Heating a Greenhouse in winter
Warm weather plants are best kept alive during winter by making use of a greenhouse. The greenhouse should be built with unique designs which enable them to collect and maintain enough heat enough. This heat might not be enough to be used by plants during cold weathers. This calls for additional heating system for the greenhouse. It is usually very expensive when one uses common heating methods like fuel, wood stoves or natural gas. Additional heating might cause the problem of humidity by either causing a drying effect or building up of unnecessary moisture. All this can be avoided by adjustment of the greenhouses’ structure and employing insulation techniques.
The greenhouse should be constructed with the lengths moving from west to east so as to have a full long face exposed to the sky on the side. This gives the greenhouse a chance for winter sun shine on a full length of the greenhouse. The back wall on the northern direction should be backed with a structure to offer shelter against the wind and assist in insulation. One can also dig the ground floor of the green house to have a slope facing to the south. This has been proved to increase the temperature of greenhouse with up to fifty five degrees Fahrenheit.
Paint water gallon in black, fill water and place it in the greenhouse. This help to absorb the heat from the sun when it is hot and releasing it during the night when temperatures drops. Insulate the green house by using foam sheets for plastic green house which is placed at night and removed during the day. When glass is used to construct the green house, use double glasses to offer the insulation. A wooden stove can be installed in the middle of the green house with large vents being used to take out extra heat. A fan installed in the middle of the greenhouse helps to distribute the heat in the greenhouse. Proper heating should be offered to plants to see them survive the cold winter weather without affecting their growth.