Growing Under Glass: Your Guide to Greenhouse Gardening Success
By Hilery Hixon
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About this ebook
A handbook to setting up and maintaining a greenhouse, Growing Under Glass: Your Guide to Greenhouse Gardening Success takes you step-by-step with four sections through the greenhouse gardening process. Beginning with The Greenhouse Structure, learn the ins and outs of maintaining the structure and regulating the greenhouse temperature. Next up is Growing Guidelines, providing tips, hints and steps of successfully growing plants in the greenhouse environment. Then on to Deciding What to Grow Under Glass to aid in making educated decisions on the best plants for your greenhouse. Finally, delve into the Resources to assist in locating everything you need for your greenhouse. From soil to success, this book will guide you every step of the way.
Hilery Hixon
Hilery Hixon has a passion for gardening. Her greenhouse began as an experiment and grew into a way of life. She lives in Southern Nevada with her husband, Jack Russell Terrier and two cats.
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Growing Under Glass - Hilery Hixon
Growing Under Glass:
Your Guide to Greenhouse Gardening Success
By: Hilery Hixon
www.growingunderglass.com
Copyright © 2009 by Hilery Hixon
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved, including reproduction rights.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Dedication
To Adem, my dear husband who believed in me.
To my husband’s parents who supported me throughout the process of writing this book.
And to my mother and father for giving me the corner in the yard to grow my heart’s desire that started it all.
Introduction
Most of us got hooked on gardening when we were kids. We experienced the wonder of nurturing a seed and watching it grow and change day by day. Growing up, I always had my own corner of the garden to plant whatever my heart desired and I took great pride in my okra plants.
When I was in first grade, our class conducted a science experiment. On a Monday, each of us was given a lima bean. We moistened a paper towel, folded the lima bean inside, sealed the paper towel in a plastic bag and pinned the bag on a bulletin board next to our each of our names.
On Friday, we opened the bags and gasped in amazement when we found our lima beans had germinated! I still experience the same wonder every time I start new plants from seed in my greenhouse.
My greenhouse began as an experiment. As a hobby gardener, could I really pull off a greenhouse in the desert southwest? I am not a botanist, a horticulturist or a master gardener, but I was determined to find as much information as possible about growing under glass.
What I found is there is a lot of literature on gardening and on greenhouse construction, however not as much on the actual process of what goes on inside the greenhouse, and even less about greenhouse gardening in desert climates. This spawned the project of writing, compiling and sharing information about growing a productive garden indoors.
After your greenhouse is built, there are a multitude of decisions to make. This book is divided into four sections to help guide you along the way:
• The Greenhouse Structure
• Growing Guidelines
• Deciding What to Grow Under Glass
• Resources
Arm yourself with as much information as possible, take the process step-by-step and most of all have fun! Experience is the best teacher; learn to trust your instincts. Your plants will tell you when they need help or when they are happy. A greenhouse is a commitment, and with that commitment, your greenhouse will reward you with a year-round growing season.
Gardening is an adventure, so get out to your greenhouse and starting growing!
The Greenhouse Structure
The greenhouse structure is an important thing; it is what keeps regulated temperature in and the elements out. Since you have picked up this book, you most likely already have your greenhouse built. If your greenhouse is not yet built, I commend you on taking the steps to educate yourself on everything that goes into maintaining and operating a hobby greenhouse.
First off, check the stability of the structure. Are any sections of the greenhouse shaky? Do they need reinforcement? If the greenhouse is not new, do any repairs need to be made and do any cracks need sealed up? Is the roof solid? In regions where it snows, the roof needs to be able to handle the weight of the snow if the pitch of the roof is not steep enough to shed the snow. It is easier to take care of these things now before plants are moved inside.
The first greenhouse I built was from an inexpensive kit. While kit greenhouses are fine for most applications, my husband and I live in an open, windy area. The kit I purchased did not show a wind rating. The first windstorm we experienced, the roof sheared right off the greenhouse. It was not even standing for a week!
If you have not built your greenhouse yet are looking into a kit greenhouse, call the manufacturer and ask questions to make sure that your greenhouse will work for your location and your application. Ask for a wind rating. In northern areas, make sure the roof will hold the weight of snow. In southern areas, make sure the glazing is properly treated with a UV coating that can withstand the harsh sun of your region. If the manufacturer cannot answer these questions, it may be prudent to look into a different greenhouse.
Greenhouse Maintenance
A greenhouse is an investment in money and time. Even though the primary focus of the greenhouse is the plants inside, it is important to keep the structure in the forefront of your mind. Maintaining your structure will ensure many years of indoor gardening enjoyment.
Glazing
Glazing is a fancy name for the material of the windows
of the greenhouse. Light enters the greenhouse through the glazing. Keeping the glazing clean is important for your plants to get the sunlight they need. Make a habit of checking the glazing on a weekly basis to see if it needs to be cleaned.
If your glazing is polycarbonate or glass, check the edges once a year to see if it needs to be resealed. Sealing is easy with a tube of silicone, but before you lay down a new bead of silicone, peel up the damaged or dried out silicone first.
Polycarbonate Glazing
Glass will last a long time, however it is fragile when it comes to impact. Polycarbonate is more durable, yet tends to yellow over time and may need to be replaced after ten years.
With polyethylene (plastic film) glazing, check the surface once a week for tears and repair accordingly. Be prepared for the need to replace the polyethylene once a year as twelve months of wind, rain and possibly hail quickly takes its toll. Make sure the edges are secured so the wind cannot get underneath. If the wind can pick up the edges, you can be almost guaranteed that the wind will tear it up quickly. Visit your local nursery during the winter months to check out their temporary greenhouse setup and you will see exactly what I mean. Polyethylene is less expensive than glass and polycarbonate, but it is much less durable.
Polyethylene Damage
Green Thumb: Check plastic