7 Greenhouse Gardening Mistakes — Beginners Guide
By: Arslan Akram
Tags: DIY, Gardening, Home Decor, Home Improvement, Greenhouse

Gardening is a super relaxing yet lively hobby if you do it by heart. Seeing your plants growing and thriving is the ultimate happiness one can have. Growing plants, herbs, fruits, or vegetables in a greenhouse is tricky rather than simple house gardening.

Cultivating the plants, herbs, and other things in a greenhouse demands attention and care in order to have the best results. To get the best outcome from your greenhouse, you have to avoid the common mistakes that the beginners and yet the professionals commit in greenhouse gardening.

Reading this article will help you to avoid the below-given common mistakes that extremely affect your greenhouse gardening and won’t let you have the results that you demand.

So, let’s start!

Choosing the wrong greenhouse building material

Before choosing a material for your greenhouse, you should search which material is best for building a greenhouse to cultivate your plants, herbs, or vegetables. There are several materials that are also used to make your own DIY greenhouse building including wooden, metal, and polycarbonate sheets.

The best material that won’t put your hard-earned money at the risk of waste is the plexiglass material. Plexiglass is a durable material that is capable of bearing the impacts due to its flexible nature and gives you UV protection too.

So, choosing the right and perfect material is the first thing before investing your money.

2. Not maintaining the ideal temperature for greenhouse in winters and summers

One of the biggest mistakes committed by gardeners in greenhouse gardening is that they forget to control the temperature. Normally, the ideal temperature for a greenhouse on summer days is 75–85ᐤF and for summer nights, it is 60–75ᐤF. It changes to 65–70ᐤF and 45ᐤF for winter days and nights respectively.

You can place the digital thermometer inside your greenhouse to monitor the temperature inside.

3. Choosing the wrong location affects your greenhouse gardening

Another common mistake made by the gardeners is that they pick a location that is not right for greenhouse gardening. Picking a perfect location is important, where there is no obstruction from the sun should be your first preference.

A location with maximum exposure to sunlight will encourage and stimulate your cultivations in the glasshouse. Moreover, you also have to consider the objects that come in the way of sunlight such as trees, buildings, or any other obstruction. Here are two pieces of advice before choosing your greenhouse location.

● Build your greenhouse in a sunny area as the vegetables require a minimum of 6 hours of daily sunlight.

● Avoid building the greenhouse in areas that are prone to heavy downpours or have dry weather.

4. No proper ventilation for your plants

Proper ventilation is very crucial and a basic thing to do in greenhouse gardening but the greenhouse owners still overlook this critical requirement. Proper ventilation doesn’t mean that the greenhouse is having windows. It means that the air flows in the greenhouse from one part to the other, as the plants are sensitive to temperature.

The hot temperature in your greenhouse will wilt your plants while the cold can stop their growth, or even freeze them. To balance your plexiglass greenhouse’s atmosphere and temperature, there should be a proper ventilation system that helps your plants grow perfectly. Maintaining an optimum temperature in the greenhouse is the key.

5. Improper watering can damage your plants

The beginner gardeners usually over-water their plants in the greenhouse. Yes, it’s true that you feel relaxed while watering the plants but you need to be careful. Excessive watering can lead to mold growth, and as a result, it weakens your plants and invites pests, bugs, and other diseases for your plants.

To prevent this situation, water your plants in the morning and see how many plants are dry at the end of the day. This will help you know how much water is required and allow the plants to transpire before they get warmer.

For greenhouses, drip irrigation is another best option to save your plants and water bills.

6. Neglecting the need for sunlight

As you have read in school that the plants need sunlight for photosynthesis, and without it, they die. And many fruits and vegetables require good sunlight to grow. Keeping it in view, don’t neglect the sunlight for your greenhouse.

7. Omitting the shade requirement

Many beginners fail to provide proper sunlight. Similarly, there are people who omit the need for shade to their greenhouse. Your greenhouse requires shade too. Don’t make your plants in the greenhouse heat stressed.

To prevent your plants from damaging solar radiation, you can place shade cloths that block some solar radiations or you can use plexiglass that is capable of blocking such radiations.

Take Away!

Greenhouse gardening is a little tricky at first, but once you learn its techniques, it will be a lot easier. Growing and caring for your plants is a good thing. If you are to kickstart a greenhouse, then this article is very useful for you. It will help you to avoid the common mistakes made in greenhouse gardening. To have a plexiglass greenhouse sheet, you can visit the Fab Glass and Mirror website to get the best quality and affordable prices of plexiglass.