Using the greenhouse even in the summer!

[Bobberman]

Lots of people think when june arrives they are done with the greenhouse till winter! I plan on growing plants all summer and through the winter! I have many screens at the base of the south wall and several large screened windows so I plan of planting many things that will probably grow better in the extra warm areas!. Peppers and vine crops plus a few tomatoes! I will put a lettuce crop in probably in sept to grow all winter! I will also have a watering set up inside! anyone else doing what I plan?

[bogydave]

In Alaska , a greenhouse is for the sumer. Only way to get good ripe tomatoes & lots nice cucs. Of course our temps are cooler than in the lower 48.
Avg temps here: 65 highest avg high, July.
https://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/99687

[Hydrogardener]

I use my greenhouse from March until late November and have for a number of years. I grow annuals, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in spring and summer and lettuce, beet greens and chard in the fall. All crops are grown hydroponically and it is pretty much automatic with very little work on my part. This photo was taken on May 25, 2010 and this rate of growth would not be possible in zone 5 without a greenhouse.

[img]https://i404.photobucket.com/albums/pp121/hydrogardener/rignt.jpg[/img]

[Handsomeryan]

I grow year round in my GH for work but I wish I didn't have to. Oppressively hot and I spend as much time on pest control killing thrips, aphids and whiteflys as I do actually working with the plants.

YMMV though.

[Bobberman]

I took some of the plastic off and opened lots of areas but it was still 115 in my green house this week! I have most of my plants out in their own swimming pool! I bought a large supersonic tomato 2 months ago from Agwway thet was 2 foot high when I bought it! It has about 4 tomatoes that should be ripe in two weeks! I left it in the green house next to a open area to the outside! I am going to raise tomatoes and peppers inside so I will have them in dec this year! I will keep them near a outside wall open area! I still have nice parsley on the ground inside that has been growing nice for 3 years even in the winter!

[SandyC77]

Hi Bobberman,
I have been reading your posts and I am brand new to the greenhouse hobby. I am thinking about buying this greenhouse:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015S ... CKVYFI8QM2
Please tell your opinion of it if this good to grow all through the summer. Last July we had record breaking temps of over 100 for 10 days straight. Would tomatoes & veggies get fried in these temps?
Thanks, Sandy...
Systems Trading EG45812 Backyard Hobby Greenhouse, Green, 8 By 12 Feet

[rainbowgardener]

Sandy - I don't have a greenhouse and haven't used one, except little mini varieties.

But most tomatoes will not set or ripen fruit at over 90 degree temps. Many other veggies will get fried as well at the kind of temps you describe. As Bobber points out, without a lot of precautions it will be much hotter inside the greenhouse than out. So for summer greenhouse use, you need to shade the greenhouse to prevent so much solar gain, as well as keeping it very well ventilated with good air circulation.

You will need some kind of shade cloth for your summer greenhouse.

https://www.growerssupply.com/farm/suppl ... oth_1.html

If you could keep it shaded enough, ventilated enough, and perhaps spray the shade cloth with water to provide some evaporative cooling, perhaps the greenhouse would be better than outside. But note Handsome's comments about dealing with insects, a common complaint.

[LA47]

It depends on your high temps. I grew my tomatoes every summer in our greenhouse...but our nights get very cool at 5800 foot elevation. Our greenhouse had solid dual pane windows on the east, south and west side.
During the hottest month all windows were left open, the roof had 1 1/2" foam insulation on most of it to help cool it off. Our tomatoes did very well but keep in mind that our night temp are generally in the 50's and day time highs rarely get over the low 90's.

We also have the unexpected really late frosts and have had surprise snow storms even in June.

[ReptileAddiction]

You could easily hook up a greenhouse a.c. if you are willing to pay the bill.

[Bobberman]

Hi Bobberman,
I have been reading your posts and I am brand new to the greenhouse hobby. I am thinking about buying this greenhouse:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015S ... CKVYFI8QM2
Please tell your opinion of it if this good to grow all through the summer. Last July we had record breaking temps of over 100 for 10 days straight. Would tomatoes & veggies get fried in these temps?
Thanks, Sandy...
Systems Trading EG45812 Backyard Hobby Greenhouse, Green, 8 By 12 Feet

+++
I personally would build a A frame greenhouse using 2 by 4s. You could build a 20 by 10 A frame for under $500 complete! The advantage is insulating the north wall and making the south wall 10 feet high which allows much more sunlight to be reflected back into the main area! In the summer you can have chicken wire on the whole front wall for climbing vines like runner beans for a super summer crop! The wire makes the plastic hold the snow and gives more support tointire greenhouse! You can even hang baskets on it inside!
+++ Add several 100 gallons of water drums and extend the season in most places all winter without any heat. I also have gutters on the north side to fill 2 fifty gallon drums with fresh water for plants all year round! A 100 by 20 foot roll of 6 mill plastic last me two years with a new cover every year! I strip it down except for a covering in the main area to avoid too much water inside!
+++
The grenhouses you buy are hard to heat because the whole house is exposed to the weather! I don't want to spend a fortune to heat a greenhouse. I only have a small heater in my sweat chamber for starting seeds! Once your water drums reach 50 degrees your greenhouse with double plastic will seldom go below 34 degrees at night!
+++
Mine has not frozen in 3 years now even though there was some ice in the barrels for a few days when temps were below 10 for a week! Super cold days with the sun out are 80 in the greenhouse and heats up the barrels!!
+++
2by 10,s work great for the back wall or use a by 2 by 8s and set the A frame up on a 2 foot frame. Its easy and can be put up in seeral hours! Paint the boards white to make a nicer looking one! That is my opinion!
+++
Another point to make is that the climbing beans and other climbing plants shade the inside of the greenhouse to keep it cooler even though most of the plastic has been taken away. Another trick I used this year was to cover the vines with the new outside layer of plastic in october so the vines would still grow after the frost and the beans were hanging down inside the greenhouse till dec! till I added the second layer inside!
+++
If you want two layers on the outside simply tie a few ropes across the boards to seperate the two layers a few inches for better insulation! I usuall put a 3 mill inside and a 6 mill outside which gives me more light coming through! I only leave about 5 feet of the plastic on the upper part of the greenhouse to protect some of the inside so it is really not usually above 90 inside the summer greenhouse. Also the water works in reverse in the summer and cools the inside of the greenhouse!