each offering unique advantages tailored to specific applications. However, there isn't a singular type universally deemed the best. Each greenhouse variation serves a distinct purpose, emphasizing specific objectives. Below is a concise overview of different greenhouse