Creating an Ideal Greenhouse Environment
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by: JonathanMiranda | Total views: 40 | Word Count: 531
Now that you have completed building your greenhouse it is time to make it flourish. The great thing about a greenhouse is that you can control the environment unlike with a standard garden. Controlling your greenhouses climate conditions can improve the quality and health of your plants.
One of the most important factors to control in your greenhouse is the temperature. Monitoring the temperature and keeping it at a healthy level will allow you to get the most growth from the plant life the greenhouse holds. Your greenhouse's internal climate can be impacted by several different factors, including the weather outside and the amount of sunlight that comes into the greenhouse via windows and glass panels.
There are a number of actions you can take to manage the impact of external weather changes to the greenhouse's internal atmospheric conditions.
a. Control Ventilation - Your greenhouse has two main forms of ventilation; natural and artificial. The natural ventilation is the circulation of air from the outside, flowing in and out through vents and openings. Since the weather is not always predictable, artificial ventilation can be used as well, in the form of fans and louvers, allowing the greenhouses temperature to be set and maintained at a consistent level.
b. Cooling systems - In hot climates, or when hot weather arrives in moderate places, a cooling system will help protect your plants from blistering conditions. There are several different ways to keep your greenhouse cool; two of the most commonly used are pad and fan systems and fog systems. Pad and fan systems work with automatic ventilation or cooling systems. Evaporative pads can be placed at the spots where air enters the greenhouse; as the air passes over the pads, it is cooled and in turn lowers the interior temperature of the greenhouse. A fog system employs a series of nozzles spaced throughout the greenhouse and disperses a cooling mist of water in set intervals. Fog systems may be higher maintenance than their pad and fan counterparts, since the small nozzle openings are prone to blockage.
c. Humidity - Controlling your vapor pressure deficit (VPD) can be crucial to the health of your plants. If your VPD is too high it can cause moisture which can stop your plants respiration. Moisture is also a breeding ground for pests and disease and can be very harmful to the growth of your plants. Your VPD should be monitored on a regular basis and be between 0 and 1 psi.
d. Shading - Shading is another great way of controlling your greenhouse conditions. Automatic shades come with a sensor and will automatically open or draw a shade depending on if the greenhouse needs more or less sunlight at that time. This is something that is well worth the money. Trying to control shading manually is a never ending process that is almost impossible unless you are spending most of your days inside your greenhouse.
Follow these tips and maintaining your greenhouse environment shouldn't be a problem. If at first you have trouble don't let it bother you, keep at it and it will become second nature. Gardening in a greenhouse can be a great hobby that you will be sure to enjoy all year round.
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