Greenhouse gardening is a little piece of heaven on earth, allowing tropical plants to be gardened throughout the year, even in the winter. Greenhouse gardening allow plants and gardening flowers, as well as vegetables and fruits to be grown any time. Even though there are obvious growing benefits with greenhouses, there are also drawbacks since they take a lot of energy and work in order to maintain that conditions of an ideal greenhouse.

Tips for Greenhouses

The biggest cost associated with greenhouse gardening is that of heating the greenhouse year round. There are different types of heating units available today in order to heat the greenhouse, but all require a significant cost, especially in very cold climates, since it is not just like heating a house in the winter, it is keeping a large, windowed space at tropical temperatures during a time when outside temperatures are reaching zero and below. There also needs to be some sort of backup energy source because plants will quickly die if the energy is cut for any reason.

One way to help to save energy in greenhouse gardening is to choose the siding materials carefully, since those materials are what help to hold in the heat for the greenhouse. One type of siding is glass, but it is the least beneficial for holding in heat. It also can break very easily and is hard to seal properly, since there are more panes than are needed with the other types of siding.

Plastic greenhouse gardening siding is made up of fiberglass for the most part, although polycarbonate and polyethylene film is also used. These panes are lighter than glass and more durable, so they tend to reduce the draftiness that is seen in glass paned greenhouses.

One problem with fiberglass though is that it lets in light but is not transparent. There is a gel coating that is put on the fiberglass that ends up burning off after a certain amount of time (5-6years) and then it turns a yellowish color that is not attractive in any circumstances, much less when it is a greenhouse where windows are expected to be clear and clean.

Polycarbonate is better than fiberglass for greenhouse gardening because it is a clearer and more durable plastic. It can also be layered, since it is clearer, which allows the greenhouse to be better insulated. The last type, polyethylene film is not a pane; it is a sheet that goes over the frame. It is not very durable, especially in more extreme climates, and it does not insulate as well as the other types of siding for greenhouse gardening.