American Greenhouse

Winter Gardening

You most likely have been busy all spring tending to your little plants in the garden. During the summer months, you are caring for your vegetables, watering plants, and enjoying the flowering results in your gardens. In the fall, you have the tasks of saving seeds, dividing, pruning, and planting some new plants for the next growing seasons. In the winter months, you will find that you have a bit more time to spend gardening. Because it is so cold outside and this is where planning and your greenhouse are going to play important parts of your daily lives so you can continue with your gardening hobby or for growing those great fresh vegetables that you love so much.

 

The winter months are a great time to play in the greenhouse, growing vegetables that you can use in the home for dinner, special occasions and because you like fresh veggies. In the winter months, this is also a good time to experiment with new vegetables that you would like to try so that you know if you want to grow them in your gardens.

 

Exotics and new flavors (which are always being cultivated) in tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, onions and more, are going to give you the time to spend watching these plants grow and to see if they are exactly what you want in your gardens for the next growing seasons. You can try new cabbages, lettuce, and even radishes in the greenhouse over the winter months. Besides tasting the fruits and vegetables of your labors all winter long is a great way to kill those ‘blues’ that the cold weather often brings.

 

Besides growing fresh vegetables in your greenhouse over the winter months, winter gardening involves planning for your spring gardens. Planning for your spring gardens includes going through your greenhouse, sorting out the seeds that you have been collecting all during the fall months, making a listing of these seeds, and then making a listing of the seeds that you need to order for spring planting. Ordering from your favorite supplier or trading with local gardeners is how you will find the seeds that you need to start collecting for spring planting. Mid winter, in January and in February, you can start some of your seeds in the greenhouse so that they are going to be ready for early spring planting in your gardens and you will have vegetables by May!

 

Winter gardening also includes planning the layout of your gardens. Making a picture of the garden where you plant your vegetables, flowers, or other types of plants, you can draw in and label exactly how you want your spring garden to look. Having this layout ensures that you will rotate your crops from year to year and when the time comes there is no question as to what your next step is in planting your spring gardens.

 

Winter gardening also involves Christmas, Valentines, and even Easter flower planting that you can use for decorating your home. Winter gardening includes learning how to grow your favorites and to have them bloom at the correct times for the holiday seasons. Learning about the latest in force blooming techniques and in what soil or water certain varieties of flowers need to survive the holidays with grace is a winter gardeners delight as you succeed.

 

Winter gardening also involves planning to make sure your shrubs and larger type plants do not get broken over in the weight of ice or snow. Brush them off lightly as needed when they are outside. Another thing that is important to remember in the middle of the winter is that if you are using salt to melt ice or snow and your plants are nearby, that you don’t put salt on the plants or they will die off as the salt touches them. 

Starting Seeds in the Greenhouse

Have you been putting off growing plants of your own because you don’t know how to really care for your seeds, start seeds or you don’t know how to start seeds? Well, late winter and early spring are the seasons for starting seeds in the greenhouse. You should also know that you can start seeds in the greenhouse anytime of the year. Because you control the greenhouse environment you can start tomatoes in the fall and fresh tomatoes will sit on your table in the winter months when you keep on working with them!

 

If it is really early say December or January, you can start some seeds that take the longest to grow and be ready for transplanting such as the: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and similar long growing plants. These plants take at least six weeks before you can transplant them into a larger container for continued growing in the greenhouse.

 

The mix that you use to plant your seeds should be a mixture of sand, loam, peat moss, or other materials that are well draining but supporting for the roots to make a ‘stable’ appears on each seed. You can add perlite, or vermiculite to any type of soil to loosen it up as needed. You can add shell to the bottom of containers that don’t seem to be draining well as your transplants grow larger.

 

Plants that will require about eight weeks before you can plant them in another container, otherwise known as transplanting; include the tomato, pepper and the eggplant. Get started on your tomato or pepper seeds as early as February and by May you can plant them outdoors for a good growing season.

 

How are you going to plant the seeds in your greenhouse? Starting with small seed containers or small peat pots, fill them about ¾ of the way full with your soil mixture. Put the seed into the soil and cover lightly with another small, very small amount of soil. Misting your soil and seeds will bring germination about. It is equally as important to keep the soil mixture warm to promote germination for many seed types as well, although some seeds to need the cool temperatures to promote germination.

 

Covering your soil with a clear plastic will keep the moisture in the soil until germination occurs. Even if the seed take ten days to germinate the soil will be moist and preparing the seed for growth.

 

What is really amazing is that tomatoes can start germination in as little as six days, and peppers will start germination in just ten days. If you have a long growing season, in the summer outdoors or winter in the greenhouse, you can grow any type of plant you want watching the germination and then transplanting, as they get larger.

 

As your seeds start to grow into seedlings and then to mature plants, you don’t want to transplant your plants outdoors until they are at least six inches tall or taller. Plants that are a good dark green are healthy and ready to be planted outdoors. If your plants are a little yellow looking you might want to give then a few more days or weeks in the greenhouse with extra sunlight and care before moving these plants outdoors.

Humidity in the Greenhouse

Every plant has special needs, with humidity being a very important part of success for some types of plants. Humidity is the amount of moisture that is in the air. Often, when it is humid, gardeners have a more difficult time breathing but this is the ideal condition for plants that require high humidity and moisture in the air.

 

The amount of moisture in the air is going to affect how plants grow and the health of a plant. The purpose of raising humidity in the greenhouse is to moisten leaves, stems and even portions of the plants that are a far reach for the plant from the roots. Moisture keeps leaves shiny, and healthy looking.

 

Plants that become too dry too fast, when you live in an area that has a low humidity level, will have dry leaves, dry roots coming out of the soil and you will have to mist these plants to keep them healthier. The easiest way to add moisture to a plant is by misting them with a spray bottle when the humidity levels are very low.

 

It is important to remember not to mist plants during the sunniest portions of the day or the sun could possible burn the plants, leaving more damage then good after misting. Moisture should have a chance to sit on the plant for at least an hour or two before the high temperatures of the sun ‘come on’ for the day.

 

What are some signs of having too much humidity?

 

The leaves are looking droopy. Sometimes if you have too much moisture in the air, fungus and bacteria can start growing making the leaves look hairy.

 

Leaves that are curling up without turning brown have too much water. The moisture from the high humidity levels has already filled the leaves with all they need so they curl no allowing any more moisture if possible.

 

Plants that have many leaves that are turning black or brown are becoming diseased because of excessive amounts of moisture brought on by humidity. Picking off these leaves and helping the plant to dry out will be important to saving any plant in this condition.

 

How can you tell if you need higher levels of humidity in your greenhouse?

 

When the environment is too dry in the greenhouse, you will notice that your leaves will become shriveled, often curled up and then they will turn brown. You will have no choice but to cut off and trim back this plant, but you will have to keep more humidity on the plant if you expect it to continue growing.

 

If your plant is not getting enough moisture from the air and the environment, the flowers will lose their colors and brightness. The flower buds will wilt often without openings. The colors of the leaves will become very dull looking, not shiny at all.

Misting and Misters

Your greenhouse can vary in temperatures during the day. To lower the temperatures in the greenhouse it can be important to use various types of ventilation and shading to lower the air temperatures.

 

Airflow through the greenhouse moves the hot air up and out of the vents using the natural breeze. If you live in an area where the breeze does not happen often, fans can be used to push the air and move the hottest air up and through the vents of the greenhouse.

 

Shade clothes or blinds of some type in the greenhouse will keep the levels of sunlight from hitting the interior of your greenhouse, which will lower the temperature in the greenhouse somewhat as well.

 

But even with the best ventilation systems, and the use of the shade cloth you can often find your plants are having a difficult time growing and thriving in the greenhouse. Why? Because the temperatures are still high, most likely over eight degrees during the day, the soil that the plants are in dries out faster. The plants need something a little more to keep them cooler and moist while growing.

 

Using a misting system in the greenhouse will help lower the temperatures in the greenhouse and add the humidity which some plants need. A misting system is going to put out the finest, smallest drops of water possible. A mist is what you will find in your bathroom after taking a shower, sometimes a little heavier than that.

 

A misting system in the greenhouse will be attached to the roof of the greenhouse but on the inside so the water can float down onto the plants. If you have a powerful mister, you can have it sit in the middle of the floor and spout water upwards and into the air to float down and land on the plants.

 

Most gardeners are going to prefer a misting system that is on a timer so that you don’t have to leave the water on and then go back to the greenhouse to shut it off periodically during the day. A time is going to turn the water on for just a few short moments, and then shut it down, several times a day. This is a reliable system to ensure your plants are cooled, moist, and taken care of even when you cannot be in the greenhouse.

Benefits of owning a greenhouse

When you own a greenhouse your gardening hobby will grow with leaps and bounds and your interests will expand in gardening. There are many plants that you can grow in a controlled environment, the greenhouse, that you would not have had success with outside of those walls. 

 

Your greenhouse will become a haven where you can be alone, forget your thoughts, and start your journey into the ‘green’ world.  If you have found it difficult to grow starter plants in your kitchen or laundry for the spring planting season, or if you found that you wish your growing season was longer, a greenhouse is the answer you have been searching for. 

 

Inside your greenhouse, you can start your plants February or March and feel confident that you are going to have plants that will look great in your garden. Because you control the heat, the water and even the light, you can pick and choose what types of plants you want to grow. 

 

You can take your container plants indoors before the frost hits, and still have fresh flowers and vegetables into late November when you use a greenhouse for your gardening. You would be the envy, where you have fresh flowers in your home in October and you didn’t have to pay for them!

 

There are many people who use their greenhouse to teach their children more about gardening, when the summer months have passed them by. The summer months are so busy and the children really do look for something interesting to do. They can help you plant, rearrange and clean up in the greenhouse. Children love spending time with you in a greenhouse because they feel more ‘grown up’ and helpful.

 

If you have a favorite plant that you have always wanted to grow but your summer isn’t long enough, or maybe it is not hot enough, you can grow in your greenhouse controlled environment what ever you desire to learn. When you control the heat, the light and the water, you can grow the uncommon flowers, the delicate plants, and even raise trees in your greenhouse that wouldn’t survive the winter that you have tried previously.