Greenhouse Ventilation - Don't Bake and Strangle Your Plants!

The first year I owned my greenhouse, I planted a number of plants, vegetables, flowers and herbs, within the last few days of winter, and was thrilled to see them all growing and thriving in the bright warmth contained inside. However, on the first really warm day near the end of spring, I went to find most of my plants drooping and spotting and looking anything but healthy! This was not supposed to happen in a greenhouse, I believed! The plants all looked so healthy just the afternoon before, so the thing that was going on?

It took a fast call to the business that sold me the greenhouse to appreciate that I probably should have purchased the extra few and inexpensive items needed to properly ventilate and shade a greenhouse. However in the dead of a Wisconsin winter, I recently couldn't imagine attempting to exhaust heat!

So how will you properly vent a greenhouse? Here's a listing of items which are essential following the temperature in your area climbs anywhere above 80 degrees:

o Roof ventilation panels. They're more or less standard issue on quality greenhouse kits these days. Keep in mind to utilize them once you obtain to the mid 70-degree sunny weather. Temperatures in a very greenhouse are much hotter than the ambient air outside, but an open roof panel can exhaust the worst of it.

o Louvers. These are good for to be able to let in or shut out the outside air as needed. Usually mounted into one or several of the walls of one's greenhouse, the slats in a louver operate much like mini blinds. Spring for the solar operated ones, if you want the most hassle-free solution to vent. Once the temperature in the greenhouse extends to a specified temperature, the solar-powered louver activates and opens to let in the cooler breezes and fresh air.

o Exhaust fans. They're required for the more expensive greenhouses, because even an excellent stiff breeze may not be likely to be sustained long enough to do the job of lowering interior temperatures sufficiently. All of the commercially available greenhouse exhaust fans are resistant to the high humidity of a greenhouse and outdoor weather, and are constructed with built-in louvers, which swing open while the fan comes on. Many greenhouse fans are temperature activated as well, to store energy when not really needed.

o Oscillating Fans. Sometimes one side of one's greenhouse could possibly get considerably hotter than the other, especially if one side gets all of the afternoon sun. A greenhouse fan can help to keep fresh air circulating and regulate the temperature throughout.

o Shade Cloth or Tarp. In the worst heat of summer, it may also be wise to not only vent heat, but to stop it from accumulating as much in the first place. That's the place where a good quality greenhouse shade cloth will make a full world of difference. These tarps are designed to let some useful light in, but reduce the total amount that penetrate the structure. Because gathered light equals heat, they are generally with the capacity of reducing the interior temperature an excellent 10 to 15 degrees or more, depending on other additional ventilation measures being used. It is wise to cover the utmost effective and afternoon side, and let your plants still get the more indirect light from the walls of the greenhouse, or place the shade tarp in the late morning, and remove it again an hour or so or two before sunlight goes down. You will have to experiment a little to get it right for your neighborhood or region.

Ventilating and circulating are two words I hardly ever really thought I would need to concern myself with in my own new greenhouse. But as I learned the hard way, it's essential to safeguard your plants from the extremes on either end of the thermometer. I am hoping you'll benefit from my experience, too.