Last Updated on October 10, 2022 by Kravelv
Victorian Greenhouses are designed to grow plants amid adverse weather and propagate or develop seeds for eventual planting outdoors. And as more people learn about the perks of growing healthy produce, they continue to rise in popularity.
To get the best out of your greenhouse during the planting period, here are a few things you need to do to ensure that your greenhouse is at its finest potential for spring.
1. Clear out greenhouse space
Before sowing or growing seedlings, you should always clean out the greenhouse. You must immediately remove yellow leaves and dead plants since old plant material is a host for plant diseases and encourages mildew growth. You may make a compost heap for old plants, but if they show signs of disease, you should burn them to prevent bacteria from spreading.
After thoroughly inspecting the floor, it would be best if you eliminated vermins like slugs, snails, and other garden pests. Everything from the greenhouse, including the workbenches, compost bags, seed trays, and pots, should be taken outside for your spring cleaning. The shelves should be examined, fixed if necessary, or replaced as needed.
It will be simpler to reevaluate what you need when you get everything outside. It would be best to deep clean the greenhouse after moving everything out for a more successful growing season.
2. Remove greenhouse dirt
All of us enjoy a fresh start, and spring is the ideal time to drain down junk in your glass greenhouse. And to do this, you need to clean your greenhouse if you want it to look spotless and organized.
Below is a brief rundown of what you can and should do:
- Clean the walkways and the floor using a garden fork.
- Clean the frame, the staging, and the shelves.
- Clean greenhouse windows inside and outside with a sponge and warm, soapy water.
- Use a scouring sponge and warm, soapy water to clean the frame, staging, drip system, workstation, and shelves.
- Apply a disinfectant to the pots and seed trays, then rinse them well to air dry.
3. Prepare the soil
Prep your soil before planting at all times. The soil in your greenhouse may need to be changed based on how you grow plants there (this includes pots, grow bags, border soil, or raised beds). Raised beds are an excellent investment for gardening because they offer good drainage and don’t need you to replace the soil after you set them up.
Although, if you’re using your native soil for gardening, you need to restock and sanitize it in the warmer months. Checking the soil’s temperature is also necessary to set up a greenhouse for planting or transplanting new seedlings.
4. Inspect the watering system
It’s always a great idea to plan ahead of time how you’ll water your plants. Many gardeners who have a hobby greenhouse prefer to utilize a watering can. If you’re one of them, be careful not to let the water get too cold, as this can distress the new plants and leave out nutrients.
The water supply should be made ready in advance. You could extend a hose to your greenhouse, for instance, by attaching it to an outdoor tap. Additionally, you may construct a water collecting system and connect it to water sources on each side of a greenhouse. Rainwater can then be collected and used to water plants within the greenhouse. You can even configure the entire system to operate automatically. Watering your plants in this way is economical and good for the environment.
5. Clear debris on rain gutters
Clear leaves and debris from the rain gutters attached to the greenhouse frame. Brush it clean to prevent junk and other pests from entering the water stream through the pipes. Rainwater storage will be compromised when this happens.
Installing a mesh screen is a wise idea to keep leaves from falling inside. By doing it this way, you only need to wipe out the gutter inside once a year.
6. Update your water barrels
When you start planting after a while, you’ll notice that plants require more water when growing in a greenhouse than outside. Therefore, you must set up water storage to be ready for hot days. A 40-gallon rain barrel should be more than enough for a hobby greenhouse on each side of the structure.
You may collect rainwater all year round by connecting these through pipes to greenhouse gutters. And naturally, you must sustain the water barrels. Prepare your greenhouse for the gardening season by clearing the dirt from the bottom of a water barrel. This process guarantees that the rainwater you collect is in its full glory, even from early spring to winter months. If a mesh screen covers the top of the butt, clean it frequently.
7. Ensure good ventilation
Plant growth and disease management depend greatly on the quality of your greenhouse ventilation. Open every vent in your greenhouse as you prepare for the growing season to confirm that it opens smoothly, especially if you have automatic vent openers.
Like a basic rule, the greenhouse should have two roof vents on each side and a fully functional louvered vent at the bottom of the structure. And while you’re at it, you should also clean the greenhouse vents with warm, soapy water.
8. Arrange the shading
It would help if you thought beforehand about how to shade greenhouses when the garden days are getting longer and warmer. Even if it may not always be necessary, it is advisable to be prepared with the shading in case you need to install it on a warm day.
9. Invest in electricity
You can install a heating and lighting system inside the greenhouse if it has electricity. Anyone considering producing various vegetables or crops all year long will find the growing process easier. A smart choice for someone who wants to utilize the greenhouse to grow plants in heated mats or electric propagators is to invest in electricity.
To keep an eye on your machinery and electricity use, it’s also best to install greenhouse sensors. So, although installation fees can be highly expensive, they are undoubtedly advantageous.
10. Check greenhouse temperature
You must check your greenhouse’s air temperature to prepare your space for sowing seeds or seedlings. Aim to maintain the temperature in greenhouses to protect your indoor and outdoor plants from cold snaps in winter or generally inclement weather. A paraffin heater is the most affordable choice, but an electric heater with an automatic thermostat is the ideal alternative if you have power installed.