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Greenhouse Growing

Greenhouse Gardening & Growing, Glasshouses, Hothouses and Coldframes

Once you have a greenhouse, you wonder how you ever grew without it. They enable you to extend the growing season for outdoor crops and to grow crops that are too tender to survive outside at all.

The principle of the greenhouse is really quite simple. Solar energy comes through the glass or plastic easily and is absorbed by the contents of the house. They, in turn, radiate this energy back out as infra-red energy, which doesn’t pass through the glass and is trapped, thereby warming the house.

The structure of the greenhouse also prevents the wind from carrying away heated air, which keeps the contents warmer.

Having said that, as we all know, glass isn’t the best insulator although it does tend to be the best transmitter of solar radiation. Usually the greenhouse will need additional insulation and heating to maintain a suitable temperature for growing in cold weather.

It’s a balance between lowering the light level and increasing the insulation. In the summer, high insulation can be negative in that the house gets too hot and tomatoes don’t ripen well in low light on the plant.

No insulation means you can spend a lot on heating in cold weather or lose crops. One compromise is to just insulate part of the greenhouse so you can get crops started early without spending a fortune.

Mini-greenhouses, the very cheap plastic ones available at supermarkets and DIY stores can be very useful although not as effective as a proper greenhouse. Worth considering if you are short of space or low on funds.

Coldframes are often looked upon as a sort of mini-greenhouse but in fact a coldframe is a competely separate and complementary item. Used for helping plants transisition from greenhouse to garden, overwintering relatively hardy plants and providing sheltered conditions better than cloching for directly grown plants. Effective and useful coldframes can be built from scrap for next to nothing to extend the season and your capabilities.

I hope these articles listed below are of help to you

Best Position for a Greenhouse - Where to Site a Greenhouse

Best Position for a Greenhouse - Where to Site a Greenhouse

One of the things people often forget is to give enough thought to where they are going to put their greenhouse. The correct situation of the greenhouse will make a huge difference to its utility for you. Planning Permission & Security A normal...
Wooden Greenhouses Compared to Aluminium

Wooden Greenhouses Compared to Aluminium

A wooden greenhouse will cost more than aluminium but is it worth the extra investment? Wooden Greenhouses My very first greenhouse was a wooden one. We moved house and there it was, a magical white painted construction with crenellations along...
Greenhouse Heating Guide - Various Types Reviewed

Greenhouse Heating Guide - Various Types Reviewed

There's quite a choice of heaters for a greenhouse. Before considering a greenhouse heating, don't forget to insulate your greenhouse or your costs will spiral and you may well find your greenhouse heater does not cope on the coldest of nights. Paraffin...
Second Hand Greenhouse - Buying, Dismantling and Re-building a Greenhouse

Second Hand Greenhouse - Buying, Dismantling and Re-building a Greenhouse

This is my experience of buying a second hand greenhouse and re-building it. I'm passing on the lessons I learned along the way with 2 second hand greenhouses Why Buy a Second Hand Greenhouse? A large good quality greenhouse can...
Greenhouses in High Winds - Protect and Survive!

Greenhouses in High Winds - Protect and Survive!

Although hurricanes are pretty rare in the UK, we do get some high winds and they leave a trail of broken glass and twisted aluminium behind. I've seen high winds lift an entire greenhouse and dump it 3 plots away, the glass in shards and the frame looking...
Greenhouse Accessories for Heating and Ventilation

Greenhouse Accessories for Heating and Ventilation

When you have got your new greenhouse built the next thing to think about is greenhouse accessories. However large your greenhouse is, I bet you will wish it were larger and that you could fit more into it! Temperature Control in Greenhouses Keeping...
Fitting out the Greenhouse: Shelving, Staging & Greenhouse Benches

Fitting out the Greenhouse: Shelving, Staging & Greenhouse Benches

Having invested in a greenhouse, you need to make the best use of the space. One thing to remember is that, as well as floor area, we have height to work with. A greenhouse with high eaves is especially useful as you can fix shelves off the roof supports....
Watering the Greenhouse - Equipment to Help Greenhouse Watering

Watering the Greenhouse - Equipment to Help Greenhouse Watering

Especially when you have a greenhouse some distance from your house or the nearest tap, watering can be a bit of a chore. Carrying watering cans full back and forth always encourages you to skimp and without enough water you won't get a good crop. For...
Portable Greenhouses - Patio Greenhouses and Allotment Greenhouses

Portable Greenhouses - Patio Greenhouses and Allotment Greenhouses

A greenhouse enables you to start off seeds early and produce crops like tomatoes, peppers and aubergines that need that extra warmth that our summer rarely provides. But if you're tight for space or are not allowed to build permanent structures on your...
Managing the Hobby Greenhouse

Managing the Hobby Greenhouse

I never thought about taking on a greenhouse as being like taking on a pet until I read this article. Once you have a greenhouse, you will need to use it properly to get the best from it and this article gives some good guidance on using the greenhouse....
Cold Frames - Uses of Coldframes - Types of Coldframe

Cold Frames - Uses of Coldframes - Types of Coldframe

Unlike a cloche that moves around the garden, being used for a relatively short period as plants establish or to extend the end of the season, the coldframe is more of a fixed permanent feature in the garden. At one time nearly every gardener...
How to Build a Cold Frame for Free!

How to Build a Cold Frame for Free!

Or build a cold frame at home for next to nothing anyway! I've built coldframes in the past but sadly left them behind when we left the UK for a while. They really aren't difficult to construct, even if you are not very good at DIY (I'm rubbish!) If...
An Indoor Greenhouse - The Dewpoint Propagating & Growing Cabinet

An Indoor Greenhouse - The Dewpoint Propagating & Growing Cabinet

This revolutionary indoor greenhouse is a growing cabinet makes use of the dewpoint principle – the principle is that air saturated with water vapour cools around the leaves of cuttings and plants. Moisture loss from leaves is eliminated encouraging h...
Choosing a Greenhouse - What Greenhouse to Buy

Choosing a Greenhouse - What Greenhouse to Buy

When you realise that a greenhouse will make a huge difference in what you grow and how you grow it, the first thing you need to consider is what sort of greenhouse you want. This article gives some good advice and pointers to buying a greenhouse. Greenhouses...

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