Greenhouse Gardening

If you are fortunate to have a sizable conservatory, this can double as a growing area in late winter and early spring when every space needs to be comandeered into service for bedding plants. If you are serious about greenhouse gardening you need to consider something designed specifically for the purpose.

The roof can be "span-roof" t ype or a simple lean-to, but the extra light admitted by a sloping-sided building may influence the earliness of a winter crop by a few weeks. A lean-to has the advantage of being only a few paces away from the house, and water and electrical services are easily installed. In addition, a lean-to will produce a wider range of plants and in many cases, a wider selection of delicate plants can be grown, as it can be made much warmer than a detached glasshouse.  What can be grown in a glasshouse depends to a large extent on the minimum temperature that can be maintained over the winter months.

Grenhouse gardening can still be effective in an unheated building. If you have a small budget, an arrangemnent of this sort can be a good beginning; heating equipment can be installed later as you become more experienced and want to try your hand with a wider variety of plants. An attractive display can be achieved by growing mainly hardy plants in pots. These will flower a littler earlier than those grown in the open but the flowers will not be spoilt by bad weather!

Although plenty of interest can be generated in plants grown without heat, a wider range of plants can obviously be cultivated if the minimum winter temperature can be maintained above 10⁰C. With the aid of artificial heat it is also easier to maintain a good growing climate for your chosen plants.

If you are able to heat a glasshouse to 13⁰C, you will be justly rewarded! Many tropical plants can be grown. Even warmer glasshouses are sometimes referred to as "Stovehouses" - designed for the cultivation of tropical plants and maintained throughout the year at a temperature of about 21⁰C, the temperature rising further with the heat of the sun. A moist atmosphere and ample supply of water, preferably warm rainwater are necessary; sizable water tanks within the glasshouse are essential. Most tropical flowering plants also require good light, but some of the decorative foliage plants may need shading from the hottest sun;

Ventilation must also be considered. Due to the high cost of heating, few amateurs can afford to devote a house entirely to stove plants, but greenhouse gardening can be enhanced by dividing a glasshouse into sections and reserving the end nearest the heating to greenhouse gardening devoted to stoveplants.