Plants, fruits, vegetables, flowers and more are now grown inside greenhouses. They use solar energy to heat the plants, trapping the heat inside and making it very conducive for vegetation cultivation. Typically, these structures are made of glass or plastic materials, to capture the warm air inside the greenhouse.

Cultivating plants in greenhouses have special requirements, compared to planting outdoors. First, it is important to regulate pets and diseases from the plants. The temperature should also be monitored, to achieve the ultimate growing environment.

The right greenhouse supplies are needed for the best cultivation. It starts with purchasing the right greenhouse kit to build your own greenhouse. We’ll discuss some of these kits now.

1. Sunshine kits. These greenhouse kits are framed by redwood. They come with poly carbonate insulation to cover the plants. They also provide adequate space, usually with frames 10 feet tall. They are easy to install, and depending upon the model, the price runs from $1000-$4000.

2. Cross country kits. These come with many modified options, and are framed with aluminum for strong support. Choices in these designs come with screen doors and/or an automatic ventilation system. They can cost between $2500-$30,000.

3. Little greenhouse kits. This is a good economical choice. These structures come with ultraviolet ray protection. Also included is a bench setup and exhaust fan. They are PVC framed, and are perfect for beginners.

4. Juliana kits. Made from rust free frames of aluminum and polycarbonate, these twinwall coverings are both enduring and affordable. They can come as cheaply as $65 per kit.

5. Portable kits. Another inexpensive kit that’s easy to assemble or disassemble. Good for the seasonal gardener, who can put them up or take them down when needed. Made of steel structure, they come with a plastic covering film.

Enhancing your greenhouse is a bit different than decorating or redesigning your home. It is a very specific type of enhancement, much unlike anything you’ve probably done before. You must purchase accessories that will actually benefit your greenhouse, and not just improve its look.

First, let’s consider the way a greenhouse is designed. It is typically made of glass, or plastic. This is because it allows the heat to come in from the sun and warm the plants, soil and other things within the greenhouse. Once the heat enters the greenhouse, it is hard for it to escape. Thus, the air inside stays warm.

This means you might need more than your typical backyard gardening accessories in your greenhouse. If you’re going to be working in a greenhouse, the following accessories should be considered required.

Temperature gauges — you have to be able to check the temperature in your greenhouse at all times, to make sure adequate heat is being introduced into the greenhouse.

Thermostats — this is how you will control the temperature within your greenhouse, and manage the hotness within the greenhouse.

Humidistat - humidity it is just important as temperature. Without the proper humidity, the air can get dry or too damp. The right amount of moisture is required inside the greenhouse.

Lighting accessories — the right type of lights can boost the growth of plants, especially in periods of time when sunlight is inadequate.

Light meters — while light is essential for the growth of plants, too much light can harm the plant. Therefore, you have to keep track of how much light each plant is getting, so you can monitor the amount of light and administer it in a healthy amount.

Consider these the five key essential greenhouse accessories needed in order to develop healthy plants and vegetation.

Every new cutting season requires you to prepare grass cutting equipment such as lawn movers and tractors for your garden. Apart from outdoor lawn power equipment, another important aspect is the way you have arranged and used garden decorations. In order to add beauty to your garden, wooden wind chimes could also be hanged for its unique inharmonious sound. Another way to add color to your garden is through the use of gazing balls

Winter greenhouse gardening is one way in which gardeners can extend their hobby throughout the year, particularly if the climate in your area means growing plants outdoors is not possible. Adding a greenhouse extends the growing season, whether you are interested in plants, flowers or vegetables.

You should choose a greenhouse to suit your particular garden. They are available in many different shapes and sizes, to suit all budgets. If space is limited you may want to consider a lean to type of greenhouse. Placing a greenhouse in a sunny corner of your garden really helps when the weather dictates that you would normally have to stay indoors. It makes sense to choose the largest greenhouse you can, within your budget and available space. That way you will be able to space out the plants, giving them extra room to breathe and reducing the risk of disease

If you have a heated greenhouse, winter greenhouse gardening really does extend the growing season. It also means you can protect plants from damage that might have been caused by birds, insects and the weather.

Greenhouses are great for starting seedlings in the winter months, giving them a great start before you plant them outside when the weather improves. You should position your greenhouse where it gets the maximum amount of sunlight during the day. You should also consider whether you need easy access to utilities such as electricity and water.

If you live in a particularly windy area it makes sense to position the greenhouse door facing away from the prevailing wind.

Following these simple tips will help you succeed with your winter greenhouse gardening.

For those of us who do not have the space, or even the finances, for a full sized greenhouse the mini greenhouse or cold frame is the only other option besides the window sill. Mini greenhouses are available from most nurseries and garden centers and there is a truly immense selection of high quality, low priced, mini greenhouses available to purchase online or via mail order.

Advantages of the Mini Greenhouse

Possibly the most important advantage to using a mini greenhouse is space, being highly compact and somewhat portable, they can be placed almost anywhere in the garden. Many choose to have theirs on a patio, or a balcony, where they will receive most sunshine and when the patio is in use the greenhouse can simply be moved out of the way and put back when finished. However it can also be used for display purposes, in which case it can be kept permanently on the patio to show off your finest specimens.

Most good quality mini greenhouses are made of tough tubular steel, which is usually coated with plastic, making them easy to dismantle when they are not in use. The tubular frame is covered in a strong fleece or durable polypropylene cover. At the front is usually a roll-up zipped door/panel to allow easy and quick access. Some of the finer examples are rather tall with up to four tiers and often come equipped with both summer and winter covers allowing you to use them throughout the winter months. You may find the cheap mini greenhouses are not really suitable for use over winter.

A mini greenhouse is highly suitable for seed germination and plant propagation and, if you place them near your back door it is extremely easy to monitor the temperature and humidity, too hot or humid all you need do is open, or even remove, the plastic cover. I love continually checking on my plants, usually next years perennials, as often as I can and being disabled I really appreciate my little three tiered mini greenhouse being within easy reach. My main greenhouse is at the very back of my garden and is a fair old trek so I like to keep some of my plants nearer the home. I also have a few specimen plants dotted around on each of the tiers making the whole thing look rather pretty.

Durability

I love mini greenhouses and I actually have two of them, one with a loose plastic cover (mentioned above) and another which is a far more robust gro-house which is twin walled polypropylene. The polypropylene is crystal clear and six times stronger than glass! I have this one a little further away from the house in an area of my garden which gets most sunlight but is rather exposed. It is only small, sufficient for nine standard seed trays, but it is rigid enough to withstand the weather. I have used it for two years now and there is no sign of damage or discoloration and I shall be setting it up again this year for my early bedding plants. It cost a little more than my other mini greenhouse but I hope that it will last a while longer yet.

Other uses of the Mini Greenhouse

Most garden items are now available in trendy stainless steel, while expensive they look spectacular and are highly durable if cared for correctly. During the winter months I store mine away in the house but in the spring I am a little lazy and I have to admit that I always leave the bottom tier of my mini greenhouse clear so that I have somewhere to throw my little stainless steel trowel and fork set in the evening so that they are easily to hand the next day.

I am so pleased with the two that I already own that I am now considering purchasing another cheap mini greenhouse which I can use to store the gardening equipment that I use most often. Every year I curse myself when it comes to digging out the garden hose as it has usually been thrown to the back of my garden shed but when I have finished with it I usually just throw it back there. It would be far better if I organized myself and placed it on one of the shelves in my new mini greenhouse where it would be within easy reach at all times.

Billy Harris was a professional landscape gardener for many years but since retirement he spends most of his time tinkering in his own garden. During the winter months he writes articles for a small number of gardening sites.

For our final installment of “Greenhouse 101″ we’ll learn about heating, ventilating and cooling the place that will serve as winter home to some of your plants, nursery to others and cool summer escape for still others.

As mentioned in part three, the type of heat your greenhouse requires will depend on where you live and the manner in which you build your greenhouse. While all greenhouses use solar energy, some will require an additional heating source, such as those in areas with little sun or extreme cold.

The passive solar energy system is the most used one in backyard greenhouses. With passive solar, a thermal mass, such as rocks or water-filled drums, is employed to capture heat during the day and radiate it back at night.

The active solar energy system involves pumping heated air into an energy storage area, such as water drums filled with rocks or the basement. With this type of system, you will need an electrical or other conventional source of energy to pump the heated air. This system does a better job of heating the greenhouse than passive solar heating; however it’s more expensive. You can gain a good understanding of solar heating and greenhouses at the National Sustainable Agricultural Service.

There also things you can do on a smaller level to help your plants receive even heating, such as painting containers black and filling them with water. Circulating fans will help maintain uniform by continually returning the rising heat downwards to plants.

For supplemental heating, a 220-volt circuit electric heater is often recommended for clean, efficient, and dependable heat. If the greenhouse is attached to the house, then the home heating system can probably be used.

Ventilation
The greenhouse will need proper ventilation for an exchange of inside air for outside air to control temperature, remove moisture, and to replenish carbon dioxide (CO2) that has been used by the plants through the day.

There are two ways to ventilate your greenhouse: naturally or mechanically. The natural method relies on roof vents that allow rising warm air to escape and that draw cool air in through the sides.

Mechanical ventilation utilizes an exhaust fan to move air out one end of the greenhouse while outside air enters the other end through motorized inlet louvers. The exhaust fans must be the correct size for the volume of air in the greenhouse.

Cooling
You can prevent your plants from withering in summer’s heat with various methods. Evaporative cooling in the form of a water cooler will cool and humidify your plants, but these systems don’t work well in humid climates. For the times of day when the summer sun is too intense, you can shade your greenhouse with a roll-up screen of wood or aluminum, vinyl netting or as many nurseries use, a shade cloth.

This concludes the three-part article on greenhouse building. Remember, while there is much information to assimilate and planning to do, most towns have a Master Gardener’s program nearby or a university’s extension service with knowledgeable folks who love to help. When using Websites, be sure they are of the authority type, such as the ones provided in this article. At the library you will likely run across many books about greenhouses published in the 70’s and 80’s, but be sure to look at newer ones too because there have been so many exciting developments to keep you and your plants happy.

In order to have better homes and gardens, patios can be arranged. There are a number of reasons why patio pavers are becoming reliable material for constructing and are used for outdoor patio design. If you want it to be covered there are a number of materials such as wood, concrete, fiber and glass available for patio gardening shade. Spanish style dwellings usually have patio sets between their homes and gardens.

I’ve just discovered a new site that has some great gardening equipment including greenhouses.

The site is Garden Chic:

http://www.gardenchic.co.uk

Not only do they sell greenhouses, they also stock sheds, cabins, summerhouses, hot tubs and loads of other great products. Garden Chic is well worth checking out.

In order to decorate your patios, a number of items can be used for exterior designing. The patio gardening shade can also be carved or painted if constructed in wood or fiber. In order to make it a proper sitting area, adirondack chairs are often placed. If you have kids at home, you may buy water trampoline according to the space available. If not trampolines, soothing effect can also be maintained through construction of classic patio ponds.

In the first part of this article the location of the greenhouse and the two basic types of greenhouses, freestanding and attached, were discussed. In this second part, we’ll learn about the structural possibilities. Keep in mind that the best options for you will depend on your climate, types of plants, convenience factors and budget.

Framing
The five basic shapes of freestanding greenhouses are Quonset hut, gothic, rigid frame, post and rafter, and A-Frame. As mentioned in part one, the greenhouses attached to homes are generally lean-to shapes. You can quickly reference pictures of each type online.

Your greenhouse frame can be wood, galvanized steel, or aluminum. Plastic pipe frames may sometimes be used in locations free of snow or strong winds.

Coverings
The frame can be covered with glass (tempered glass is often used because it is two or three times stronger than regular glass), rigid fiberglass, rigid double-wall plastics or plastic film.

The commercial greenhouse grade of PE plastic film protects against ultraviolet rays and lasts 12 to 18 months. Some of the film plastics block and reflect radiated heat back into the greenhouse, providing the advantage of glass without the expense and breakability factor.

The covering, or as its also called, the glazing, will be one of the determining factors in how far solar energy will go in heating your greenhouse. Depending on where you live, you may be able to rely completely on solar energy or in colder climates on as much as 25 percent of the daily heat requirement.

Optimal glazing materials allow the greatest amount of solar energy to enter into the greenhouse while minimizing energy loss. This process can get quite technical, but again this is just to give you a jump-start. It goes something like this: Good plant health requires a natural spectrum of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) to enter. While plants grow well with direct light, the direct light that enters through a clear covering divided by structural supports causes more shadows and uneven plant growth. Plants also grow well in diffused light, and the coverings that offer diffused lighting (such as rough-surface glass, double-layer rigid plastic and fiberglass) evens out the shadows, thus promoting more even growth.

Many new glazing materials have emerged since greenhouses hit the mainstream in the 70’s. Plastics now are the most popular type of covering since the weatherability has been enhanced in recent years with ultraviolet radiation degradation inhibitors, infrared radiation (IR) absorbency, anti-condensation drip surfaces and unique radiation transmission properties.

The manner in which you put up the coverings will also play a role in heat preservation. Cracks or holes caused by the mounting allow heat to escape, and differences in the width of the air space between the two glazes also affect heat retention. Another thing to take into account is whether the covering will expand with hot and cold weather. It seems like a lot of work, but careful planning can make a world of difference in heating efficiency.

Foundations and Floors
If you plan to build a glass, fiberglass or double-layer or rigid-plastic greenhouse, you will need to also plan on a foundation, probably a poured concrete one similar to a house’s foundation. However, Quonset hut greenhouses with pipe frames and plastic covers use posts driven into the ground.

Permanent flooring can be very slippery, due to the nature of a greenhouse. Instead, use a concrete, gravel, or stone walkway about two to three feet wide. Cover the rest of the greenhouse floor with several inches of gravel for good drainage. You can also spray the gravel for increased humidity. Part three of this article will venture into heating and ventilating the greenhouse.

Greenhouse is made up of glass, fiber or plastic which provides the garden shed. It is used for growing tender plants through filtration of skylight. Apart from them small roof structures which are known as gazebos also serve the same purpose. Some factors which are essentially maintained are temperature, humidity and also greenhouse gases levels through the structural materials also. Transmission of selective gases continues carbon cycle greenhouse effect.

Many gardeners consider a greenhouse a necessity for wintering non-hardy plants and starting new plants, as well as protecting sensitive plants from summer’s heat. A greenhouse as defined by the Gardener’s Dictionary is “a structure, covered with glass, fiberglass, or plastic, in which temperature and humidity can be controlled, for the cultivation and/or protection of plants.”

If you are considering building your first greenhouse, know that this needn’t be an expensive or hugely time-consuming project. However, whether your greenhouse is to be low budget or deluxe, the key to success as with most gardening endeavors is careful planning. This article will outline the basics so that when you contact a local Master Gardener’s program or university extension service, you will already have a good idea of how you want to proceed and a list of good questions prepared. This will also help you to decide on what type of blueprint to search for online or at your library where in both places you can find many good ones at no charge.

With several types of greenhouses from which to choose, the final decision should be based upon factors such as the amount of growing space you want, the available sites, budget, and last but not least, the environment required by your plants whether they be water garden tropicals, kitchen herbs or non hardy vegetables.

As you probably already know, a greenhouse receives heat through solar radiation. Greenhouses in the colder and/or less sunny regions or greenhouse with poor heat retention need a supplemental heat source, such as electric heat. That said, here is our intro to building a greenhouse.

Attached

An attached greenhouse can be a lean-to or full-size structure, or it can be an extended window structure. Some of the advantages to an attached greenhouse are the close proximity to electricity, water and a heat supply. Disadvantages include limited sunlight, possible space and ventilation limitations, uneven temperatures, and possible problems with snow and/or heavy rain from the home’s roof.

An even-span greenhouse is a full-size structure that has one gable end attached to another building. This is usually the largest and most costly option, but it provides more usable space (two to three benches), can be lengthened, and is better formed for air circulation and maintaining uniform temperatures during the winter.

Freestanding

A freestanding greenhouse lends itself to more location choices, and because it’s set apart from a building, more sun. It can be as big as you want. The disadvantage is that it requires a separate heat source from the home (unless solar heating is all that’s needed).

A 17 by 18-foot freestanding greenhouse or even-span, attached greenhouse provides one of the best ratios of cost to growing space. Such a greenhouse can house a central bench, two side benches, and two walkways.

Planning for adequate bench space, storage space, and room for future expansion is an important step in building a greenhouse. While one may think a small greenhouse’s climate is easier to maintain, in actuality, large greenhouses are easier because due to their increased air volume, their temperatures don’t fluctuate as much as in small ones. Plan for a minimum of 6 by 12 feet.

Build your greenhouse where it will receive maximum sunlight, such as on the southeast side of a building or shade trees. Sunlight all day is best, but morning sunlight on the east side is sufficient because it allows the plant’s food production process to begin early. North of major structures is the least desirable location. The National Sustainable Agriculture’s Website offers detailed and scientific information on finding the best location for your greenhouse in your particular area.

Deciduous shade trees are helpful in protecting from summer’s late afternoon sun, but your plants shouldn’t be shaded in the morning. Also, be sure the shade trees are deciduous so that their bare branches in the fall and winter let in maximum sunlight.

Also, when considering location, look at drainage, your specific plant’s requirements and shelter from winter wind, as well as accessibility to you and to heat, water, and electricity sources. Part two of this article gets into the nuts and bolts of the structures.

Welcome to the Greenhouse Gardening Tips Blog. Here you’ll find all sorts of greenhouse gardening tips, hints and advice for the greenhouse gardener. First of all here’s a quick introduction into what greenhouse gardening is all about. 

Gardening in a greenhouse allows you to control growing conditions such as temperature, water, soil erosion and more. Many people actually prefer to have their entire garden inside a greenhouse, because the environment is much more controlled and because it allows them to tend their gardens all year round.

Greenhouses are simply structures of varying sizes which are designed specifically for growing plants. They’re often designed with many windows, or using side and roof materials which are primarily see through (such as plastic, fiberglass, or regular glass) so that plenty of sun is able to continuously pour in throughout the day.

Greenhouses can have heating and cooling systems installed, so that the temperature is kept even all year round. This allows plants of any type to be grown at will, despite what the weather outside might be like.

Greenhouses also tend to have a dedicated water system installed, which will constantly irrigate or sprinkle the growing plants and ensure they maintain even water levels at all times.

Greenhouses can be built from scratch using your own designs, or you can purchase building plans and supplies to build them from instead. Greenhouse kits can also be purchased though, and these usually include all materials and instructions needed for creating your very own greenhouse.

The size of greenhouse you build or buy is completely up to you, however many gardeners often wish they had more space available in their existing greenhouse. So try to build or buy one as big as you can afford, and as big as your existing space will allow.

Be sure to research the various design options available before getting started on your own greenhouse too. You can for instance, build a greenhouse or buy a kit which is designed to use solar power for heating the greenhouse. In other words, instead of installing a heating system in your greenhouse, you would use the existing power of the sun for keeping the greenhouse from getting too cold in the winter. This is much more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, but it does require some specialized planning and design to put into place.

If you buy a greenhouse kit, you’ll be able to select from a wide variety of sizes, styles, and designs. Some for instance, are designed to be attached to an existing building such as your house. This would be excellent for creating an herb garden off your kitchen, and depending on how the kit is designed you might even be able to use that herb garden as your morning sun room or patio too.