Sustainable Gardening: A Beginners Guide To Greenhouse Gardening

Greenhouse Gardening in 2022: A Beginners Guide

Whether you want to grow some out-of-season plants or want to do some tests with them, a greenhouse setup is the best solution for that. We’ve tried to provide a general and easy-to-follow guideline for those interested in setting up their own greenhouse gardens. We’ve tried to make it so simple that anyone would understand. So if you are thinking about how to begin greenhouse gardening, here’s how you do it like a pro.

 

What Is a Greenhouse?

Also known as a glasshouse or hothouse, a greenhouse is a safe structure designed for growing and protecting tender, out-of-season, or unusual plants against unfavorable conditions. Usually, they are made of glass or plastic. They have a minimalistic structure to maximize the amount of natural light. They provide warmth and support to many varieties of plants. The mechanism is to trap the heat within the boundary to keep your plants active and safe during harsh weather conditions.

Greenhouses are especially popular in the colder regions across the globe. They can be as little as a small shed and as big as industrial-sized buildings. Now let’s get started on your first greenhouse project. Shall we?

 

Choose The Plants

As there are many types of plants that can survive in the customized environment of a greenhouse, we can pick almost anything we like. But our expert team advises starting with the simple ones. Here are some great plant choices that are simple and can be the best place to start:

  • Radishes
  • Onions
  • Potatoes
  • Sunflowers
  • Capsicum/Bell Peppers
  • Peas
  • Marigold
  • Beans
  • Hot Peppers
  • Herbs like Mint
  • Cilantro
  • Strawberries
  • Garlic
  • Leafy greens like lettuce
  • Tomatoes
  • Mushrooms
  • Roses

Also, you can use a variety of tropical plants. The house will remain a couple of degrees warmer than the outside. They will thrive if you provide all other essential supplies. Once you pick up the plant, it’s time to hunt for seeds.

 

Get The Seeds

There are basically two primary types of seed, and they both come with their own set of pros and cons. Though hybrid seeds are easily accessible, they aren’t cheap. They can’t be stored for long, but if you are looking to increase the amount of your harvest, this is the one for you.

On the other hand, heirloom seeds offer much more reach flavor and can last a lot longer than the hybrid ones, but they are hard to find. So depending on your unique set of requirements, choose the seed type, and let’s move on to the next step.

 

Prepare The Greenhouse

Here begins the tough part. You need to check a couple of things on how to prepare your greenhouse for its first user. Let’s go through all of them real quick.

 

Environment

Choosing the right environment is essential and affects the harvest you’re gonna get. We have to think about the placement, size, security, flooring, shelving, and light/water access to the greenhouse before we even start. As for the size, our experts advise going bigger than you think you want. Make sure that the greenhouse gets as much light as possible and as much water as needed.

 

Weather Control

Weather control will help you take care of your plants well. If your area is prone to high winds and powerful storms, be cautious. If you need more warmth, you can try to maximize the sunlight you’re getting. We need to have easy access to water, nutrients, and power. You can also use advanced tools or systems that can aid you in taking good care of your plant buddies.

 

Decorate The Inner Garden

Once you are happy with the size, positional, access points, and environment, We need to move on to the preparation part. There are a lot of options to choose from when it comes to shelving/flooring. Once you’ve chosen the perfect setup for your indoor garden, it’s time to decorate the interior as you like it. Just make sure that the resources are nearby and can be accessed anytime.

 

Additional Jobs

There is a couple of things that you need to check before moving forward in the process. Make sure that you have a steady temperature inside your greenhouse. You can open up part of the rood or install fans to help the hot air escape and provide good circulation. Don’t forget to manage shade cloths to protect your healthy plants from the deadly UV.

 

Plant The Seeds

Now’s that our greenhouse is ready to use, it’s time to plant the seeds of our choice and start taking great care of them. Let’s have a look at the biggest factors you need to check to ensure a good and healthy harvest.

 

Ventilation

Remember, a bit of warmer weather may be good for the plants, but excess heat can kill your precious plants easily. So make sure to distribute the heat evenly. If the oxygen inside the greenhouse gets trapped, your plants will die. That’s why proper ventilation is a crucial step.

 

Water

Plants can’t live without water, that much we know. But that doesn’t mean you just drop a bucket of water over your plants and be done with it. We need to have a solid idea of the water requirements of every plant we intend to grow. As the environment will be a little different, there is a great possibility that we’ll under/overdo it. You can use automatic watering systems if you can get your hands into one.

 

Humidity and Temperature

The weather inside the greenhouse needs to be fully under our control. Otherwise, the greenhouse we just made is nothing but a hot box, right? So we need to control and monitor the humidity and temperature closely. If the temperature is too cold, use a heatsink, insulation, or heat sink. If it gets too hot, spray water all over your inner greenhouse surfaces.

 

Accessories

There are a lot of additional tools and systems you may need in your greenhouse gardening project. So make a list of what you want and get to work. Get your hand on grow lights, shelves, clips, and whatever you think is needed. If you plan on installing solar panels over the roof, now’s the time. Once we are satisfied with what we have, we move on to taking care of our plants.

 

Pest Control

One of the biggest threats to your plants is pests. That is why we need to pay extra attention to pest control. The environment, humidity, and tempo make it really easy to grow the pest population. Keep a sharp eye on any signs of pests like aphids, thrips, bloodworms, slugs, and snails. Don’t forget to clean your greenhouse regularly. To prevent the pests from wreaking havoc in your greenhouse, you need to inspect your greenhouse thoroughly.

 

Over to You

Though this topic needs an in-depth discussion on its own, we tried to showcase all the basic things you’ll need to set up your very first greenhouse. Please let us know in the comment section below if you wish to get more in-depth articles on this particular topic.

That’s all for today. I hope this article proves to be helpful to those in need. Thanks for reading this far. I wish you a very happy gardening experience. So, happy gardening to you.

Scroll to Top