Greenhouse Gardening & Growing

About Greenhouses (aka Glasshouse or Hothouse), Coldframes, Propagators etc.

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 to tender to survive outside at all.

Rion Greenhouse from TwoWests

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.

The structure of the greenhouse also prevents the wind from carrying away heated air, thereby keeping 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,

I hope these articles and links listed below are of interest to you .