Creating a garden of any kind is a rewarding experience. Planting tiny seeds and waiting for sprouts is like counting down the days until Christmas morning when you were a kid. Then, when you tend to them with love and care, you are rewarded with a bountiful harvest. Whatever you grow, we’re here to help with practical advice on what to grow in a greenhouse, how much it costs, and if you choose cannabis – the best strains for your greenhouse marijuana.
What is a greenhouse?
A greenhouse is an outdoor structure made of durable framing material covered with a transparent layer of specialized plastic. The purpose of the greenhouse is to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, plants, and, of course, marijuana.
Usually people choose to use greenhouse instead of growing outdoors due to better environmental control. Greenhouse weeds often grow faster and achieve better results because the plants are protected from the natural elements, have more carbon dioxide, and have stable temperatures.
Greenhouses are made of different materials and come in many shapes and sizes. For example, you can make a simple house with PVC pipe and painter’s plastic if you are looking for a small growing house on a budget. Or, if your space and budget allow, you can build an artificial greenhouse with automatic ventilation, temperature controls, and massive fan fixtures.
The shape of your greenhouse can be gothic, A-frame, dome, tunnel, tilt, gable, flat arch and a variety of other shapes to meet your growing needs and space availability. Wherever you place your greenhouse, make sure it receives at least six hours of sunlight each day.
What to grow in a greenhouse
A greenhouse is the most versatile way to grow almost any type of plant. You can use pots of all sizes, raised beds, hanging planters, and trellises, but you can also grow it directly into the ground. Greenhouses are suitable for starters that will eventually grow outdoors in the summer months, or as a permanent home for plants to live their life cycle.
Flowers adore the heat and humidity of a greenhouse, and even cool-weather crops like lettuce, broccoli, and peas do well inside the comforts of an unheated greenhouse. In the height of the summer months, watch tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers bloom quickly in a greenhouse, but be sure to turn in pollination unless you have an open door to access pollinators to enter.
More and more people are building cannabis greenhouses and producing excellent crops. Growing cannabis in a greenhouse is the perfect combination of harnessing the sun’s energy as you would in a fully outdoor environment and getting the protection and control it has with an indoor growing.
How many cannabis plants can grow in a greenhouse?
Each state in the United States has different laws and regulations regarding adult and medical marijuana use. For example, each family can grow up to four recreational plants in Oregon. If you have a medical marijuana card, you can grow six plants per patient per household. However, these numbers – and the growing requirements –Varies by state.
Once you know how much you can grow, you will need enough space to accommodate your growing plants. If you use high quality marijuana fertilizer And providing your plants with the perfect soil and sunlight, you can expect some huge lawn by the time you’re ready to harvest.
In general, it’s best to use pots inside a marijuana greenhouse so you can move them around if you need to. If you go this route, plan for at least 8 by 8 feet per plant once it is in the final container. Your plants need plenty of space for proper air flow. In addition, it is difficult to work in and around crowded plants.
When choosing the ultimate pot size for mature plants, you may end up on the smaller end at about 65 gallons, but some California and Oregon growers end up harvesting in 100- or 200-gallon pots.
Can you grow weeds in a greenhouse all year round?
Growing weeds in a greenhouse year-round depends on where you live and how your setup looks like. Properly designed marijuana greenhouses are designed to sustain life in all climates. However, even sites with full winter seasons can grow in a year-round greenhouse with heating elements. In addition to heaters, you will likely need supplemental lighting to make up for the short days. Although these lights don’t provide enough heat to prevent frost from damaging the lawn, they do help a little.
However, if you live somewhere with a large amount of snowfall, your greenhouse is susceptible to damage from the weight of snow falling on top. You can help prevent this from happening by choosing an A-shaped or Gothic-style structure.
Elements needed to start greenhouse growth
Aside from hemp seeds or hemp seeds, you will need the following items to start your greenhouse growing:
- greenhouse framing materials
- solid coverage
- Fans / Ventilation
- smart pots or something
- Soil or preferred growing medium
- High Quality Nutrients
- Water tank and get plenty of fresh water
- pH measuring devices and devices
- thermostat
- trellis material
When selecting a file The best time to plant weedsYou may wish to consider a light deprivation regime. Light dep can help you maximize your production if you intend to grow more than one crop per year.
How much does it cost to start a greenhouse
It’s hard to determine pricing for a greenhouse until you know exactly what size it should be. A basic DIY greenhouse with an aluminum frame and a single layer of polyethylene plastic costs about $15-20 per square foot, not including the cost of lights, heat, or other growing materials. A custom greenhouse with all the bells and whistles (including an automated lighting system) will cost you approximately $35-40 per square foot.
If you are a builder and your goal is to reuse materials and build the best greenhouse you can on a budget, you can modify a 1,000 square foot greenhouse for about $10,000 to include a light distribution system.
Once you have built your greenhouse, you will need to calculate the cost of materials for each plant, including any lighting and heating equipment. Keep your calculator handy and do the math before you start. There are many costs to consider Before you start growing your greenhouse.
Pros and cons of growing weeds in a greenhouse
If you have made up your mind about growing internal vs external And settled in the middle of a greenhouse, be sure to weigh the pros and cons
Positives
- Extended growth cycle and year-round growth option
- Protection from the elements (including deer, rabbits, rodents, etc.)
- Microclimate control to meet the optimal needs of plants
- Consistent harvest seasons year after year
- More environmentally friendly (and cheaper!) than growing indoors
Negatives
- Depending on the climate, energy costs for heating/lighting may accrue during the winter
- The smell or the aesthetic may be unsatisfactory for the neighbours
- It can easily take up a lot of space which may be useful for other things
- Can be expensive to build depending on the materials
- It requires more attention than growing outdoors to ensure it runs smoothly
If you’re ready to build your own greenhouse, don’t be fooled into thinking you can guess what size you’ll need. Do a little research on stress first so you know the size of your plants when they reach full maturity. If you want to diversify your garden, leave extra space for a few tomatoes or cucumbers and enjoy fresh produce in summer.
The best strains to grow in a greenhouse
The best strains for growing in a greenhouse are self-flowing and feminine light period. Cannabis automatically transitions from the vegetative stage to the flowering stage on its own, so you don’t have to worry about the light schedule. This means that you also do not have to worry about the light distribution system. These strains include Purple Punch, Strawberry Banana, Frisian Dew, Wedding Glue, Northern Lights, and White Widow.
Photoperiod feminized seeds are another excellent option for greenhouse growing. However, they will thrive best with a light section setting. These strains will flower naturally as lighting changes from late summer to early fall. Some of the highest yielding greenhouse strains include Blue Dream, Sour Diesel, Super Silver Haze, Critical Kush, and Skunk XL.
Is greenhouse growing appropriate for me?
If you are still not sure if this is the right choice for you, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I have the time and money to build and operate a greenhouse?
- Do I have space to accommodate my plans?
- Does this site have easy and unlimited access to fresh water?
Starting your own cannabis greenhouse is a big project that reaps a lot of rewards. Regardless of the specific size or strains, you will undoubtedly enhance your knowledge of cultivation and hopefully end up with some top shelf sprouts.
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