It’s a common misconception to believe that greenhouses can only be used in the Fall and Winter seasons. After all, they are meant to keep your plants from freezing while also giving your next season crop a growing head start. However, Summer gardening can be just as beneficial if you understand how to utilize your greenhouse potential! By following a few of our tips below, you can learn how to use your warmest of seasons to increase your crop yields without retiring your greenhouse for the season.
Only Grow Heat Tolerant Plants
There is a myriad of backyard garden favorites that do wonderful in a greenhouse. Most of which are the same Spring plants you already love! Based on our own experience gardening in Texas (zone 8b), succulents and perennials still grow successfully inside despite the warm heat. However, to take full advantage of your summer season, we suggest growing the following heat-loving plants during the middle to end of summer to allow for continued growth well into the fall season.
Fruit: Watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, and peppers
Herbs: Chives, parsley, sage, oregano, thyme, and marjoram to name a few
Utilize Greenhouse Ventilation
Greenhouse ventilation is critical during every season, especially in the summer. To help allow adequate airflow throughout your greenhouse, manually leave your greenhouse vents and door open if possible. Often simply doing so will easily prevent overheating inside your greenhouse during summer. For greenhouses such as ours, you can opt to add a magnetic screen door to deteer any unwanted visitors.
An even greater addition to airflow during the summer months is an active ventilation system to automate air circulation in your greenhouse to bring in CO2 and help control temperature/humidity. Ventilation will also allow for your favorite pollinators to make a visit inside your greenhouse to help your crop thrive.
Use Shade Cloth
Extra sun concentration is wonderful in the winter but come summer you’ll need some shade to help cool things down both for you and your plants. Shade cloth is an excellent and often utilized addition to all greenhouses. Available in various densities, shade cloth will prevent any UV concentration from reaching your plants, cooling your greenhouse significantly. Depending on what you decide to grow, and your heat index, the density of shade cloth you use will vary. The density we most commonly use is 60%. Shade cloth can be left on at all times during the summer without causing any harm to your growing plants.
Cool Your Ground Space
Looking for ways to additionally cool your greenhouse quickly and temporarily, and have a dirt/gravel base? Try lightly spraying the ground with cool water to drop the inside temperature of your greenhouse. Although temporary, simply doing so when you’re watering plants will make a helpful difference in temperature.
Greenhouse Watering Tips:
It’s important to consistently monitor your plants’ water levels when gardening in a greenhouse during summer. When choosing an ideal time to water, we recommend doing so early in the morning to allow for your plants to dry. Oftentimes your plants inside won’t dry as fast as your outdoor plants, therefore it’s important to carefully monitor your plants before watering.
We hope you found these tips helpful for your backyard farming journey. Have questions or comments regarding anything mentioned in this blog post? Please feel free to email us at support@roostandroot.com or give us a call at 877-741-2667.