Learn The Benefits Of Greenhouse Gardening

Greenhouse gardening can seem a little old fashioned these days. It is so easy to jump in the

car and drive to the supermarket where we can find every kind of fruit and vegetables flown in

from all over the world. You want fresh strawberries in winter? No problem, there they are on

the shelf. May be you need some green beans for dinner. Pick up a little plastic wrapped tray

that were growing three days ago in Kenya.

But these are the very reasons for moving to greenhouse gardening. Driving and flying burn up

increasingly scarce fossil fuels and release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. More and

more people are waking up to the dangers of global warming.

Fresh fruit and vegetables have never been easier to buy than they are today. We live in an age

of convenience and immediate gratification. A greenhouse seems to entail just too much work

and the gratification is postponed for too long. Greenhouses seem pointless until we begin to

think about the wider picture and the kind of world our children and grandchildren will inherit.

Getting into greenhouse gardening can be an ecologically and socially responsible choice. You

will be eating fruit and vegetables that have grown in your own backyard. They have not been

flown half way round the planet to get to your plate. What's more you did not have to drive to get

them. You took a short walk and got some healthy exercise every day when you walked out to

the greenhouse to check on them.

We have got used to those convenient little packages in the supermarket. We like the idea of

having our vegetables ready prepared and washed. But we have also got used to poor taste.

The fruit and vegetables we buy in the supermarket have lost most of their natural sugars that

give them their flavor. Even the varieties are chosen for their shelf life rather than their flavor.

When you experience home grown fruit and vegetables fresh from the greenhouse you will

enter another quality of flavor. A fresh picked tomato explodes in your mouth with flavor.

Growing your own in the greenhouse means that you can select varieties that have the best

flavor.

A whole range of unusual varieties exist that are rarely grown commercially are available to you

with a greenhouse. With your own greenhouse you can explore these lesser known varieties of

familiar fruit and vegetables. You can even become really adventurous and try the kinds of fruit

and vegetables that you only get in specialist stores.

A greenhouse opens the world to you rather than bringing it to you at great cost to the planet

and everyone on it. Your carbon footprint will be smaller but your horizons will be wider.

"But I don't have time." I hear you say and it is true we are all short of time. But a little time spent

in the greenhouse has enormous personal benefits. It is incredibly therapeutic to go into the

greenhouse after a hard day and just work quietly for an hour or so. Spending time with growing

things is a recognized antidote to depression and anxiety. A greenhouse is a tranquilizer with no

side effects except a healthier diet.

If you have kids, what better way to spend some quality time with them than in the greenhouse.

It gives you and them unpressured time to talk. You are engaged in a joint task. A greenhouse

can become a bonding experience for the family.

There is the added benefit that working with you in the greenhouse gives them the kind of

practical hands on lesson that is seldom provided in school. They are learning about how things

grow. Each session in the greenhouse is a biology lesson in itself. They are learning about the

plants and about the insects that feed on them and pollinate them.

They, and you, will learn a lot about organic chemistry when you mix your plant foods,

insecticides and other chemicals. You will undoubtedly learn a lot about electronics and

handling basic tools as you get the control systems of your greenhouse working and rig up plant

supports and irrigation pipes.

A child who finds academic lessons a difficult will often shine at tasks they can learn by

experience. Plants are very forgiving and even children who suffer with problems of

concentration can experience the satisfaction of achievement growing a few simple crops in the

How Does A Greenhouse Work: The Benefits That Can Be

Derived From Its Operations

When you understand how your greenhouse works you will find that you can get the most out of

it. You will feel confident to experiment and try new things. Your results will be better and you

will become the envy of your friends.

Whether you want to grow ornamental subject or fruit and vegetables it pays to familiarize

yourself with the way a greenhouse works. Spending a little time on basic principles will pay off

in the end.

A greenhouse is the first, simplest and probably still the greatest solar device known to

humankind. We hear so much about solar panels and other high tech gadgets, you may even

have one of those handy solar powered devices to charge batteries, but the greenhouse is in

many ways a solar powered device too.

The greenhouse differs from other more recent solar powered devices in that it has been around

for so long it has been refined to the point that it works really well. It does its job perfectly.

That job is heating. A greenhouse uses the sun's rays to heat up the growing medium and air in

an enclosed space. It will do that without any help from us or any added extras.

In theory it would be possible to create a greenhouse that was entirely self-sufficient that could

exist without any human intervention once the system was running. The plants inside it would

create their own atmosphere by giving out oxygen and taking in carbon dioxide. Such a

greenhouse would be a model of the entire planet.

It would have to be a very big greenhouse, certainly bigger than you would want in your

backyard, and remains the stuff of science fiction at the moment. We have not quite achieved

"silent running" yet. But thinking of a greenhouse in this way helps you to understand that you

are dealing with a living system.

You have to play an active role to keep the living system in your greenhouse in balance. You

are the control system of the greenhouse.

The greenhouse will do its job of heating as long the sun shines without any help from you. But

once you put plants in there then the problems begin. The plants will not just look after

themselves.

A greenhouse is too small and the plants are typically too dense for them to be self-sufficient.

You will need to provide them with water and you will need to regulate the atmosphere.

When I say regulate the atmosphere what I am talking about is humidity. Humidity is the amount

of water held in the air. The amount of water that air will hold depends on the temperature of the

air. Air at 70 degrees will hold twice as much water as air at 55 degrees.

When the temperature of the greenhouse begins to fall the water drops out of the air. This is

known as the dew point. If plants are subjected to this for a long period they are liable to suffer

from various forms of rot, mold, fungus and mildew.

This is a natural part of the plant's lifecycle but not good for us if we want good quality crops

from our greenhouse. You can treat the plants with chemicals. There are plenty of fungicides

available on the market. But it is better to avoid the problem as far as possible by ventilating the

greenhouse.

The amount of ventilation will depend on the temperature. You need more ventilation at lower

temperatures. Open the door and a window, or use an extractor fan. However you do it get that

air moving.

Humidity is related to watering. If you apply too much water to the growing medium or water

gathers on paths and staging in the greenhouse you will have problems with humidity. Aim to

have well draining paths and surfaces in your greenhouse.

It is possible to measure the humidity of your greenhouse with a sling psychrometer. This is a

device consisting of two thermometers. One thermometer has a wick that can be wet. You

rotate the whole device for a few minutes then take a reading from each thermometer. Subtract

the reading of the wet one from the dry one and compare the reading to the chart provided. That

will give you the relative humidity.

This simple device will enable you to regulate your watering and ventilation regime in the

greenhouse. Once you get those right you will eliminate a lot of the problems common to

greenhouses. Your greenhouse system will be working well.