Greenhouse Gardening: 9 Essential Tips for Beginners

Having a greenhouse in your backyard might feel great but not knowing how to maintain it can lead you towards messy situations. There is no doubt that greenhouse gardening is an amazing way to harvest your own homegrown plants and also pass your time in a peaceful manner. But, without the proper knowledge of it, you won’t be able to go far.

Just because you don’t know where to start doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road. Everyone needs to go through a learning process, right? So, for beginners like you, I have got some quick beginner instructions that might help you out.

Greenhouse Planting Guide For Beginners

So here are 9 greenhouse gardening tips for beginners to get started with their greenhouse journey.

1. Start with Seasonal Seeds

My first question for you would be, why did you make a Greenhouse in the first place? The answer I am expecting from you is, to grow the non-seasoned plants at any time.

The Greenhouse is famous for its ability to grow non-season plants at any time. So, the first thing you need to do is start planting seasonal seeds so they can survive in other seasons.

To get an early advantage, start growing fruits and vegetables during spring and summer. But before you start planting, you need to get your hands on the important supplies that you will need to plant seeds.

Start by gathering the plants that you want in your Greenhouse. Next, get yourself some container, sterile soil, fertilizers, and a good source of water. These ingredients should be enough for getting started.

2. Keep the door open during the day

Even the Greenhouse has its own ways to provide light and heat to the plants, but nothing beats the natural light that comes from the sun. During the summer days, the temperature of your Greenhouse can easily reach up to 30 degrees that can bring milder conditions to your plans.

During that time, you should control the heating system and open the doors and windows of your Greenhouse so that your plants can get the most out of the natural light. Every greenhouse specialist believes that natural sunlight is always highly effective for plants than the standard LED lights or the heating system.

So, during the hotter days, you should always open the hatches and doors to regulate the heat of your Greenhouse. If you want, you can also take your plants out of your Greenhouse and put them in an open place for better output, up to you.

3. Water your plants in the evening

Watering the plants from time to time is the thumb rule of gardening. Everyone knows the rule, but no one knows how to water the plants and when to water the plants. So, if you are also going through this common confusion, then keep reading.

Water is one of the basic needs of any plant as it helps them to grow and stay fresh. During the daytime, plants soak in the heat, and since the heating system of the Greenhouse Is enormous, there is no point in watering your plants at that time.

I would recommend watering your plants in the evening because after hours of heat consumption; your plants will need to synchronize their system during the night. So, the evening will be a good time to water your plants.

The best way to know when you need to water your plants is by measuring the soil’s moisture. You will get a proper idea of it just by rubbing your fingers on the soil as you’ll feel it.

During winter, the soil will mostly stay wet, so you’ll need to water your plants every ten days, which is entirely opposite during the summer.

4. Cover your plants during cold weather

During the summer days, your plants will receive a lot of heat from nature, and so you’ll need to water the plants more, but as I said, it is completely the opposite in winter.

In winter, there will be barely any heat in your Greenhouse, well, of course, there is as you have the heating system planted, but from the natural point of view, there isn’t.

At that time, you won’t need to water your plants that much, but you will need to start building up the heat, and to do that, you will need to cover your plants day and night. Mostly during the night as there won’t be any heat at that time.

By covering your plants, you will be able to maintain a temperature of two or more degrees that will protect your seeds from getting frozen. You should also tighten up your greenhouse protection by covering it with heavy clothes and wrap your plants to protect them from getting frozen.

5. Buy Important Accessories

To maintain your Greenhouse from time to time, you will need a couple of accessories to get started. There are many ways to structure your Greenhouse, so it depends on you on what you want to add.

Heating systems, a proper ventilation system, benches, wracks, etc. these are the common accessories, but apart from these supplies, there are more efficient ways that will make your work easier.

As you start making a list of the accessories, keep in mind what your plants might need and what you would like them to have. Some plants need a slow and stable water system, and some plants need to stay underwater. Every plant has its own needs.

So here is a few greenhouse accessories that you will definitely need,

• Shelves: If you have a small greenhouse, then shelving is a must as it will maintain excellent spacing in a greenhouse. You can choose any type of shelves that you like once you go to the market.
• Fans: Fans will help to shorten the pest problem by drying up the wet soil. Not just that, they will assist you in purifying and cooling your plans, which will also match your ventilation system to keep your plants in a stable position to grow. You will find both small and large fans in the market. So before buying, make sure you see how it works and how it benefits you.
• Thermometer: A thermometer is a tiny accessory that can help to measure critical situations. You might think that how can a thermometer help you in greenhouse gardening, but it does. It allows measuring your plants’ temperature so you can keep them under a safe limit.

6. Maintain Spacing

As the days pass by, the plants you planted on day one will start to grow and spread their branches and roots. If you don’t maintain proper spacing for each plant, then your plans will begin to collapse to one another. If you don’t be careful about it from the beginning, you will have to go through a hard time repositioning your plants from one place to another.

Prepare your plant’s growth by assuming how much room it might take at the time when it’s fully grown. Don’t make your Greenhouse look overcrowded; otherwise, it will restrict your plants from growing.

If any of your plants are affected by insects, then it will start spreading towards other plants as well, and the same goes for the diseases. So now you realize that this small step can prevent so many issues all at once.

So, I would recommend starting to maintain the spacing for your plans from the time you begin seeding.

7. Keep your Greenhouse Squeaky Clean

When you love something, you take care of it and keep it clean, that’s what the elderly says, and it’s true as well. You have a greenhouse because you like gardening or else you wouldn’t have one, and so it’s your responsibility to keep it clean from time to time.

If you stay lazy, you won’t be able to do anything. I’ve seen so many greenhouse gardeners regretting the fact that they should have been tidier when they had the time because once you stop taking care of your Greenhouse, it will be a playground for insects and germs.

Stop making excuses by saying that you’ll clean that later, move that later because that “later” won’t come so quickly, and before you know it, your Greenhouse will be ruined.

Every week take some time to clean the pots, take out the fallen leaves, re-insert the soil, water your plants, measure your plant’s temperature, and so on. Once you start doing it, you will find that there are a lot of things that you need to take care of.

8. Ensure Pest Control

A greenhouse is meant to stay full of plants, and when there are plants, there are pests, and when there are pests, you need to maintain a proper pest control to keep your plants safe.

If you don’t take control at an early stage, then the pests will do a lot of damage to a greenhouse. If you want an organic solution to solve the issue, then you can DIY different sprays to keep the pests away.

In the Greenhouse, we will discover many different pests, and at one moment, you won’t even know what the insect is called. So, it’s important to know the name of the pests as well.

If you see any delicately colored insect with soft bodies, then it’s Aphids. They can easily damage your important plants. If you see a pest in brown or black color, then it’s tribes. You can easily take control of them by regulating the weeds.

Blood worms look red in color. If there is hemoglobin in water, then it will start to rise. So, make sure to keep an eye out for them. If there is too much moisture around your plants, then you start seeing some snails. To keep them away, bring in an excellent cooling system.

So, this is how you identify the pests that will roam around your plants, and it’s best if you can keep sprays to keep them away.

9. Take control of the environment

To keep a natural environment for your plants in your Greenhouse, you will need to install some systems in your Greenhouse. Since we have already talked about the basics above, here are some more tools that you’ll need to add on.

• Heating System: Heating systems are essential to keep your plants warm on cold days. Your plants will need access to hot water, heatwaves, and lights to stay awake.
• Cooling System: Even your plants get thirsty when there is not enough coolness in your Greenhouse. Proper access to water and fans to dry out the moisture will do a perfect job. Also, use clothes to shade your plants to maintain the temperature of your Greenhouse during summer.
• Ventilation System: The ventilation system is equally important, like others. It will keep track of your plants temperature and maintain proper airflow to keep your plants fresh.

Install these systems to take complete control of your Greenhouse’s environment.

Conclusion:

It might be challenging for a beginner to go through all the instructions, but it’s right for you. Once you follow each step and start restructuring your Greenhouse, you won’t need to worry after a couple of months when you’ll see your plants blooming all over your Greenhouse.