A well-established cleaning routine is a key to a good greenhouse maintenance. Therefore, I decided to share with you my typical greenhouse cleaning routine.
Ideally, you should clean your greenhouse whenever it gets dirty, however it is not always possible. Moreover, different seasons require a specific cleaning routine.
So, to make it easier for you I am going to talk about when to clean and how. As well as what requires your attention the most at a certain time of the year.
When to clean a greenhouse?
When do you have to clean your greenhouse depends on the time of the year and on what you are growing.
For example, as many other gardeners I find that winter or early spring is the best time to have a deep clean.
That way you will prepare for the growing season ahead. If you are planning to grow summer plants like peppers, then go ahead and clean in winter.
However, if you are more into growing specialized plants all year round, then it is a good idea to have a clean up in the middle of the fall.
Also, at this time of the year your greenhouse is the emptiest because you haven’t filled it up with the tender plants over winter.
I personally prefer to have another clean up just before spring starts to remove the pests hiding in your greenhouse during winter as well as any nasty diseases.
How to clean a greenhouse effectively?
Step 1 – Choose a day for the greenhouse clean up
Whether you are cleaning in winter or spring, choose a mild day so you can open the doors and vents to clean them properly.
You don’t want to let cold winds to damage your plants, do you? Moreover, in order for your greenhouse to air dry properly and quickly after the clean up, the weather should be dry and a little bit breezy.
Step 2 – Clean both inside and outside of the greenhouse
I always divide my cleaning routine into two parts – cleaning of the outside of the greenhouse and of the inside of the greenhouse. In both cases I rely on a few simple rules before I start doing anything:
- Turn off all electrical appliances;
- Unplug all cords;
- Cover the wall sockets with a tape.
Step 3 – Clean the outside of a greenhouse
When it comes to cleaning of the outside of the greenhouse I start to clean around the structure and remove all the debris.
Then, I sweep away fallen leaves and dirt. As you can see from the picture I am using a garden rake which is approximately 60 inches long.
This length allows you to sweep away fallen leaves from the roof of your greenhouse as well.
The next step is to check the gutters and water tank (if you have one). These are easily getting blocked with debris and dirt.
To clean them I just throw on some rubber gloves and run my hand inside the gutter and remove anything that has accumulated.
If you have a water tank where water turned green and has a stinky smell, you might want to drain it out first.
After that you need to scrub out the inside of the tank with a coarse brush and a cleaning agent. Rinse it well with some clean water.
Then, I move on cleaning the inside of the structure. Obviously, when I am cleaning the glazing panels I wash them on the outside and inside, so to avoid any confusion I am going to talk about it in more details later on.
Step 4 – Clean the inside of the greenhouse
I start my inside clean up with removing everything from the structure. And when I say everything I actually mean everything.
Things like staging, flower pods, work stations and any other items. Trust me, this will make the job easier and faster. I prefer to move my plants to a sheltered area preferably with a fleece protection.
Start cleaning from the top to bottom. Don’t forget to clean the actual staging and flower pods.
I try to do it at least once a year during my annual clean in spring. I simply use a brush and some water with a generous amount of mild detergent.
Further Reading:
In my previous posts you can find more information about general greenhouse maintenance.
I also talked a little bit in more details about the wooden greenhouse maintenance because it requires more attention rather than any other greenhouse.
