Recreation Lounge

A hobby greenhouse is the answer if you’d like to do more gardening but the region you live in has a short growing season.

A hobby greenhouse is small; however it will give you a place for a tomato plant or two and some fresh greens wherever you live. The Hobby Greenhouse Association publishes a quarterly magazine, sponsors events and helps folks connect to get help with their gardening, whether it’s growing cacti or saving seeds.

There are several types of hobby greenhouses on the market. The smallest style must be accessed from the outside and looks like nothing so much as an old-fashioned phone booth. It’s made of glass and has shelves. It’s designed to fit as many plants as possible in a very small area. Because the shelves are glass, it’s possible for a lot of light to reach plants on the lower shelves. A low-cost version of this type of greenhouse is shelving enclosed with a zippered tent of clear plastic. This works great for the hobby gardener who wants a place to keep her flowers or houseplant starts.

Other hobby greenhouses are big enough to walk into; these are made completely of clear glass or plastic. Usually about the same size as a small storage building, often independent builders make these and sell them locally. One of the nicest national brands is the “Solar Prism.” This hobby greenhouse has a unique construction. It’s made of a single piece of heavy-duty clear plastic which is designed to work like tiny prisms side by side. The rays of the sun are trapped and shot back into the greenhouse at all angles. These small greenhouses are said to glow when the sky is cloudy.

More expensive greenhouses have automatic sensors that open vents which allow aeration and keep the internal temperature from getting too hot. These can get expensive but are great labor savers. Another advantage occasionally found in better greenhouses is a built in irrigation or misting system.

If your hobby is gardening, greenhouse growing may be of interest to you. You can grow the earliest tomatoes and salad greens year around. You can also start seedlings for the main garden early in the spring when outside temperatures would kill them. You may find that a hobby greenhouse is an excellent investment.

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