So how do you control the environment fully? What are some of the key things to have in a greenhouse before you begin? Well, let’s discuss that. This chapter will talk about how you can control a greenhouse environment in order to make sure that nothing gets thrown off, and the plants are left healthy, and happy as well.
First thing’s first, consider a heating and cooling system. While heating might not be needed during the day, since it does get cold at night, it can make things a lot harder for the plants in terms of growth, and that in turn can definitely be a problem. With heating, you have a few options.
You can get one of those electric heaters to circulate the air in there and to heat it up. Small heaters that are oil or gas are also good alternatives. You can also install solar heaters that are made for greenhouses if you want to go fully green. For the plants in general, have some heat lamps and heating cables if needed too, since this will help with making sure that the plants are nice and toasty. In any case, you want to make sure that the greenhouse is vented so that you’re not letting the air stagnate, and also that these heaters have a means to shut off automatically. For cooling systems, take some water barrels, or even buckets, and this can be used to help keep plants warm, but also cool when the sun goes away.
Shading is another important thing. Sometimes, your plants might get too much light. In that case, making sure that you reduce the sunlight that they’re getting is imperative. Getting those shade cloths that you can put over stuff is quite helpful, but also those rolling screens can help, and even some plastic shading can be used to help control this. If you think the plants are getting too much, you should inspect them to see if there are signs of burning or drying out. If so, you want to make sure that you cover them as needed.
With ventilation, get those vents or a fan that will be able to open and close. There are some super cheap ones that will help naturally move air, or you can get the hydraulic ones that will open and close automatically.
Gutters are also a huge plus when it comes to getting some natural water, or even to help with the rain barrels thing. You can use this to collect it, and if you have anything along the greenhouse, you can simply prevent these plans from getting too much water.
When it comes to gravel for the floor, get the pea gravel. Putting this on top of landscape fabric will help to keep the place from being overgrown with weeds, but there is another reason for this. If you do put this there, and water them, it will naturally keep the greenhouse at a cooler temperature.
Finally, there are pests. Particularly, aunts, gnats, ladybugs, and spiders. The best way to prevent them is to take the necessary precautions. If you see ants, start to consider perimeter treatment. If you start to see gnats, you need to make sure that you’re not overwatering the plants, since this is often the reason why they show up.
If you do see some eggs on the plants, or even larva, you should take a look at them, and I they’re beneficial for the place, let them sit around.
You should also remember that not every buy is a bad bug. For example, ladybugs and green lacewings actually help the garden. Spiders will also kill bugs, and you should consider getting the predators into there to help protect the plants. You should make sure to not have whiteflies though, since those are bad for the garden, and they’re actually very hard to remove from there, so make sure you begin to learn the difference, and do take your time to establish the pests.
All in all, you should check the plants before bringing them in, and after you do to ensure that none of them are harmful for the greenhouse, but instead are beneficial for the environment.
This chapter discussed some of the environmental factors to watch out for, and why it matters that you take some time and look at the state of the greenhouse before you go any further.