Top 5 Best Greenhouse Kits for The Best Vegetable Harvest

The greenhouse is really cool because it is very manageable. As a result, when being built with the proper precautions in mind, it can provide many benefits for any farmers. Crops are protected from adverse factors including extreme weather, pests, and diseases.

The farmer is able to control the environment ensuring increased yields, a steady volume of harvested fruits and a high level of quality for the final product. Moreover, you can grow the crops throughout the year, even at times when open field cultivation is difficult or impossible.

In open field production, the weather is the most important factor in determining how well a crop will perform. Rain, high winds, and fierce sun can dramatically reduce the potential yields. Hence, the protection from adverse weather conditions is one of the major advantages of using a greenhouse.

Excessive rain on the crops leads to high level of humidity and increases the likelihood of fungal and bacterial diseases. It also causes water logging which may result in roots that function improperly. Hard rains may even injure crop foliage and fruit, leaving a point of entry for fungi and bacteria.

Strong winds can break plants, cause dehydration, scratch fruits and foliage. Also, they tend to blow pests and diseases into the crops. High temperature and overexposure to the Sun can also harm plants and fruits. This will cause them to weaken and burn.

Standard round-arch

First of all, I am going to start with standard round-arch greenhouses. These are relatively inexpensive to purchase and assemble. They are straightforward structures, and typically, do not have the foundation. You just take a bunch of poles and pound them into the ground.

Then, you can set the framework onto those poles. Due to no foundation, you usually do not need a building permit or have to pay taxes on this type of a structure. With this style, you can make them relatively large, and they have excellent lighting.

Some cons with this greenhouse are because it is so inexpensive, it usually uses a single layer or double wall film. These things can last from 4 to 5 years, and then need replacing. Thus, you should make sure to budget for replacing your plastic every few years.

Gothic-arch

Moving onto the similar style, we can have gothic-arch greenhouses. These are also relatively inexpensive, usually a bit more expensive because of the way that the tubing is built. Again, they do not require the foundation, offer substantial structure and have excellent lighting throughout the season.

Furthermore, they have excellent snow removal because they come up to a point when the snow lands on them, it can slide right off onto the sides. What you need to be careful about is getting too much snow built up along the sides of the greenhouse.

That weight can actually buckle the structure and collapse it in from the sides. However, the film can only last 4 to 5 years. Moreover, it is costly to heat because of the poor R-value of this film. Gothic-arch greenhouses seem to have better structural strength than a standard round-arch.

Traditional-style

Most people have seen these traditional-style greenhouses. They can become large and withstand certain snow loads. Moreover, they have excellent lighting through the end walls and have good snow removal because of the pitch of the roof.

I highly recommend clearing any snow away from the edges. I think that they are an excellent long-term structure, so if you are planning on a family farm, these buildings can last for many years. Since all of the walls and ceilings have straight lines, it is easy to add the vent into them.

A derivative of this structure is gutter connect greenhouses, and these are really good if you are doing a large operation. However, with this style of the greenhouse, the snow likes to collect in the gutter area, which adds a lot of weight into these greenhouses.

33’ dome

Next, we can go to the non-traditional greenhouses which are called as the geodesic dome. They are moderately expensive in price per square foot. The problem with them is that they are so unique. Thus, it can be difficult to get any approval from the building official.

They get excellent lighting from east to west, morning to night and through different seasons with a low to the higher pitch. They are usually covered in polycarbonate which will help add to its cost. They have excellent passive cooling for sure.

Nevertheless, some of the drawbacks with this structure are that they are round shape, so it is hard to have an efficient bed layout. Also, they are not highly energy-efficient building and does require the foundation.

There are a lot of different frames, styles, and coverings with greenhouse, and it can be confusing. However, there are basically some quick ways to determine and put you in the right direction for picking out the right greenhouse.

What you want to grow

The first element you need to consider is what you want to grow. I am sure that is the most important question you have to ask yourself.

The climate of your area

Once you figure the first thing out, the number two is to know how does that compare to your climate? For instance, if you want to grow tropical plants, and you live in a frigid climate, that is going to have a primary effect on what type of greenhouse you are going to get.

In case you want to get something with a real thick polycarbonate, you need to have a steeper roof as well as a stronger frame. The reason is that in the cold climate, you are probably going to get more smell.

As a result, depending on what your climate is and what you want to grow, especially if you want to grow throughout the entire year, you can choose the suitable greenhouse kit. If you live in a hot climate, you need to look at the ventilation and watering system.

Therefore, you should figure out what greenhouse is going to have the best ventilation. Also, you need to know which greenhouse is going to have the type of frame where you can attach the ventilation and the watering system that you can keep the greenhouse working in a hot climate.

How much space you need

Now, the third thing we are going to look at when we are picking out our greenhouse is how much space that you need. This matter will be related to the first element for sure. For example, if you are going to grow a lot of climbing plants, you need a greenhouse with real high side walls.

Also, if you are going to have a potting bench and some storage, those sorts of things will make you go with a longer greenhouse. It is going to give you more wall space on both sides. And that is going to let you have a space to put in the wheelbarrow which keeps your potting soil.

As you may know, greenhouses are usually 10 degrees warmer inside than it is outside. Things grow a lot faster, and they need a lot more water. However, if you water too much in a greenhouse, you will end up with fungal conditions.

As a consequence, your plants will get weak, and you will get bugs. So, it is best to water by hand when needed but not automatically every day. Another thing that is very important for growing vegetables in the greenhouse is ventilation.

There should be a vent system in your greenhouse. Thus, when the temperature gets past 80 degrees, the vent can turn on, and the air comes in. In particular, the cool air from the outside comes in and cools everything down.

Moving to another critical thing to know is that the light is very intense and very focused. Therefore, it is good to have opaque panels on top, so that the Sun does not come in and burn everything it touches.

Fertilizer is very significant with greenhouses. You must fertilize on a regular basis. I often use the watering can with a liquid fertilizer that helps support the growth.

Flowers are great to have in the vegetable garden at any time. They will contribute to increase the yield of your plants by increasing the good insect activities. If you have any insects at all, you want to attract good ones and flowers can do this job very well.