How to Use Greenhouses and Hydroponics Together

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Hydroponic greenhouse gardening combines two techniques which are well known to avid gardeners. 

Greenhouse gardening allows gardeners to extend the growing season well beyond what would normally be possible as well as providing gardeners with much greater control over growing conditions.

Hydroponic gardening also offers gardeners a large degree of control over their plants as well as, in most cases, a significantly higher yield than conventional gardening and more consistent quality in a comparatively small footprint.

Hydroponic greenhouse gardening is an especially attractive option for urban gardeners who are often limited in terms of outdoor space;

• A hydroponic greenhouse makes it possible to create a controlled growing environment even on for instance, a rooftop, which can produce a surprising amount of fruits and vegetables.
• Hydroponic gardening, especially in the Controlled Environment of a Greenhouse also uses significantly less water, pesticides and fertilizer than conventional gardening, another factor which has contributed to its popularity.

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The Greenhouse

What type and size of greenhouse you build will depend a great deal on how much space you have available and of course, the type and number of plants you that you intend to grow in your hydroponic greenhouse. 

While you may be surprised by how large of a yield you can get from a relatively small space, it’s also a mistake to build too small of a greenhouse;

• It’s easier to add to your hydroponic set up later than it is to tear down your greenhouse and build a new, larger one later on.
• As with any other greenhouse, the key is to make the best possible use of space and to make sure that you have room for everything you need – in other words, plan ahead based on not only your current needs, but those that you anticipate in the near future.

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Hydroponic Systems

There are several different kinds of hydroponic systems that you could choose from for your hydroponic greenhouse.

Which system you go with will again, largely depend on the size of your greenhouse, the extent of your experience as a hydroponic gardener and how much time, money and effort you’re willing to put into your new gardening venture.

Perhaps the easiest system to set up in your greenhouse is a simple Mittleider system.

1. It’s versatile, easy to maintain and costs very little to build.
2. You also don’t need very much in the way of supplies.
3. You’ll need to build (or buy) raised boxes and fill them with a growing medium (pea gravel is an excellent choice for this) and water the plants once, perhaps twice per day with a nutrient solution.
4. You don’t need electricity, pumps, hoses or anything else.
5. If you’re just getting started with hydroponics or are working on an especially tight budget, this may be the best way to go.

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However, if you’re feeling more ambitious and have a little more money to work with, you can build an ebb/flow system for your hydroponic greenhouse.

This is more complex, but by no means too complex for the average gardener to build themselves even if they’re not particularly mechanically inclined – there are also kits available which make things even easier to set up. You will need significantly more equipment if you choose an ebb/flow system; you’ll also need electricity in your greenhouse.

• Ebb/flow hydroponics systems need hoses, a submersible pump, timers and relatively large containers to hold your nutrient solution, not to mention your planting containers.
• Even so, an ebb/flow system is a good choice if you’re planning to build a larger greenhouse, since it requires fairly little maintenance once it’s set up.
• Compared to a Mittleider system, an ebb/flow system will require you to spend a lot less time working in your greenhouse, since you won’t have to manually water your plants on a daily or twice daily basis.

Greenhouse gardening and hydroponics are a winning combination for the avid gardener looking for a higher yield, lower maintenance garden, especially in a situation where outdoor space is limited.

It’s not the right environment for every plant (cold weather crops like cruciferous vegetables tend to do poorly in the warmth of a greenhouse, for instance), but a hydroponic greenhouse is an excellent addition to any garden and can allow virtually anyone to enjoy the bounty of a large garden even in a small space without access to soil.

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Mini Greenhouse Kits: Greenhouse Gardening Tips

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How to Grow Truffles in a Greenhouse: Greenhouses 201

Truffles are a culinary delicacy that can be grown in a greenhouse.

They are a mushroom-like type of fungus that grow to be bumpy, white and small in size. Truffles grow on the roots of certain types of trees – oak trees are the easiest of these to cultivate, though hazelnut trees are also sometimes used.

Growing truffles in a greenhouse can be useful because the greenhouse environment allows you more control over growing conditions and truffles do not grow well in temperature or humidity extremes, nor do they tolerate sharp changes in these conditions.

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Greenhouse Growing

1. Position your greenhouse to get as much sunlight as possible.
2. You may need to use lamps for supplemental light in dark wintry conditions, but this can be expensive, so generally you want to minimize use of lamps as much as you can.
3. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, erect a greenhouse near the south side of a building if you do not have the money or space to build one in a standalone fashion.
4. Greenhouses should also be on ground that is either level or only slightly sloped.
5. Click the following link to learn more about greenhouse positioning.

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Truffles on Oak Roots in Your Greenhouse

1. Since growing truffles must go along with growing trees, be prepared to create enough space in your greenhouse for oak trees and to be patient enough to give the oaks time to grow.
2. Mature oak roots can grow many crops of truffles over the years and even over decades.
3. Oaks require full sun conditions and quality potting soil with lime and compost mixed into at least the top 1'.
4. This soil should also be free of obstructions like rocks or thick clods of dirt. The ideal soil pH for an oak growing truffles is 7.5-7.9.
5. Buy oaks to transplant to your greenhouse from an approved, reputable truffle grower that have been injected with truffle fungus.

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Planting Oak Trees for Truffle Growing

1. A good heuristic for how deep the holes should be for the transplants is twice as wide as the roots of the oaks and at least 2', with the total soil depth being about 5'.
2. Tree roots tend to grow horizontally instead of vertically.
3. Each hole should be around 6' from each other hole to give the roots space for growing horizontally.
4. Also, be sure that there are no trees within 30' of your greenhouse site, since otherwise water could be directed away from your oaks.
5. There should be no plants of any kind within 3' of your greenhouse for the same reason.

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Watering and Maintaining Your Oaks

• Spread the roots carefully apart by hand when planting, and set each sapling into each hole lightly.
• Fill in the holes with soil and firmly pack the soil down to avoid air pockets.
• Water right after planting and keep soil consistently moist but not soaked.
• The area you plant in should be well-drained as well.
• Temperatures should also be warm but not too hot. Plant in winter or early spring.
• Irrigation is probably a good idea for a larger crop of oaks, and thus of truffles.
• Mulch is useful to aiding you in keeping the soil moist and also to keep out weeds and even grass, which can be a problem even in a greenhouse setting, and which can be especially damaging to a truffle harvest.

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Conclusion:

Harvesting Truffles

You probably will not get any truffles until about a year has passed, at which point you will want to regularly and carefully search the soil around the roots for small, firm lumps that you can then pull upward to harvest. It is important to do this regularly because truffles that are not harvested will go bad. Add more compost to the soil after harvesting to lay the groundwork for the next batch of truffles. If you have a lot of oak trees with truffles, consider using a pig or a trained dog to help sniff them out for you.

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About this Posts Author:

This post was published and written by Mr. Whitney Michael Segura, the founder and chief of operations of Mini Greenhouse Kits store and online network of information based websites.

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Learn How to Grow Roses in a Greenhouse

Growing roses is something that everyone wants to attempt at one point or another.

During the summer, putting them immediately into the greenhouse is in order and not at all a problem, but in the winter time you will want to harden them slightly to the cooler weather.

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Roses are among the most beautiful flowers in the world. 

1. There are more than 1000 different varieties of roses.
2. Most of them will grow very nicely in a greenhouse, whether it is summer or winter. In fact, you can even grow roses in the winter time in an unheated greenhouse.
3. The method is not at all difficult to learn and you can grow quite a few varieties in this way.

 

One type of greenhouse that many people shun, but which can be made more useful to you is a cold greenhouse when you are considering growing roses.

Getting roses to grow in the winter time and giving yourself that splash of color in the middle of the winter isn’t all that difficult to accomplish. It will surprise you how much you can accomplish in a cold greenhouse.

There are roses that are hardy enough to grow even in midwinter in unheated greenhouses. Of course not every rose variety is going to be suitable and some roses are much more delicate and difficult to grow, which will require that you add heat to the green house prior to getting started if you’re in the early spring months. The location will determine the methods in which to use, for growing the best greenhouse rose plants, such as California rose tips, Texas rose tips, Florida rose tips, Louisiana rose tips, Georgia rose tips, New York rose tips, Connecticut rose tips, Colorado rose tips, Virginia rose tips, Washington rose tips, New Mexico rose tips, South Carolina rose tips, North Carolina rose tips, Mississippi rose tips, New Jersey rose tips, North Dakota rose tips, South Dakota rose tips, Pennsylvania rose tips, Ohio rose tips, and many others.

Caucasian Young Woman in a Hat Walking in the Garden

In most cases the cold or unheated greenhouse is going to be suitable for the roses that you want to grow from midwinter to early spring.

You’ll be the first one on your block to be, offering bouquets of fragrantly scented roses from your greenhouse garden. You quite likely, will not even, need to force them in any way, so long as they are given adequate coverage, from the frost, are adequately fed, and watered.

The main part of growing roses in a greenhouse will be the slips that you get to use to create the roses to begin with. The secret is to take the cutting, or the slip, as it is sometimes called from a very healthy part of a very healthy rose.

The right cutting can be taken to grow a rose from nearly anything.

• Even if you know absolutely nothing about roses at all, you can take a cutting, from the root area that will make a perfectly acceptable new plant.
• Take your cutting from the root area of a very established plant.

Picture of a Red Rose Laying on White Background

You can take a root that is possessed of a heel, or a slip of the actual woody part of plant and it won’t really be necessary to root it.

1. If you insert it into some very sandy type soil, and it will root and begin to grow the first year.
2. The cuttings can be put into water in order to root them ahead of time.
3. Do this indoors and when they are a bit older and more sturdy, you can move them to the greenhouse.

Getting the cutting in the right shape is important.

1. The end of the branch that the rose is growing on will be the best area from which to take a cutting. Take it down to the next joint.
2. Once you’ve done so, insert this type of cutting into water and allow it to root.
3. Rose plants take some time to generate roots and to be large enough to go outdoors.
4. Once your cuttings are a bit larger you can put them out into an unheated greenhouse, and they will be well able to withstand the cooler weather –again, depending on the variety.

Culturing roses or clipping roses to get the precise cutting for a good root system is a subject that will take a great deal more time to cover than we have available to us here. Suffice it to say that you need to carefully cut them with a very sharp knife and immediate add them to the sand which has been moistened.

Colorful Various Bouquet of Pink Yellow and Red Roses

1. Place them outside in the greenhouse, during the day if the greenhouse is not heated, but has glass walls to offer sunlight.
2. In the evening you will want to bring them back inside so that they are kept warm enough until they get a bit older.

During the summer you will want to put all your pots outdoors for a few hours a day so that the wood can ripen.

1. Bring them back inside and stop setting them outdoors, during the day in October or November, and they will be strong and healthy enough to flower for most of the winter months.
2. In fact, you can expect about 4-5 months of flowering, during the winter in the greenhouse. 
3. Keep the soil covered, in order to ensure that they stay warm enough, and ensure that they are given a placement, where they will get four or five hours of sun a day.
4. Essentially, roses are something that anyone can grow in a greenhouse, even the unheated variety.
5. Do take care that you review the varieties of roses, to ensure that the variety that you select are able to withstand the cooler temperatures.

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Applications of Warm Aired Greenhouse Heaters

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Applications of Warm Aired Greenhouse Heaters

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Greenhouses usually need some form of heat during parts of the year when the weather changes and the temperatures shift downward;

One of the two main types of heaters used for greenhouses is infrared and warm air heating systems.

• Both have distinct points as to which works best for different types of greenhouse use and climates, if done properly the heating system can be self-sustainable.
• The warm air greenhouse heaters are a bit different in applications and usage then the infrared models.
• The warm air heaters are usually fueled by natural gas, electricity or propane although natural gas is usually cheaper to use. Passive solar heaters provide efficiency and are completely sustainable, for modern green gardeners.

 

When greenhouse heaters that use the warm air are to be used in the building, it is important to make certain that the proper venting and intake of fresh air be set up according to the manufacturer specifications.

1. If harmful exhaust enters the greenhouse, while the heaters are working, it can cause a great deal of damage, to the people and plants inside.
2. In addition to the proper placement of the heaters and ventilation, the means for circulating the air flow, so that the plants are protected from the colder temperature.
3. It is important remember, that the conservation of the heat, in the areas that can be controlled by heaters, is one of the applications that may make the difference, in how a crop does.

Warm air rises and cool air sinks, which make it an important fact that the greenhouse owner or grower needs, to keep a close eye on the temperature of the different areas of the greenhouse because the ends and certain areas may not warm as evenly with warm air heating systems.

The use of fans in addition to the heating system, may be needed to make certain the warmed air is circulating properly to all areas of the greenhouse as it is needed. The efficiency of the greenhouse heaters that supply warm air to keep the plants, from becoming too cold, is debated especially when the climate change is more drastic.

The importance of the building geographic location, materials and size are all some of the elements that need to be calculated when figuring out the best size and type of warmed air heater to use.

Some will require a certain size, based on the square footage of the area, to be warmed, and others may need an additional system.

The secondary system means to keep the even flow of warm air, where it belongs down among the plants to protect them. An accurate means of detecting and controlling the temperature of various areas of the greenhouse, is an important part of the system as a whole.
 

Some of the heating systems, use the fact that warm air rises, to let the heat flow from the bottom of the growing areas into the top.

• This can cause problems if there are wide temperature variations, that cause problems in areas of the greenhouse. For example, the heat could be hotter at the ceiling level and much cooler down where the plants are growing.
• These problems are usually corrected, with the use of additional equipment, such as fans and automated ventilation windows.

Application of the warm air heaters can be measured by the efficiency of the system itself as well as how it is set up inside the growing area.

A good heating system should offer enough warmth throughout the area without major cold spots;

• Be able to be adjusted and maintained easily.
• Be able to be installed and used in a manner that is responsible, for the environment and adhere to the regulations, about air quality inside and outside where it is ventilated.

 

One of the more interesting ways, to apply the warm air heaters to work more effectively is to use them with a series of pipes, that can either carry liquid or have air blown through them to heat the areas where the plants are grown.

If a liquid filled pipe is underneath the planting medium, then the seeds will germinate and grow faster than if the soil was not heated. Conduction heating is also used with this method as the objects that are heated in turn heat others within their proximity.

The use of heating systems for greenhouses is of course, dependent on the budget available and the means to implement the particular system that is desired.

If the growing area is not large, then the heater needed will not be the giant model but something that fits the space.

• It is a good idea when using the warm air greenhouse heaters, to keep track of the weather changes during the day and evening after the sun goes down.
• If the greenhouse is made of a material that is energy efficient, less energy will have to be used to keep the plants unharmed. The fact is that energy efficient greenhouse designs, already are in use and are growing in popularity.
• If heat loss calculations are in the greenhouse design, built and maintained well, the warm air heating system that is chosen should be adequate for the job of keeping the climate within a good growing temperature.

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Video: Learn How to Make an Old Greenhouse Structure More Energy Efficient

Source: YouTube.com
Number of Views: 454 (As of 11/22/2013)
Uploaded: October 28th, 2011
Description: Michigan State University's Dr. Erik Runkle interviews Michel van Rijn, commercial director Rijn Plant, De Lier, NL on how they have updated an older greenhouse to achieve sustainable goals and reduce energy costs & compare to new.

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Greenhouses that are not designed well may take some thought and additional effort to make the application work, but it is not an impossible job.

Part of the use of greenhouse heaters can be learned from articles and books, but pure experience in your particular geographical area will be the best way to find out if it is the best application for your greenhouse.

The circulation of the air is what will help your plants to grow and thrive, with the heated air available to keep away the chilly night temperatures.

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Recommended Additional Reading:

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Page Title: Guideline's for Climate Control: Greenhouse Humidity & Temperature
Source URL: http://jainpipe.com/Designtechnical/climate.htm
Uploaded: October 28th, 2011
Description: Guidelines for climate control of temperature and humidity inside greenhouses, what is the NaanDanJain Fogger, what are the essential conditions for efficient cooling using the NaanDanJain Fogger, find out what is the importance of the droplet size created by the NaanDanJain Fogger, how much water is needed to cool a greenhouse, and learn about cooling and humidifying cannot be conducted simultaneously.

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