Enjoy Fresh Veggies All Winter Long With A Greenhouse Vegetable Garden
When summer ends, it doesn't mean you have to give up growing your own fresh veggies. You just need to invest in a small greenhouse to be able to enjoy the fresh taste of home grown produce year round. There aren't very many differences when it comes to gardening outside or indoors, but there are some things you will need to pay special attention to when it comes to a greenhouse vegetable garden.
Raising vegetables during the wintertime necessitates warmth so you will need to provide the right conditions for plant growth. Garden greenhouses have to maintain a temperature of at least 55 degrees F in order for the plants to grow and involve a heating unit. Heating units can be gas, electric or propane.
Virtually any vegetable you can grow outside can be grown in a greenhouse. Practically every vegetable has a variety that has been hybridized to thrive indoors. You can find them in most catalogs that sell seeds. The kinds of seed you want are the ones that do not require a great deal of heat to flourish. You should try to find types that grow compactly or can be cut back to be compact because there's not as much space in one of these structures as there is in a garden.
One thing you will have to pay close attention to is pollination, since you won't have the bees and other insects that facilitate this process naturally. However, there are some easy tips and tricks for indoor pollination, such as those used on tomatoes. When growing tomatoes indoors, the vines should be tied to bamboo stakes. During the flowering stage, simply tap the stakes twice a day. There are about three days during which the flowers produce pollen, and you will be able to identify this phase by the way the petals curve backwards.
Other important factors for healthy vegetable plant growth are sunshine, water and fertilizer. Most people will use special grow lights to provide the recommended daily eight hours of light required by most plants. You will also have to choose fertilizer formulated for indoor use, and be sure that you don't apply too much of it. Keep a close eye as well on the moisture levels of the soil, as there are no deep reserves of water for the plant to draw on.
Although your plants will require more care when grown indoors in the winter, the harvest will usually be more than worth the extra effort. Enjoying that delicious taste of a freshly picked veggie from your vegetable greenhouse garden is a pleasure that can't be beat.
Sarah writes for the Home Greenhouse site. You might be interested in her recent article on how to build a small greenhouse that's right for your needs.
categories: vegetable greenhouse garden,vegetable gardening,greenhouses,gardening,hobbies
