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Q. I have been considering getting a hobby greenhouse for the backyard. Do you have any recommendations as to type or features?
There are, of course, many different kinds of hobby greenhouses. But if you live in a cool clime and hope to use your ‘house’ throughout the winter, one of the most important differences is attached vs. free-standing. If you foresee wintertime usage and have a South or East facing portion of your home that could accept the addition of a greenhouse-like structure, I would strongly suggest you consider putting it there rather than utilize a free-standing separate structure; again, especially in the North, where supplemental heating over winter can be a major issue.
Let’s say your home has a brick or stone wall you can use for the back side of your greenhouse; the sun would heat that wall during the day and radiate it back into the greenhouse at night. If everything is facing the correct direction, this could be a monster amount of free, passive heat. And you wouldn’t need to connect the structures with a costly walk through; the greenhouse door can just be on the new structure itself. (And you know—if you’re handy or have access to a handy-person, I’ll wager you could even adapt a large stand-alone greenhouse to work this way.)
Free standing greenhouses not attached to a warming structure are much more challenging to keep warm in the dead of winter—as I learned when we built one at the bottom of my driveway during the time my magazine, ORGANIC GARDENING, was mounting major displays in the Philadelphia Flower Show. We did a lot of things to try and conserve energy and reduce costs, the most clever of which was to vent the hot air from our electric clothes dryer into the greenhouse through a system of well insulated pipes and do all our drying late at night, when the need for winter heat was the greatest. (But you can’t do this with a gas dryer; it’s just not safe.)
I had also read a fabulous study that found the root zone temperature of greenhouse plants to be much more important to their survival during cold weather than the actual air temperature inside the greenhouse, so the entire bench on which my plants sat was covered with a very heavy duty heating mat system that kept those little rootsies warm at night. MUCH less costly than trying to heat the air.
And because any hot air naturally rises to the top of a greenhouse’s peaked roof, we installed powerful fans to keep pushing the warm air back down to where the plants were. (It turns out that the air circulation the fans provided was very helpful in its own right in preventing disease.)
On really cold nights, I also turned on one of those oil-filled portable radiators inside the greenhouse, which I probably would not have had to do nearly as often if I had the insulating wall of a house helping out, or was only using the greenhouse the months that most gardeners do. (More on that in a minute.)
But equally important as creating heat on a cold night was having an automatic method for releasing too much heat on a sunny day. This advice applies to every greenhouse type structure in every climate at all times of the year. You would be amazed at how hot a well-sealed greenhouse can get in the middle of winter if it’s receiving full sun all day. And, of course, during the warmer days of Spring and Fall, heat can build up rapidly, making an automatic vent an absolute necessity. These vents are typically a single panel in the roof or at the top of one of the peaks that opens up when the temperature triggers a gas filled cartridge to expand and push out a little arm that opens the vent. No electric; it’s a passive automaton—although you’ll need a real exhaust fan as well if you live in the South and/or hope to use the house during the warmer months.
But if you don’t intend to use your greenhouse in the dead of winter and/or live in a clime where winters aren’t Nature’s way of culling the herd, Wayne in Phoenixville has hit it right on the head: A decent greenhouse structure can typically get you started a couple months early in the season and protect your plants for a few months longer at the end of the season.
I find greenhouses to be the most useful in late winter/early Spring: There’s just no better way to start seeds and/or coax small plants up to a bigger size before planting them out. All you need in such a greenhouse is an insulating structure that lets in lots of light, and, of course, has that all-important roof vent. You’ll have the best looking starts on the block without having to spring for artificial light or take up valuable indoor room (or ruin the surfaces your baby plants are on with moisture; really sorry about that wood table, honey!). I’ll always suggest you have a heating mat on your bench for protection on chilly nights, but you shouldn’t need any other artificial heat in most areas. Greenhouses are the perfect place to start plants.
And they’re ideal for ripening up last runs of peppers and such in the Fall.
In most climes, a non-or partially-heated greenhouse is also ideal for growing lettuce, spinach and other cool-weather crops right through the winter. In my part of PA—about an hour colder than Wayne’s world—it would also be a perfect place to overwinter plants like rosemary that are just shy of being cold hardy enough to make it outdoors here.
But the further North you are, the more you’ll need extra heat to play these fun games, and the more expensive it will be to keep tender plants alive all winter—as I learned the year I filled my free-standing one with pepper plants for the Philadelphia Flower Show. If Rodale hadn’t been paying for the extra electric, I would not have had them outside like that; it would have been much less expensive to keep them alive under lights inside our actual house house. (On the other hand, I couldn’t have grown nearly as many plants or nearly as well inside.)
And summertime, in most areas, is when all greenhouses rest, with the inside just too hot for anything, even with the door propped open and the vent at full mast. Besides—its summer! Get outside! Blow the stink off yourself! (Note: This does not apply to very cool climes, like parts of Alaska and Washington state, where gardeners absolutely require some sort of greenhouse to grow ‘ordinary’ plants like tomatoes and peppers in the summer.)
Greenhouses are fun and addictive. They are the Ph. D. level of gardening. Don’t skimp on the door—it’s where you can lose a lot of heat in the winter; give yourself a full season or two to learn how to make the best use of your new friend; give a lot of thought to placement and construction and you’ll have a place to garden when others are trapped inside until Spring.
Helpful Products from Gardens Alive!
Premium Light Stand - This lightweight yet sturdy light stand is great for seed starting, and can accommodate a variety of houseplants.
Natural BeginningsTM Seed-Starting Mix - This outstanding soil-less growing medium promotes stronger, healthier seedlings. This mix retains more more moisture and nutrients, and also contains worm castings and mealworm guano as natural nutrient sources.
All-RootsTM Seed Starting System – This complete seed starting system utilizes the same hydroponic technology that is used in commercial greenhouses. It provides an optimal growth environment for your seedlings to develop strong roots and grow into healthy plants.
- ---Robert in Elkton, MD
- ---Wayne in Phoenixville, PA>
There are, of course, many different kinds of hobby greenhouses. But if you live in a cool clime and hope to use your ‘house’ throughout the winter, one of the most important differences is attached vs. free-standing. If you foresee wintertime usage and have a South or East facing portion of your home that could accept the addition of a greenhouse-like structure, I would strongly suggest you consider putting it there rather than utilize a free-standing separate structure; again, especially in the North, where supplemental heating over winter can be a major issue.
Let’s say your home has a brick or stone wall you can use for the back side of your greenhouse; the sun would heat that wall during the day and radiate it back into the greenhouse at night. If everything is facing the correct direction, this could be a monster amount of free, passive heat. And you wouldn’t need to connect the structures with a costly walk through; the greenhouse door can just be on the new structure itself. (And you know—if you’re handy or have access to a handy-person, I’ll wager you could even adapt a large stand-alone greenhouse to work this way.)
Free standing greenhouses not attached to a warming structure are much more challenging to keep warm in the dead of winter—as I learned when we built one at the bottom of my driveway during the time my magazine, ORGANIC GARDENING, was mounting major displays in the Philadelphia Flower Show. We did a lot of things to try and conserve energy and reduce costs, the most clever of which was to vent the hot air from our electric clothes dryer into the greenhouse through a system of well insulated pipes and do all our drying late at night, when the need for winter heat was the greatest. (But you can’t do this with a gas dryer; it’s just not safe.)
I had also read a fabulous study that found the root zone temperature of greenhouse plants to be much more important to their survival during cold weather than the actual air temperature inside the greenhouse, so the entire bench on which my plants sat was covered with a very heavy duty heating mat system that kept those little rootsies warm at night. MUCH less costly than trying to heat the air.
And because any hot air naturally rises to the top of a greenhouse’s peaked roof, we installed powerful fans to keep pushing the warm air back down to where the plants were. (It turns out that the air circulation the fans provided was very helpful in its own right in preventing disease.)
On really cold nights, I also turned on one of those oil-filled portable radiators inside the greenhouse, which I probably would not have had to do nearly as often if I had the insulating wall of a house helping out, or was only using the greenhouse the months that most gardeners do. (More on that in a minute.)
But equally important as creating heat on a cold night was having an automatic method for releasing too much heat on a sunny day. This advice applies to every greenhouse type structure in every climate at all times of the year. You would be amazed at how hot a well-sealed greenhouse can get in the middle of winter if it’s receiving full sun all day. And, of course, during the warmer days of Spring and Fall, heat can build up rapidly, making an automatic vent an absolute necessity. These vents are typically a single panel in the roof or at the top of one of the peaks that opens up when the temperature triggers a gas filled cartridge to expand and push out a little arm that opens the vent. No electric; it’s a passive automaton—although you’ll need a real exhaust fan as well if you live in the South and/or hope to use the house during the warmer months.
But if you don’t intend to use your greenhouse in the dead of winter and/or live in a clime where winters aren’t Nature’s way of culling the herd, Wayne in Phoenixville has hit it right on the head: A decent greenhouse structure can typically get you started a couple months early in the season and protect your plants for a few months longer at the end of the season.
I find greenhouses to be the most useful in late winter/early Spring: There’s just no better way to start seeds and/or coax small plants up to a bigger size before planting them out. All you need in such a greenhouse is an insulating structure that lets in lots of light, and, of course, has that all-important roof vent. You’ll have the best looking starts on the block without having to spring for artificial light or take up valuable indoor room (or ruin the surfaces your baby plants are on with moisture; really sorry about that wood table, honey!). I’ll always suggest you have a heating mat on your bench for protection on chilly nights, but you shouldn’t need any other artificial heat in most areas. Greenhouses are the perfect place to start plants.
And they’re ideal for ripening up last runs of peppers and such in the Fall.
In most climes, a non-or partially-heated greenhouse is also ideal for growing lettuce, spinach and other cool-weather crops right through the winter. In my part of PA—about an hour colder than Wayne’s world—it would also be a perfect place to overwinter plants like rosemary that are just shy of being cold hardy enough to make it outdoors here.
But the further North you are, the more you’ll need extra heat to play these fun games, and the more expensive it will be to keep tender plants alive all winter—as I learned the year I filled my free-standing one with pepper plants for the Philadelphia Flower Show. If Rodale hadn’t been paying for the extra electric, I would not have had them outside like that; it would have been much less expensive to keep them alive under lights inside our actual house house. (On the other hand, I couldn’t have grown nearly as many plants or nearly as well inside.)
And summertime, in most areas, is when all greenhouses rest, with the inside just too hot for anything, even with the door propped open and the vent at full mast. Besides—its summer! Get outside! Blow the stink off yourself! (Note: This does not apply to very cool climes, like parts of Alaska and Washington state, where gardeners absolutely require some sort of greenhouse to grow ‘ordinary’ plants like tomatoes and peppers in the summer.)
Greenhouses are fun and addictive. They are the Ph. D. level of gardening. Don’t skimp on the door—it’s where you can lose a lot of heat in the winter; give yourself a full season or two to learn how to make the best use of your new friend; give a lot of thought to placement and construction and you’ll have a place to garden when others are trapped inside until Spring.
Helpful Products from Gardens Alive!
Premium Light Stand - This lightweight yet sturdy light stand is great for seed starting, and can accommodate a variety of houseplants.
Natural BeginningsTM Seed-Starting Mix - This outstanding soil-less growing medium promotes stronger, healthier seedlings. This mix retains more more moisture and nutrients, and also contains worm castings and mealworm guano as natural nutrient sources.
All-RootsTM Seed Starting System – This complete seed starting system utilizes the same hydroponic technology that is used in commercial greenhouses. It provides an optimal growth environment for your seedlings to develop strong roots and grow into healthy plants.
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