Vegetable Greenhouse Gardening

A greenhouse is a unique and perfect arrangement for growing vegetables all round the year. A greenhouse is a glass structure or enclosure within which plants are grown. A wide variety of vegetables can be grown inside a greenhouse including tomato, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, radish, carrot, peppers, cucumbers, beans, eggplant, melons, beetroots and turnips.

However, there are certain important parameters that need to be controlled while growing vegetables inside a greenhouse. These include the temperature inside the glass house, sunlight, oxygen and the humidity.

Temperature has a phenomenal influence on the growth of plants. Vegetables like tomato and peppers are warm weather crops that cannot grow if temperatures go beyond 90°F. There are three varieties of greenhouses depending on the temperature maintained inside at night times. These include cold greenhouse, cool greenhouse and warm greenhouse. Cold and cool greenhouses are suitable for growing winter plants that are not frost sensitive. Temperatures inside these greenhouses are maintained using gas, propane or oil. The most widely used greenhouses for growing vegetables are the warm greenhouses. 55°F is the minimum temperatures to be maintained inside a warm greenhouse.

Sunlight is another vital factor influencing growth of vegetables. Therefore, a greenhouse should be located at such a place where maximum amount of sunlight can be captured in a day. Plants should be evenly spaced inside the greenhouse so as to ensure proper ventilation. Proper air flow can also be controlled by opening the doors of the greenhouse during the morning or by keeping vents in the ceiling. Vegetable plants require a great amount of humidity. Hence, plants should be periodically watered. The best greenhouse soil mixtures include fir bark, sand, peat moss, vermiculite and perlite.