A greenhouse is an interesting investment for anyone who loves gardening. You expand the possibilities of your vegetable garden and create a sheltered microclimate that extends the growing season. But which crops can you grow under glass? What do you do in the cold greenhouse in the winter? And what can you plant in your greenhouse from August to December?
The greenhouse for beginners
First things first: what is a greenhouse? A greenhouse is a form of greenhouse horticulture for growing plants. Greenhouses are used in agriculture, but anyone who wants to start gardening can also install a greenhouse.
Greenhouses offer many possibilities for your garden:
- Thanks to the warm temperature and plenty of light in the greenhouse, you can start growing earlier in the spring and enjoy your harvest for longer in the autumn.
- You can start sowing in the greenhouse from February.
- Do you garden in containers?In the winter, the greenhouse offers a sheltered place to overwinter plants in pots or vegetable garden containers.
- The greenhouse can serve as a storage space for your garden furniture and tools in the winter.
- Greenhouses also serve as living space. Put a table and chairs in it, hang some lights and you have the perfect setting for a romantic dinner under the stars!
Tip! Although the warmth and sunlight offer many advantages, it can also get too hot in the greenhouse during the sunny summer months (June, July, August). The sunlight can then dry out or even burn your plants. Therefore, provide a shade cloth from ACD® to keep out harsh, hot sunlight.
Are you going to create a vegetable garden with a greenhouse?
Then choose carefully which type of greenhouse you need. There are large and small models, wall greenhouses and freestanding greenhouses, greenhouses with straight and sloping walls ...
Which vegetables can you grow in the greenhouse?
Just like in the open ground, you can also grow lettuce, zucchini, beets and carrots in your greenhouse. But the sunny greenhouse is especially suitable for southern vegetables that do not thrive as well in our climate. Think of eggplant, cucumbers and peppers. Even growing tomatoes is easier in the greenhouse and you have tomatoes earlier than when they grow outside.
Which types of fruit can you grow in the greenhouse?
You can also go exotic with fruit in the greenhouse. In addition to strawberries, grapes, figs, citrus fruits, peaches and even melons are fun to include in your plant calendar for the greenhouse.
Tip! Pay extra attention to pests and diseases in the greenhouse, because they naturally spread faster in this closed environment than in the open air. Ventilate your greenhouse, keep it clean and renew the soil regularly.
Which flowers can you grow in the greenhouse?
When you are going to create a vegetable garden, flowers are a nice addition to edible crops. They provide extra color and scent, attract bees and butterflies and of course you can use them in a beautiful bouquet to give as a gift or to brighten up your own home. Some flowers such as lavender, nasturtium, geranium and violets also keep snails away, which in turn benefits your vegetables in the greenhouse.
What do you do in the greenhouse in the winter?
You mainly use late autumn (November and December) to prepare your greenhouse for the following year. Make your sowing calendar and vegetable garden plan, tidy up the greenhouse and prepare the soil. From January and February you can already sow in the greenhouse. Bring the seedlings inside during night frost, because it can still cool down considerably and in a cold greenhouse your seeds will of course not germinate.
Tip! We speak of a cold greenhouse if there are no heating elements present. Do you still want to get more out of your greenhouse in the winter? Then you can, for example, install Phoenix of Palma heating from ACD® . What’s extra handy is that these heaters also provide ventilation.
Even in winter, life in the greenhouse doesn’t stand still.
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