When you are searching for a greenhouse you will run across many types of words that you may not be familiar with. These types of greenhouses are all one in the same greenhouse, but the difference is in how you heat and in how you use your hobby greenhouse. I was a little confused when I first started researching greenhouses and found so many uses, that I thought these different uses were actually different greenhouses! After a little more investigation I did realize differences, but I thought I would list these differences for you to make your process a little simpler to understand.
There are basically three uses for a greenhouse, which are the different temperatures that you will keep the greenhouse in order to be able to grow different plants. No matter what type of greenhouse kit that you purchase you have the option of ‘doing’ these three levels whenever you want during your gardening career. These are the cool greenhouse, the warm greenhouse and then the hot greenhouse. The cool greenhouse is sometimes referred to as the frost-free greenhouse, and the hot greenhouse is also referred to as the hothouse.
A hothouse, or a hot greenhouse, is where you keep the temperature at least sixty five degrees. You may opt to keep this greenhouse at a higher temperature as needed, but this type of greenhouse is usually used to grow tropical and exotic type plants. Generally in the coldest regions you will need to use heat and grow lights to meet the growing needs of an exotic plant and it’s higher temperature needs.
The warm greenhouse is a greenhouse where you keep the temperature at around fifty-five degrees F. Using this general warm condition you can most likely grow any type of other plant that you would grow in your outdoor flower garden or in your vegetable garden. You may need to use grow lights or heat lights to meet the heating needs during the winter night months.
A cool greenhouse or a frost-free greenhouse is where you keep your temperatures between forty degrees and forty-five degrees F. This temperature is for growing seedlings or other plants that don’t require the higher heats to survive. This is a great environment for starting your plants and vegetables for the summer months. You generally don’t use grow lights or heat lights in this environment.