Beginner Greenhouse Gardening Tips

Setting up a greenhouse is a great way to enjoy the wonderful world of gardening year round. However, setting up a greenhouse is more than just throwing up the building and tossing a few plants inside. If you want to be successful in greenhouse gardening, and you've never done so before, following these beginner greenhouse gardening tips will help to ensure your greenhouse gardening adventure goes off without a hitch.

Selecting a Greenhouse

The first step in getting started as a beginner greenhouse gardener is selecting your greenhouse. There are a number of greenhouses available on the market for you to choose from, so you want to make sure you will select a greenhouse that will suit your needs.

For best results as a beginner, you will want to choose a greenhouse that is easy to assemble. Many greenhouse kits can be found that are quite simple to build, and will require the use of very few tools and little to no building experience. Purchasing one of these kits is the best option if you are a beginner, because you will be able to put it together in a weekend, and be on your way to greenhouse gardening.

Greenhouse kits come in a large selection of materials. The most commonly used materials in modern greenhouses is polyethylene film and polycarbonate panels. These materials are not only the most durable, but they are also the most effective for greenhouse gardening. If you can find a greenhouse kit that is made with these materials, it will be well worth the money that you spend.

The location that you live in should play a factor in which type of greenhouse material that you choose. If you live in an area that is very windy, or gets a good amount of snow in the winter, a greenhouse made from polycarbonate panels is probably your best option because it is more durable. However, if you live in an area that gets little to no snowfall, and is not very windy, a greenhouse made from polyethylene film will work well, because it does not have to be quite as durable.

Selecting Your Greenhouse Location

Once you have decided which greenhouse you will be using, you will need to select your location in your yard to set up the building. You will of course want to choose a spot that is relatively level, so that the greenhouse rests properly on the ground. If the ground is not level, you will need to level it yourself, especially if your greenhouse kit comes with a floor to install.

You also need to choose a place that receives an adequate amount of sun in the winter. Monitor your yard on a sunny day. Are there areas that have shade cast upon them due to other buildings on the property or from existing trees? Keep in mind that during the winter, deciduous trees that are around the structure will not prevent sun from reaching the greenhouse, because they will have no leaves. If there are evergreen trees around though, they will block out the sun year long. Are there small trees nearby? As these trees grow, they may block out the winter sun, and prevent your greenhouse from getting the sunshine that it needs.

Unless you are planning on using solar power to run greenhouse fans and heaters, you will need to place your greenhouse in a location that is accessible to electricity, or plan to run electricity to your greenhouse. Fortunately, many of the accessories that are available for greenhouses today do run off of solar power, so if electricity is not an option for you or you do not want the headache of running power to your greenhouse, you can take advantage of these products. You will also need to make sure that your greenhouse is near a water source so that you can water your plants without having to cart buckets of water from one location to another.

Inside Your Greenhouse

When setting up the inside of your greenhouse, there are a few things that you will need to keep in mind. One, is that you will need to make sure that you have enough space in the greenhouse to set up your workbenches for potting and caring for plants. If you just fill your greenhouse with plants and have no working area, you will either have to do your work outside in the cold which is not good for the plants, or move them from location to location for you to work on them.

The most important part of ensuring that your greenhouse is successful is to ensure that it has proper ventilation, and the correct temperature for your plants to grow. Most greenhouse kits will come with ventilation panels that can be opened and closed as necessary to allow good airflow. You can also purchase ventilation fans to ensure that air flows properly, and keeps the temperature regulated.

If you live in a mildly temperate area, you may be able to get away with not putting a heater in your greenhouse, depending on the type of plants that you will be growing. Otherwise, you will have to install a special greenhouse heater to ensure that the building stays the correct temperature. A good way to measure temperature in your greenhouse is to place a few thermometers around the greenhouse, in both shady spots (under benches) and sunny spots, and spend a few days monitoring the temperature. You will need to know what the temperatures reach in your greenhouse on both sunny and cloudy days, so that you can get an idea of what you will need to do to maintain a steady and correct temperature for your plants.

If you set your greenhouse up correctly, you will have a better chance at being successful with greenhouse gardening. But as with any type of gardening project, a great portion of greenhouse gardening is trial and error. Overtime, you will learn exactly what your plants need, and as you become more experienced with greenhouse gardening, you will find you have higher and higher levels of success.