Growing plants is an excellent way to spend time in your garden and to experience the great outdoors in a productive manner. I’ve always been interested in gardening ever since I was a young boy and my father asked for my help in growing some cherry tomato plants.
At the time, I wasn’t too keen on vegetables but after being a part of the process, I developed a fondness for these small round objects that I had helped to create. Luckily, we had a greenhouse, which had been left for us by the previous home-owners and it allowed our plants to blossom.
Anyone who is serious about growing plants will have at one point or another considered building or purchasing a greenhouse. There are of course costs involved; both financial and physical but using a greenhouse to grow plants has plenty of benefits.
These include better pest control and the fact that it’s easier to maintain the temperature, humidity, and water distribution of the environment in which the plants live in.
Like most things, however, greenhouses need maintenance. It is important to check on your greenhouse on a regular basis to ensure that it is providing the right conditions for your plants to flourish.
My five top tips for greenhouse maintenance
Pest Control
The best way to have no pests in a greenhouse is to avoid bringing them into the greenhouse in the first place.
Everyone who owns a greenhouse should thoroughly inspect every single plant that they plan on bringing into their greenhouse. Once a few pests manage to sneak past a greenhouse owner’s defences, they may begin to multiply at very fast speeds.
To deal with pests in a greenhouse, the first thing one should do is release the pest’s worst predator into the greenhouse.
For example, if there are aphids in a greenhouse, you should buy or capture ladybugs and release them into the greenhouse. In fact, one can go to a nursery or online store and purchase egg cases.
Clean Often
Besides keeping your greenhouse neat, you should regularly clean and sterilize all of the surfaces of the greenhouse. Environmentally friendly soap and warm water should be used to clean all the floors and counters of the greenhouse. For anyone who wants to get rid of insects and pests, they should fumigate their greenhouse yearly or biyearly.
Daily Observations
Each day be on the lookout for any signs of pests. Some signs are insect sounds and holes in the plant’s leaves. When you find a plant that is infested with pests, the plant should be removed immediately before the pests spread to other plants if they haven’t already. If there is enough space, a special area for infested plants can be created.
Ventilation System
The ventilation system that is installed in a greenhouse should be checked frequently to ensure that it is not malfunctioning. When the shutters and louvers get squeaky, you may need to oil them. They need to be oiled, so that they will have no difficulty opening and closing without an excess amount of friction.
Water Tank and Irrigation System
The connected lines and hoses of a watering system need to be checked every few months.
The hoses often become clogged or they develop cracks, so they need to be replaced or unobstructed. To get rid of the dirt in the hoses, the water should be run at full pressure without the cap.
A greenhouse makes gardening easier, but maintaining a greenhouse itself is definitely not easy.
Greenhouse owners need to watch out for pests, sterilize their greenhouse, make daily observations, and inspect their equipment to make sure everything is in tip-top shape.
Before deciding to invest in a greenhouse it is imperative that you understand the demands and are willing to meet them to reap the benefits of this construction. If your mind and body are willing, then it’s time to take your gardening experience to the next level.
This is a guest blog post written by Ewan Michaels from UK Water Features, who has worked in the garden features industry for several years and is passionate about sustainable gardening.