Why Have a Mini Greenhouse for Your Backyard?
A good greenhouse does not always have to be big and spacious. Those are requirements only needed for large scale growers and commercial farms. Those who only have a small area for a green house, like our backyards, can also benefit from having a greenhouse.
In fact, the mini greenhouse in our plan provides the same benefits that regular greenhouses did. The good thing is that because it’s small, it can be placed anywhere from balconies, patios, backyards, decks as long as it can accommodate around 6 square feet of space.
A mini greenhouse could be used to provide a warmer environment to kickstart plant growth during the cold season. Once the outdoor weather moves into a warmer season, these healthy plants and crops can then be moved from the greenhouse and transplanted outside into the garden. This will allow for early harvest of crops, and also being able to have seasonal crops all year round. It saves time, and also allow you to have your favourite vegetable as and when you want it.
With the warmer environment in the greenhouse, a huge variety of seeds can be planted, making plant a lot more dynamic and fun for hobbyists and gardeners. There are a good selection of herbs and lettuce that can be successfully growth in mini greenhouses for the whole year. Other choice vegetables such as swiss chard, spinach, kale can also be grown in these mini greenhouses. Imagine having a great bowl of salad of freshly-picked leaves even during the bitter winter. How wonderful would that be for you and your guests?
Mini greenhouses can also offer protection to the plants from rain, wind, destructive insects and other pests in the gardens. As such, tender and more rare crops can find it a good environment to thrive in, giving you access to gardening crops that you couldn’t plant in the past.
Even if a big space is available for a full-sized greenhouse, having a small one could just be more practical in some cases. If not all the plants require that tender loving care that a greenhouse provides, then it will be more cost effective to maintain a small greenhouse instead of a full sized one. The maintenance cost of a mini greenhouse is surprisingly significantly lower compared to that of a full-sized greenhouse.
From the increase in variety of plants that can be grown, to having the choice crops all year round, and giving that tender loving care protection to your favourite plants… who would deny that a mini greenhouse is such a useful structure for our backyard?
So then, what are the things to consider before setting up your backyard mini greenhouse?
It is of utmost importance that your mini greenhouse needs to be properly designed and built so that no issues will be encountered with regards to the maintenance and supply systems that are used in the greenhouse.
A well-planned misting and water propagation system is very essential in growing healthier plants and crops. This system needs to be able to measure and maintain the moisture and humidity of the air so that the plants do not dehydrate.
Typically, this is done using set automated misters in the greenhouse to upkeep the high humidity and temperature needed by the roots of the plants. With timers and measurement meters, you can set a fixed frequency where the system measures the humidity, and replenishes the moisture in the air via the misters.
Another system that needs to be well-planned is the rain water system. This system is critical in repurposing rain water to water the plants, hence minimizing the water needed from the automatic watering system. With properly place gutters and downspouts, natural rain water can be use to water the plants. This will help to optimize the cost of fresh water required to run the mini greenhouse.
The electricity use in the greenhouse also can be likewise optimized according to the needed warmth and light for the plants during the cold seasons. In the greenhouse, growth lights can help to increase the spectrum of light frequencies available which is essential to produce food in the leaves of the plants.
There are many free greenhouse plans that can be found online today. Some will help you to plan the greenhouse supply systems to have a well-optimized greenhouse, others will teach you on how to implement hydroponics gardening in your greenhouse which is on the trend these days. There are even others which will give you a guide on building a freestanding or leaning to greenhouse structure.
Your Simple Backyard Mini Greenhouse Plan
If you want to start building your greenhouse today, this is a simple mini greenhouse plan that will teach you how to build a mini greenhouse:
- You will need these materials: 15 to 20 squeeze clips, 1 roll duck tape, 3 rolls heavy duty 3M clear tape, 6 mm clear plastic, 18 ratcheting tie downs, 4 to 8 T posts, 10 x 20 Universal canopy, and the options of adding growth lights and heaters.
- Make it a group activity, get one or two of your friends or family members to help you in setting up the frame of the mini greenhouse. Insert the pieces to the frame and secure the connection with duck tape. The pipe will then be placed depending on the position of the greenhouse.
- Connect the 18 tie-downs to connect to the upper part of the frame. Use four T posts to support the four corners of the structure and place an extra T-post inside the frame and drill it at least 12” to the ground.
- Make two separate plastic coverings to have a full view on the structure. Then, cut the plastic that may fit the covering of the greenhouse, with a measurement of 30 ft.
- Using the ladder to cover the greenhouse, then use the gravels to down the plastic on the sides. Ensure that the plastic covers all the end caps to the ground.
This is a simple backyard mini greenhouse plan for you. If it is helpful, do stay tune for more resources and articles from us!