Winter is a perfect time to prepare your greenhouse for planting. Of course, if you have a heated greenhouse, you can plant Lilies in December. But, generally, winter months are for tasks like insulating the greenhouse in January and sterilizing pots and seed trays in February. In this post I will tell you how do I prepare my greenhouse for planting in spring.
1. Declutter your greenhouse
I always start with decluttering the greenhouse before sowing or planting seedlings. It is very important to remove any yellow leaves and dead plants. Old plant material hosts plant diseases and promotes mold development. You can compost old plant but if these show signs of disease – burn them to avoid transmission of bacteria.
Thoroughly inspect the floor and get right of the pests like snails and slugs. I like to remove everything from the greenhouse outside: pots, seed trays, compost bags, work benches. Check the shelves, fix if necessary or replace the old ones.
Once you have everything outside it will be easier to reassess what you actually need. Follow these easy steps on how to organize a greenhouse so you can make the most of your space. After you moved everything out of the greenhouse, it is time to clean the actual structure.
2. Clean the greenhouse
Everyone like a fresh start and spring is the perfect time to get rid of clutter in your greenhouse. To make sure that your greenhouse is nice and neat you need to clean it. I have put together a post where I am talking about my greenhouse cleaning routine.
Here is a quick overview of what you need to clean:
- Sweep the floor and walkways
- Brush down frame, staging and shelves
- Wipe the inside and outside of greenhouse panes with sponge and warm, soapy water
- Wipe down the frame, staging, work bench and shelves with scouring sponge and warm, soapy water. Let these surfaces to air dry.
- Wash the pots and seed trays with disinfectant and rinse thoroughly. Let them air dry.
3. Prepare soil for planting inside the greenhouse
Always check your soil before planting. Depending on how you grow plants in your greenhouse (pots, grow bags, border soil or raised beds) you might need to change the soil. Check what is the best soil for your greenhouse plants. I personally like growing in raised beds as they provide good drainage and you don’t need to change the soil once you set it up.
Check out my step-by-step guide on how to build raised beds in greenhouse and you will never go back to planting in border soil. However, if you are growing in your native soil, you need to replenish and sterilize it in the early spring time. Also, to prepare a greenhouse for planting seeds or transplanting seedlings, you need to check the soil temperature.
4. Check your watering system
It is always a good idea to think about how you are going to water your plants in advance. Although, many gardeners who own a hobby greenhouse still prefer to use a watering can. If you are one of them, make sure that the water is not too cold as it can give plants a shock.
Prepare the access to water in advance. For example, you can connect a hose to outdoor tap and extend to your greenhouse. Check out what other watering systems you can use. I personally built a water catchment system and linked it to water buds from each side of the greenhouse.
That way I am collecting rainwater and using it to water plants inside the greenhouse. The whole system can be set up to work automatically. It is a very environmentally friendly and cost efficient solution to water your plants.
5. Clean greenhouse water catchment system
Remove leaves and debris from rain gutters installed on the greenhouse frame. You can just brush it out. Rubbish shouldn’t go down the pipes into the water buds. It will affect the storage of rainwater.
It is a good idea to get mesh screen that you install to prevent leaves from falling inside. But I would still recommend taking the mesh off and cleaning the inside of the gutter at least once a year.
6. Check your water buds
When growing in greenhouse, you notice that plants need more water than when growing them outside. So you need to arrange a water storage to be prepared for hot days. For a hobby greenhouse a 40 gallon rain barrel on each side of the structure is more than enough.
Connect these via pipes to greenhouse gutters and you can harvest rainwater all year round. Of course, you need to take care of the water barrels too. Empty a water barrel in early spring to clean the bottom from the dirt. That way you can ensure that the collected rainwater is stored fresh. If you have a mesh screen on top of the butt, clean it regularly.
7. Reassess and add greenhouse vents if needed
Good greenhouse ventilation is very important for the disease management and plant growth. When preparing my greenhouse for growing season I like to open all the vents to make sure that the opening mechanism is working. Especially if you are using automatic vent openers.
As a general guidance you should have fully functioning one louvered vent on each side at the bottom of the structure. Also, two roof vents on each side of the greenhouse. Don’t forget to wipe the vent panes with warm, soapy water.
8. Shade a greenhouse
Now that the days are going to be warmer and brighter, you need to think how to shade a greenhouse. It might not be necessary at all time but it is better to have the shading ready in case you need to put it up. As you might know there are four types of shading options for greenhouse:
- shade paint
- shading blinds
- shade cloth
- shade netting
My personal favorite is shade cloth because you can just throw it on the greenhouse and cover it as needed. You can always cut shade cloth to desired size and it is waterproof. I like to clean my shade cloth in early spring to be ready for planting.
To wash it just use warm water with a little bit of detergent and use sponge. Let the shade cloth dry completely, so do the cleaning on a warm day. If you just purchased it, I would recommend attaching hooks on the greenhouse frame so you can install shade cloth later on.
9. Consider installing electricity
Having electricity inside the greenhouse will allow you to set up lighting system and heating. It is going to ease the growing process for someone who is considering to grow a lot of crops all year round. Installing electricity is also a good option for someone who is planning to use greenhouse to propagate plants in electric propagators or heated mats.
The installation costs can be quite high but it is going to be worth it in the long term. I would also advised to have greenhouse sensors in place so you can monitor your equipment and electricity usage.
10. Heat your greenhouse
Before planting seeds or seedlings, you need to make sure that your greenhouse is well heated. If you want to protect your outdoor plants from frosts inside a greenhouse, at least aim to keep the temperature at 39°F (4°C). The inexpensive option is to use paraffin heater but if you have electricity installed, electric heater with automatic thermostat is the best buy.
