There are many differences in the layouts and the types of greenhouses that are used throughout the country. Many times gardeners will share tips with fellow gardeners to help save heat, seeds, growing time and a variety of other topics that involve the use of the greenhouse.
Here are a few tips that I hope help you out during your gardening adventure in the hobby greenhouse. If you have a soil floor in your greenhouse, dig a few feet into the earth before placing your greenhouse. During the winter months you can utilize some of the natural heat stored in the ground to cut your heating costs in the greenhouse. Adding a little moisture to your dirt floor in the winter months will help hold the heat during the day and release it into the night. While I don’t understand this concept completely it was explained to me that the moisture helps the soil conduct the heat. But you do have to be careful about how much moisture you use in the greenhouse during the winter months, because since there is nowhere for the moisture to go, you can could get black rot or mold in the greenhouse to start.
Experiment with small amounts to start with. Using black, capped containers of water in the greenhouse to absorb heat during the day, the heat will be released slowly into the greenhouse during the night. While it has been discussed about capped or uncapped – capped is best during the coldest winter months so that the heat is released even slower. Salt will lower the freezing point of water. If you have very extreme conditions and you are going to abandon your greenhouse for the winter but you don’t want to empty your water containers you can add some salt to each container. Salt will lower the freezing point of water by at least twenty degrees.
Before erecting a hobby greenhouse with a foundation, you can use foam or rigid board insulation about the underside of the foundation to prevent the freezing ground below from affecting the interior of your greenhouse. While this is a minimal heat in insulating and cutting heat cots, if given the chance when starting a new greenhouse I would use this method in my greenhouse foundation.