GREENHOUSE GARDEN

A greenhouse garden can be seen as a valuable extension to your home garden, the benefits of having a greenhouse garden for growing plants, flowers or vegetables are huge.  It is also a great place to start up a hydroponic system.

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Juliana Greenhouse	Sunshine Gardenhouse

A greenhouse garden allows you to:

• Grow the plants you’ve always wanted, that don’t suit your climate

• Grow produce out of season

• Raise seedlings ready for planting out at the right time of the year

• Experiment with and propagate plants as a personal hobby or for developing new varieties

• Hold over the home garden plants to use them as ‘parent’ plants for the next season

• Work at your hobby regardless of weather conditions

If you are short on space take a look at our Garden Starter Cold Frame a miniature greenhouse providing a superior environment for plant growth.

Before deciding to go ahead with a greenhouse garden, take time to carefully choose its location. The site should be clean and level with easy access to, and around, it. Good drainage is also essential so water will drain away. You may also want to think about access to water and electricity.

Also consider the following points to ensure your greenhouse garden is a successful venture:

• Your greenhouse garden should be oriented in such a way that it is exposed to the sun’s rays for the maximum number of hours in a day. Allow for the possible change in the angle of the sun from summer to winter when selecting the site

• The possible shadows cast by trees or existing structure at the site need to be taken into account

• Look at the possibility of  trees you may grow in the future casting shadows

• Remember that deciduous trees will allow winter sun, on the other hand, evergreen trees will block the winter sun

Preferably build with the long side facing a southerly direction, so that the angle of the roof catches the maximum of the sun’s rays in the winter. Further, if shade cloth is used during the warmer days in the spring and summer season, only one side would need to be shaded, if the long side is facing south.

The interior of your greenhouse garden should have adequate room for the potting of a maximum number of plants and, at the same time, leave enough space for moving about in a comfortable manner. The height of the tables and benches, as well as the spaces for sinks and storage space for tools, etc. should be planned beforehand so your experience and results are optimized in your greenhouse garden.

The heat generated inside the greenhouse garden should always be measured and ventilation provided according to the exact heating needs of the plants. Good ventilation should ensure that the excess heat is reduced and free air circulation among the plants is guaranteed. This can be achieved by keeping the doors open till late afternoon or by hosing down the floor and keeping the ceiling vents open. In winter extra heating may be required.

The soil used for growing the plants in pots should be a mixture of sand, peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, and fir bark. The soil should be watered only when it is completely dry. Over-watering can easily kill the plants. A drip irrigation system can be installed to take the guesswork out of watering, we find this very effective in a greenhouse garden. The Vanlet Gravity Feed Watering System is an automatic drip irrigation and fertilizer system that both day and night supplies the plants in your greenhouse or outdoors with an adjustable flow of water and fertilizer.

Your greenhouse garden should always be kept clean, regular disinfecting by scrubbing the entire structure, pots and tools with a mixture of diluted bleaching powder and a scrub brush is recommended. However, care must be taken that the disinfectant does not come in contact with the plants.