It’s not only garden newbies that run for the shelter of new greenhouse every fall, it’s also long time veterans who may be trying their hand at year ‘round gardening for the first time. And while their years of experience certainly give them an advantage over less experience growers, the conditions in a greenhouse are still unique enough to throw these hardened veterans a few curveballs.

Outside the sun shines and the wind blows freely throughout your garden. Outside you can find out the temperature by watching your morning news or looking in the local paper. And outside, it rains and at least partially waters your plants. Inside the sun still shines but the air will not move unless you take steps to move it. Inside you need to carefully monitor the highs and lows with additional equipment. Inside you need to set up a watering regimen.

You are at the mercy of Mother Nature outside, but inside you can control the environment down to the most minute detail if you so choose. So anything that goes wrong is going to be on your head. But along the same lines, there is no reason for anything to go wrong.

For greenhouse growing, solar load is the name of the game. This is just a fancy way of explaining how much the sun is shining on any given day. Solar load is good because it means your plants are getting a lot of light, but in a greenhouse it is something to watch because of the infrared heat that travels along with all that sunlight. This can quickly cook your precious plants.

One recommended piece of equipment for any greenhouse is a min-max thermometer. This little gadget will tell you what the high and low temps are for any single day, and some of the fancier ones will record a week’s worth of temperatures for your review. Since temperature is the first thing to check when you run into greenhouse problems, this piece of equipment is basically indispensible.

I’ve already written about airflow in a greenhouse, and will only reiterate the importance of it. It helps cool and can help pollinate flowering plants. Keep in mind that for most of the smaller residential greenhouses, active circulation in the form of fans and the like will probably not be necessary.

You will of course want to carefully consider your watering and feeding schedule. In a greenhouse, it is likely that some kind of irrigation will need to be set up to relieve you of the mundane task of hand watering several times a week. Small irrigation systems are relatively easy to set up, and there is a wealth of information both here and elsewhere as to their design specifics. As for feeding, in a backyard greenhouse it is usually enough to simply hand fertilize. In all but the most unique cases additional equipment, such as fertilizer injector, will be unnecessary.

One last thing to address is soil. Some people choose to plant their greenhouse plants directly into the ground. While this is fine, it needs to be done correctly. I have heard of cases where the inside of the greenhouse is dug out, and ground cover is placed at the bottom of the hole. Then soil is readded, most often with additions of some sort. While the ground cover is a good idea, in practice it can pose several problems.

If not the correct type, it may hinder drainage and promote root rot and other fungal diseases. If not placed deep enough, it can hinder root development of otherwise healthy plants. Finally, most ground cover is black. This can retain heat, an alarming amount in fact, and can possibly “cook” the roots of your plants. Any of these is undesirable, and the benefits of adding such a material must be carefully weighed with these hazards in mind.

Despite the challenges, greenhouse growing is an expansive and rewarding endeavor. It is not without its own specific challenges however. Once the learning curve has abated, any gardener can expect year after year of fruitful harvest inside their beloved greenhouse.