Greenhouse

Watering The Greenhouse

Watering is one of the most tedious tasks with greenhouse gardening, as these types of indoor gardens require much more water. Watering your greenhouse improperly could cause you to lose your crops. This article will help you to learn ways to make your daily chore much easier while fabulously reaping the benefits.

When To Water

It’s always best to water your plants in the evening, rather than during the hot daytime hours.

Plants made up of soil-less composts, need more water because they get dry more quickly.

The best way to kill your plants is to water them simply out of routine of doing it. Make sure not to over-water them, but at the same time, assure that they have the amount of moisture that they need.

Larger and more mature plants need more water than young new plants. Take care to take the proper measures to water them accordingly. When your older plants start drooping, it may be time to take out the watering can!

The plants in your greenhouse will require less water during the dormant season of the coldest weather usually in December and January.

Keeping the floor wet in your greenhouse in the very hot summer days, will help to keep moisture in the air for your crops.

Hand-Watering

At times it may be hard to predict the amount of moisture that is in a plant pot, especially if it has a lot of peat-based compost. Try pressing your fingers gently into the top of the soil mixture inside of the pot.

Another way to guess the level of moisture is to use moisture indicators in a few select pots.

Larger plants that have been established for some time will benefit most with less forceful watering. This can be accomplished by breaking the force of the water dispersing from the watering can. Sometimes a small piece of cloth will do the trick. Small seeds definitely need to be watered with a very gentle spray. This can be done by pointing the rose of the watering can in an upward motion.

Hand-watering is still the most dominant method of greenhouse garden irrigation, even in today’s competitive markets. After frequent crop losses however, many growers are realizing that it may be time to change their traditional ways.

Overhead Spraying

Many of us prefer to have a spray mechanism when watering the greenhouse garden. It is possible to purchase several different designs of tubing that can be suspended overhead from the roof of your greenhouse. Some water spraying systems will spray in two-sided directions; others will spray water to only one side. You will have to select the type of tube design that you need and prefer.

Improvising

Although it is possible to buy specially designed systems with reservoirs, you can improvise to save money. This way works wonderfully. Find a lengthy piece of plastic gutter and use it as a reservoir by inserting one end of the capillary mat. Capillary mats allow the plants to be watered from the base of the container, where the capillary action of the compost takes place. Just sit your plants on top of the mat. The gutter should be always filled with water. You can do this by hand-watering it or by creating a drip system with the simple use of water bags.

Simple drip water system kits can be purchased with minimal cost for those that would prefer this method. These kits include usually about six drip valves that can be synchronized. Some kits even have adjustable water and fertilizer flow.

You can also pick up a combination of mist-like sprayers and adjustable dripper kits.

It is often best to have automatic watering systems that can do the job when the owner or part-time hobbyist is away at work or away even for short periods of time. Timers or automatic sensors can be applied to help as well with this task.

Allow me to share this quotation:

The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before. Vita Sackville-West

For more great gardening tips and gardening free stuff, please visit http://www.ez-gardening-tips.com

Free to Publish, but may not be edited in any way and resource link must remain.

Louanne Baelde freelances as a writer/editor. She is passionate about gardening and welcomes you to find great easy gardening tips at http://www.ez-gardening-tips.com.



Overwintering in the Greenhouse

Many gardeners seem to shut down operations in the winter entirely and start completely anew each season. With proper overwintering techniques, which are made much easier with the use of a greenhouse, many plants can be preserved only to be more vigorous beautiful producers the next season. In addition to perennial flowers and ornamentals most berries including Black, Blue and Raspberries can be grown for more than one season as can most herbs including Basil, Chives and Parsley. Several vegetables are also perennials including Asparagus, Garlic, Shallots, Sweet Beets, Sweet Potato and many Peppers.

There are some distinct advantages to using a greenhouse for overwintering. In many areas rodents can be a significant source of damage to plants during the winter months when other food is scarce. Another major cause of damage and loss of plants during winter is caused by freezing and fluctuations in soil temperature, and this is an even bigger problem for plants in containers. Plants out in the open also often sustain tissue burn from the moisture loss caused by cold dry air. Proper overwintering in a greenhouse makes it much easier to protect against these and other winter hazards to plants.

It is possible to keep many plants from one year to the next. They will not continue to bloom profusely and grow over winter as they did during the summer, but in many cases they will have better production than they did in year one and will give the gardener a great head start on the next season.

Depending upon the climate, late August (Hardness zones 3-6) to late September (Hardness zones 7-8) is generally the window for beginning the overwintering process. In most areas it is practically impossible to keep plants thriving and producing outside past October. The low sun and shorter days tend to induce 'semi-dormancy', a period of reduced functioning in the plants. For this reason the beginning of the overwintering program will start by gradually tapering off watering and fertilization in October. In the winter the soil should not become bone dry or dusty, but should be watered only occasionally during the plant's dormancy.

It is best to hold off on moving plants into the greenhouse until just before the first freeze of winter sets in. Moving the plants inside too early will slow down the hardening off process and may result in undesirable out of season growth.

Once plants are in the greenhouse temperature control is very important to overwintering success. Temperatures of 45°-55°F are ideal. The higher the temperatures above this range, the more likely the plants will produce weak growth out of season which can make them susceptible to various infestations. Greenhouse temperatures can generally be controlled using ventilation during the day to keep the greenhouse from overheating. In very cold climates a heat source may be necessary to keep the temperature close to the ideal range, particularly at night.

Most plants will benefit from some pruning back in mid-March in preparation for the vigorous growth during the new season. This is also a good time to consider transplanting plants that grew a lot during the past summer into the garden or larger containers. Plants adjust best to gradual change. At this time, the greenhouse can be allowed to reach slightly warmer temperatures (65°F days, 55°F nights). Resume fertilizing with balanced blend mixed ½-strength. When all danger of frost is past, the plants can be moved outside again for the summer, and the greenhouse temperatures can be raised for plants that will remain in the greenhouse or for germination of new plants for the growing season.

For successful overwintering in the greenhouse keep these tips in mind:

Begin overwintering by reducing water and fertilizer in late August to late October, depending on Hardness Zone. Take care not to allow soil or air to become overly dry. Wait until just before the first freezing weather of the season to move plants into the greenhouse.

During the winter dormant period maintain greenhouse temperatures as close to 45°-55°F as possible.

Prune plants back in mid-March in preparation for the new growing season.

After pruning, increase greenhouse temperature to 65°F days, 55°F nights and resume fertilizing with balanced blend mixed ½-strength.

Move plants to desired outdoor locations when all danger of frost has passed.

Dr. Christopher J. Kline is a master gardener and sunflower specialist living in Paradise Valley Arizona. He is also an editor for http://www.SunflowerOcity.com The Ultimate Sunflower Site has everything imaginable about sunflowers including great information, links to the best products, sites and discussion boards. You can reach Chris at Chris.Kline@sunflowerOcity.com.

Enter your search terms Submit search form