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Greenhouse Preparation Tips
If you have some gardening experience with open tillage, raised beds, or pots on your patio, you will be able to apply much of your knowledge to greenhouse gardening with just a bit of variation to gardening under glass. A greenhouse is not in all cases a “hot house,” as it is sometimes called. Some species of plants do best at slightly lower temperatures and with a much higher humidity than is usually maintained in a natural outdoor garden or inside your home. The temperature and humidity levels inside a greenhouse can be regulated fairly easily.
There are a number of reasons why gardeners may choose to garden inside a greenhouse. The most common reason is usually a desire to extend the traditional growing season into the winter months. The use of a greenhouse also enables the gardener to retain plants in the fall and throughout the winter for spring seeding or planting use. When starting new plants from seed, a greenhouse allows you to plant the seedlings sooner than you would if they were sowed directly in the outdoor garden. Starting plants from seed is also a very economical option, as opposed to the expense of purchasing young plants from a nursery. Other common reasons for greenhouse gardening include growing tropical or exotic plants, growing vegetables for winter use, and experimenting with hybridization of plants as a hobby or for home science experiments.
Getting Started With Greenhouse Gardening
The process of planning out a new greenhouse is almost as big of a job as building the structure itself. There are so many questions to answer! How big should your greenhouse be? What is the right location? What type of greenhouse is right for you? Will you build your own structure from scratch, or will you purchase a ready to assemble greenhouse kit? The planning stage alone can take several months, plus the additional time and sweat work of actually building the greenhouse.
But once all this is done, then the real fun can begin! So once you’ve got your greenhouse built, what is the next step? How do you set up your greenhouse and get ready to begin greenhouse gardening?