How to Grow Plants With a Hobby Greenhouse
Hobby greenhouses are not as permanent as traditional greenhouses, mostly because they do not have a foundation and are assembled directly on the ground. They also use a different window covering than glass: normally plastic or vinyl sheets. Sometimes, they are portable. A hobby greenhouse allows you to extend the growing season for your plants, and possibly even make it year round. Getting started is simple.
Instructions
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Check the Greenhouse Gardening Schedule to plan which seeds and cuttings to plant in the autumn so you have winter and spring harvests. Transplanting established or mature plants from your garden is generally not a good idea, and many varieties of vegetables and flowers thrive outside and have difficulties in the greenhouse.
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Find seed varieties bred for greenhouse living. Certain plants thrive in a greenhouse setting. Annuals tend to do better in a greenhouse, but perennials need a winter to bloom effectively during the following season. Experiment with your plants to find the best growing results.
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Decide whether to have a cold, cool or warm greenhouse during your winter. The terms actually refer to the night temperature for the plants, rather than the temperature produced by the sunlight. To harvest during the winter and spring, maintain a cool greenhouse, which is at least forty-five degrees Fahrenheit during the night, or a warm greenhouse which is at least fifty-five degrees overnight. You might need a space heater or to run hot water pipes through your greenhouse to keep it warmer at night.
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Use potting soil for the plants in containers in your greenhouse. Plant corn and squash in the ground that makes up the floor of your hobby greenhouse, since you do not have a foundation. You might need to fertilize plants grown in the ground in your greenhouse, but not in the potting soil.
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Water the plants according to their individual water needs. Some beginners forget that it does not rain inside the greenhouse and they need to make a watering schedule or set up an irrigation system. Allow water to sit out for a day before you water your plants with it to let chlorine evaporate out. Make sure the water is room temperature so it does not shock the plants.
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Tips & Warnings
If you do not want to warm your hobby greenhouse during the winter, you can still use it to hold over some plants from one growing season to the next in a cold setting of at least twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit.
