How to grow in a greenhouse?

If you want to provide yourself and your entire family with fresh vegetables in the winter and at the same time look for an opportunity to earn extra money, then it's time for you to start greenhouse growing plants.

In this article we will just talk about how to grow in a greenhouse.

Home greenhouse

Plants in the greenhouse can be grown in two ways - plant them on the beds (roughly the way you plant them in the garden) or arrange the plants on the shelves.

How to grow plants on beds

This method is most suitable for cultivation in a greenhouse of cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and other vegetable crops.

Depending on the width of the greenhouse,how many beds you will do in it - two or three. Planning the number of beds, you need to take into account the fact that along the side walls of the greenhouse should be placed beds not more than one meter wide. With wider beds, you, standing on the path, will not be able to reach the plants growing near the walls of the greenhouse, so it will be difficult for you to take care of them. The paths between the beds should be made a half meter wide (minimum), then they can be easily moved around. It is better to calculate the width of the tracks in such a way that the garden wheelbarrow travels freely over them - this will make your work in the greenhouse much easier. If your greenhouse is wide enough, then in the middle of it you need to make another garden. The width of this bed can be more than one meter, because you can approach it from two sides.

In greenhouses it is better to grow plants not on level groundsoil, and on high beds, as on such beds you can create a thick layer of fertile soil, and for plants growing on them, it is much easier to care for. In order to make such beds, which, in fact, are very large boxes without a bottom, you need strong boards with a width of 20 to 60 cm (the width of the boards is equal to the desired height of the beds). These boards act in the role of curbs - limiters beds, they put on the edge and from the side of the tracks are fixed with stakes driven into the ground.

Inside these improvised boxes, mashfertile soil. The soil composition should be selected individually for each individual plant species. Therefore, in advance, plan what and where you will plant, and in accordance with this plan, fall asleep on the beds necessary for the type of soil there.

How to grow plants on shelves

On the shelves is very convenient to grow seedlings and all sorts of flowers - in short, various small plants planted in pots.

The height of the shelves should be based on yourgrowth. The distance between the shelves in one rack depends on the height of the plants - they should feel free on the shelves and not touch the tops of the above shelves (there should be a gap of at least 20-25 cm between the tops of the plants and the upper shelf). Optimal width of the shelves is 80 - 90 cm. It is necessary to place the shelves in the greenhouse on the same principle as the beds - there must be at least 80 centimeters passages between the shelves.

Plants for normal growth in the greenhouse needprovide the necessary temperature regime. In order for the vegetables and flowers to develop well in the winter, they blossomed and bore fruit, we need to organize some kind of heating in the greenhouse.

How to heat a home greenhouse

Stove heating

One of the easiest ways to heat a greenhouse inwinter cold - install inside it a solid fuel boiler and put the chimney on the street. As fuel in such a boiler, you can use wood, coal, peat or wood shavings and sawdust.

Use of biofuel

In this case, bird droppings, horse or cow dung are used to heat the greenhouse, which, during decomposition, produce heat and carbon dioxide.

Electric heating

To heat the greenhouses use differentheaters, convectors and other household heaters. In addition to these heaters in the greenhouse, you can use infrared radiators and hot water boilers, which also operate from the power grid.

In addition to heating, plants growing in the greenhouse need additional illumination - in cloudy short winter days without artificial lighting, it is simply impossible to manage.

How to illuminate plants

You can, of course, hang out in the greenhouse a fewordinary incandescent lamps - they light up the plants well and even slightly warm up the air, only these lamps consume quite a lot of electricity and light emit in that part of the spectrum that is unfavorable for most plants. Therefore, the best option for lighting the greenhouse is to install fluorescent lamps in it. These lamps shine in a spectrum as close as possible to the natural solar spectrum, in addition, the fluorescent lamps are completely cold, so you can place them in rows, in close proximity to plants.

How to ventilate a greenhouse

Another condition necessary to create a climate within the greenhouse, especially comfortable for plants, is regular airing.

Take care that in the greenhouse wasa few large and easily opening windows, hang an accurate thermometer on the wall, constantly check its readings and, if necessary, ventilate the greenhouse. Specify the most favorable temperature for growing your plants and carefully maintain it in the greenhouse - remember that overheating for plants is no less harmful than hypothermia.

About what plants can be grown in a home greenhouse, is described in our article What to Grow in a Greenhouse.