Heated Home Greenhouse - Extend The Natural Growing Season
An unheated greenhouse will extend your growing season - a heated one will extend it even further.
A heated greenhouse is normally designed to maintain a temperature of 4-7 degrees C (40-45 degrees F) over winter.
It will also ideally contain an automatic ventilation system.
As the temperature inside the hothouse rises above 21 degrees C (70 degrees F), a ventilator in the roof is partially opened by a special temperature-sensitive device. If the temperature continues to rise, the vent will be fully opened.
Shading can be provided by draw-down blinds on the inside of the glass or plastic, pulled down manually when there is strong sunshine. If the sun becomes hidden by clouds the blinds can be rolled back up. It's possible to get automatic blinds for the outside of the greenhouse, but these are expensive as they have to be custom-built to fit your greenhouse's dimensions.
If the internal temperature falls below 4-7 degrees C (40-45 degrees F), an automatic heating system can kick in - a thermostat will switch on an electric fan heater of, say, 2.5 kilowatts.
The greenhouse could contain, in one corner, a small mist propagator for rooting cuttings. A cheaper alternative might be a heated propagating case without a mist unit - but this would be less effective for cuttings which are difficult to root. However, a heated propagating case could also come in handy for germinating seeds in February or March (later in the year most seeds can be germinated in a pot covered with glass or plastic.)
There might also be staging along the greenhouse side supporting rows of cuttings which have already rooted. These can be put into a cold frame for hardening later in the year, before being transplanted to the garden the following spring.
More staging can hold potted plants in trays of wet sand to provide for automatic watering.
It's quite common to have frames outside the greenhouse. Frames heated by electric cables make good environments for young plants such as calceolaria, cineria, and solarum capsicastrum. Frames without artificial heating might be used to grow fruits such as melons.
A heated greenhouse may be more costly to set up and maintain than its unheated cousin, but it opens up many new gardening possibilities.
For tips and articles on all aspects of greenhouse gardening, visit home greenhouse now at greenhousesblog.com
Greenhouse Windows
Selecting the right window for you greenhouse is very important as they play a huge role in energy management. If the right material is not chosen or if the window is not constructed properly, all your efforts in constructing and maintaining a...
The Basics Of Building Your Own Greenhouse
Building a greenhouse is easier than you may think. You can choose different designs and sizes that you would like to build. A greenhouse will give you comfort whenever you visit your plants, vegetables, flowers, or orchids. It also provides the...
What You Should Know About Solar Greenhouses
Although every greenhouse is a solar greenhouse to some extent, there are differences in the type of solar heating and lighting that you can use. The covering you use, whether it is fibreglass, glass or heavy plastic, traps the heat from the sun...