How to Avoid the Most Common Greenhouse Mistakes | Gardener's Path

Growing plants in a greenhouse, whether edible or ornamental, requires a little work beforehand. Learn from these common mistakes and have a successful growing season.

Too much humidity can allow mold spores and diseases to run rampant in your greenhouse; too little and the plants will die of thirst.

Do research ahead of time to group plants together with similar humidity needs. Grow them at the same time, or build more than one smaller greenhouse, if space permits.

Misting is an excellent way to increase humidity- find out how much your plants need.

Even in the winter, your plants may need shade from the sun. The greenhouse cover increases heat inside, so have a system to shade the plants when the sun glares.

Different shading materials are available at DIY stores and and even directly from Amazon. You can pull them over the roof, have them mounted on a pulley system against the inside of the greenhouse ceiling, or have an electronic monitor and motor system automatically pull the shades for you according to the amount of UV sunlight. This system, of course, will be more expensive than manual.

Mighty Products Heavy Duty Shade Mesh Tarp, 12 x 12-Feet

Without air circulation, the plants will succumb to disease and die. If the greenhouse has no vents, then on sunny days, even in the coldest winter, the heat will rise inside and could cook your plants.

Several manufacturers offer automatic greenhouse ventilation systems, both for AC power (hooked up to an outside outlet), or for battery or solar power. This saves you from having to run outside, opening and closing windows all day.

During the night, the winter temperatures drop dramatically.