This content is being republished with permission from our website at Greenhouskitsdirect.com
If you've decided to add a greenhouse to your property, you will first need to figure out what type of greenhouse you need, the size of greenhouse, the materials to select, and the way you’ll ventilate the structure once it’s up and running.
Type
There are three general types of greenhouses you can build on your property: a freestanding greenhouse, an attached greenhouse, and a raised garden bed. A freestanding greenhouse is located out in your backyard, apart from other structures. Our largest greenhouse kits are freestanding units, but we also offer smaller varieties as well. Freestanding units are great because they can be positioned in any possible way, so long as you have the space allocated. This comes into play if your house doesn’t allow for an attached unit to let the ideal amount of light in (we’ll cover the preferable orientation of greenhouses later), or if you simply want a larger unit to maximize the output of your greenhouse. In a similar vein, freestanding greenhouses can be as tall as you want them to, which aids in natural ventilation. Attached greenhouses are directly connected to your house, or to something like a shed or garage, which is perfect if there’s an outlet from your house that faces the appropriate direction. Attaching a greenhouse to your home is beneficial in that it can make your house feel bigger and you don’t have to travel outside to reach your greenhouse. Often, people will attach their greenhouse to their kitchen for convenience. Another route people take is attaching their units to a mudroom to avoid tracking in dirt. Additionally, an attached structure will naturally be closer to water and electricity, which decreases start up costs. Finally, you have the raised garden bed, which gardeners often use to raise starters before transplanting them to a larger bed outdoors. This helps if your region’s temperature has mood swings as you approach spring--you can be sure that your seedlings will survive until the ground and weather is ready to receive them outside. Other benefits of a raised garden bed are that they are often portable, they can sit inside another structure as long as you install grow lights, and they are incredibly cheap and low maintenance.
Size
When considering size, think about your end goal for your greenhouse. If you plan on developing several connections to local restaurants and markets, or if you intend to make money in other ways off your greenhouse, you’ll probably end up needing a lot of space. It’s a lot easier (and cheaper) to invest in your future plan early on. It’s more expensive and labor intensive to make changes and expansions to your greenhouse later. In short: if you envision your greenhouse growing later, go big now. You can always fill a greenhouse with different projects and experiments while you’re growing smaller amounts of produce. However, if you simply intend on using your greenhouse to add a sunroom or a small flower room, a smaller, attached greenhouse is ideal. You’ll save money on heating and watering, and you won’t feel overburdened by the space available inside the greenhouse.
Materials
Once you have the type and size of your greenhouse locked down, you need to consider what materials best suit your needs. We offer greenhouse kits with three different types of frames: metal, aluminum, and resin. Our metal frames are made from galvanized steel, an industrial-strength, hardy, warp-free material that is created to withstand wind and rain. Galvanized steel is regularly used for commercial-grade greenhouses due to its sturdiness and longevity. Our metal frames will last you years upon years with little to no maintenance. Aluminum frames require no maintenance as well, and while they are sturdy, they’re a little more pliable, which might help when setting up your greenhouse. They are also easier on the eye than steel, although steel can technically be painted or otherwise covered to improve the unit’s aesthetics. Aluminum will not rust, and it obviously won’t mold--so if you live in a particularly warm region, aluminum and steel are going to be your best options. The last material we supply for greenhouse frames is resin, which is strong and naturally insulated. The only setback to a resin frame is that it could warp under extreme heat--but that means that if you live in a colder region, the resin will help insulate your greenhouse and you won’t have to worry about it warping or changing form over time.
At Greenhouse Kits Direct, we are firm believers in the virtues of polycarbonate siding. Some greenhouses rely on glass or plastic for their siding panels, but we have found that the drawbacks of those materials far outweigh the potential benefits. While glass is a beautiful choice, it is also fragile, heavy, and not terribly efficient, since it does not diffuse light. It surely is not ideal for a DIY greenhouse. And from a gardening standpoint, it’s hard to control how much light you let in through glass panels, and you’ll be more likely to overexpose certain areas of your greenhouse if sunlight is allowed directly through. Plastic is inexpensive, but it won’t last very long. It is easily damaged and will need to be replaced often. When you’re buying panels for a greenhouse you intend to keep around for a long time, you want to invest early in strong, durable, efficient materials early on instead of making up for damages later. That’s why we encourage greenhouse gardeners to consider polycarbonate, which is inexpensive, highly efficient, long lasting, and light diffusive. It does the best job of trapping heat and transmitting light through your greenhouse, and will last through strong winds, harsh storms, and freezing winters. Polycarbonate definitely gives you the biggest bang for your buck. We have a great selection greenhouse kits with polycarbonate siding, including ones from Palram, a manufacturer known for their polycarbonate expertise.
Ventilation
The next consideration to take before purchasing a greenhouse is how you will ventilate and provide shade to the structure. The point of using a greenhouse is to create a stable atmosphere, one that is ideal for the growing needs of your plants. Integral to tracking temperature is a thermometer, and you’ll want to stay within the range of 75 to 85 degrees. When sunlight enters a greenhouse, the panels trap the heat, keeping the air warm enough to foster ideal plant growth. However, the heat then interacts with the moisture you apply to your plants. This is where you need to exercise ventilation practices, which will keep the greenhouse from becoming too moist--you’ll never need to worry about your greenhouse NOT being humid enough. Without ventilation, you run the risk of fungal infections, which can spread from plant to plant and destroy everything you’ve labored to grow.
The first few weeks of using your greenhouse will help you figure out what temperature the atmosphere naturally rises to--the hotter the structure, the more ventilation you’ll need. Many of our backyard greenhouse kits come with roof vents built in so you can adjust the amount of air that you let in and out of your greenhouse. If you live in a particularly warm region, check out our greenhouse supplies to view a wide array of add-on ventilation kits, including automatic ventilators and manual ventilators. The arm of an automatic ventilator will open when the greenhouse reaches 68 degrees. An oil-filled cylinder starts to expand at that temperature, and at 80 degrees the arm will fully extend to let in the maximum amount of outside air. When the temperature decreases, the arm will react along with the declining heat, and close below 68 degrees so as to not over-cool the greenhouse. On the other hand, a manual ventilator will allow you a little more agency over which vents are open at a certain time. If you have used a greenhouse before, you may not need the help of an automatic vent to decide when to allow air inside. Either way, make sure that the ventilator kits you decide on are compatible with the particular greenhouse brand you purchase.
Another way to improve air circulation and ventilation for your greenhouse is to install a side louvre window, available for our Rion brand greenhouse kits. Our louvre windows let you open and close a side vent by hand. You can let in outside air to make it cool enough for you to work, and at the same time let some moisture escape. The vent can then be easily closed when the temperature has decreased enough. Windows interact well with roof vents to keep the air flowing between the two openings. You can install our window louvre into all of our Rion greenhouses, and you can also attach an automatic louver opener, which opens and closes the vents by itself without you having to monitor the internal temperature of the greenhouse or even keep it plugged in.
Shade
As mentioned before, the idea of a greenhouse is to magnify the power of the sun, providing a space where plants can thrive with plenty of light and warmth while also being sheltered from inclement weather. For plants that don’t perform well in tropical weather, you may want to consider incorporating a shade cloth to your temperature control plan. Shade cloths do let some light through, but they significantly reduce the amount of light and heat that penetrates the polycarbonate walls. Shade cloths are easy to apply and remove, so you can adjust them during the day if you need to. You may only want it up during the hottest hours of the day, or you only want to use it block a part of the greenhouse while letting full sunlight into the rest of the structure.
To ensure that you are allowing the ideal amount of sunlight into your greenhouse, position your greenhouse in accordance to how the sun shines down on your yard. First of all, pick a spot that receives sunlight from all angles for the majority of the day. If this simply isn’t possible due to trees, plants, and other manmade structures, you can coordinate your plant arrangement so that the plants requiring the least amount of sun are positioned where the least amount of sun penetrates your yard. Whether you use a freestanding or attached greenhouse, garden experts recommend positioning the structure so its longest portion receives light from the south. In other words, you’ll want the front and back ends of the greenhouse to face east and west if you live in the northern hemisphere. This orientation will increase the amount of daylight your plants receive, which becomes especially important if you’re running your greenhouse in the fall or winter.
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