You will find that for everything you want to do or to grow in your hobby greenhouse there are going to be special plants, stakes, pots, seeds, fans, etc that you can buy that are made just for gardeners. But, when you are like me and you are still on the family budget you have many options while you are building your gardening hobby accessories up. You may take these ideas and implement them in your own greenhouse or you may take these ideas and they may simply give your more ideas about how to save money in your greenhouse – either way, gardening is for your own pleasure and you should never feel that anything you are doing is wrong when you are growing plants, flowers, and vegetables when they are actually growing!
Some of my first ideas when I started gardening involved reusing seeds from year to year. I mean, if I didn’t plant them all in the one season I used them again in the next season. While the majority of them will grow, and just a few might not, I took chances and had some beautiful plants. When you are starting seeds, water lightly or you may find that your seeds will simply float to the top of the dirt! This is why many gardeners’ users watering systems so the water is through out the greenhouse like a mist or a rain, but I simply couldn’t afford one when I started gardening so I used a spray bottle. This took me a little longer to water everything in my greenhouse but the final effect was the same and the number of plants that grow tripled in numbers.
I have a bad habit of growing everything that I can get my hands on, which often leaves me short on pots. I like to use milk or tea cartons that are cut off. I also use butter and sour cream containers that I clean out and make holes in for pots. Sometimes if I get a beautiful flower that I want to give away and they are in such an ugly pot I will wrap it up with some aluminum foil for a finished look!
When I know the night is gong to be super cold on a winter night, I fill up ten to fifteen milk jugs with hot water. While this is only take a few minutes, (my tap water is very hot) I use this method to keep the inside of my greenhouse a little warmer than what it would be as night falls. That way the heater doesn’t have to work as hard for that first hour or two and the plants have extended day warmth.
In the winter, I don’t make a path around my greenhouse I just leave the snow against the walls. I think that the snow makes great insulation along the walls and the bottom areas of the greenhouse where the wind might have otherwise gotten through. I do however keep all snow off the top of my greenhouse roof so the full benefit of the sun can get in.
If you have an old boot, you can fill it with dirt and plant seeds in it. The water will escape through the sole and the sides of the boot and the boot gives your choice of plant a different look that you might even like!
One last thing I will discuss here is simply when (the time of day) that I go into my greenhouse. If it is already dark, I try not to go in the greenhouse simply because the night air and the sun is gone, and when I open the door the heat will escape. Sure there are times when I go in and this doesn’t hurt a thing, but I feel that when I go to my greenhouse during the morning or the afternoon hours, I do not waste as much heat in the greenhouse as I would when I go in the evening.