Before getting into the nuances of reducing cost while building a greenhouse, let us explore on what a greenhouse is. Greenhouse or glasshouse is the place where one grows plants in a controlled environment. In simple terms, this is the place where you can grow a rose plant when is hot summer outside. The size of the greenhouse varies from a small shed to a very large building.
Principle of a working greenhouse:
A greenhouse is a place that is surrounded by plastic or glass walls allowing the sunlight to penetrate through, which is used by the plants inside to grow and generate heat. The heat thus generated is not let outside and therefore it is always warmer inside the greenhouse. With the use of humidifiers the amount of moisture content in air circulating within the greenhouse could be controlled.
Advantages of growing plants in a greenhouse are as follows:
1. The temperature and humidity of the environment in which the plant is grown could be controlled.
2. This is possible to keep the plants safe and secure from diseases, pests and insects.
3. Light could also be controlled within a greenhouse.
4. Warm weather vegetables could be grown during winter and the vice versa.
Types of Greenhouses:
Greenhouses are classified into two types based on the type of the wall material that is used in the construction of a greenhouse. The two broader classification of greenhouse are plastic and glass greenhouses. Plastics used in the making of glasshouse are PE Film or multi-wall sheets like PC or PMMA. However, glass greenhouses are much preferred over plastic greenhouses though the cost of installation is high.
How to reduce the cost of building a greenhouse?
1. It is best to get the flooring done with a neat cement work. The benches on which the plants are to be grown could be designed with the concept of more space in lesser area. These benches for placing plants in pots or trays could be of cement or plastic or wood. Troughs and ponds could be built with concrete. The best way to save money on your greenhouse in the long run is to build it properly the very first time, despite initial investment may appear a bit higher.
2. Using plastic roofing is much cheaper than glass roofing and are highly durable for a long time.
3. The shade could be provided by spreading canvass over the roofing than dark glass or plastic plates.
4. Use of hardwares from the store and glazing materials to build the greenhouse is much cheaper than using kits that usually is expensive.
5. You can always find in your ladder the required wood and benches for building the space area for growing plants. If you could bring the ceiling down and pest and insects are not the concern for your plants, then the best way to cut the cost on building a greenhouse is to grow the plants on the floor, that is soil. This way you will save some expense on the need for flooring. The best option is to spend the money on pest management, which is much cheaper than flooring.
6. The use of commercially available cheaper vents and fans will do to maintain the temperature within your greenhouse. You can control the moisture or the humidity of the greenhouse by hanging a simple humidifier to provide the right amount of moisture to your plants.
7. The best way to cut on the cost of the lighting within your greenhouse is to opt-in for making the best use of the naturally available sunlight.
8. The use of freestanding structures is one of the best solutions for compartmentalizing and making the best use of the available space within the greenhouse.
9. A decision to use hose pipe to water plants instead of building a pipeline reduces the overall cost for building a greenhouse.
10. The advantage of building your own greenhouse is that you can use your creativity to recycle the materials from your garage, use the local hardware store to find simple solutions for your greenhouse needs. By doing this, you will be saving some extra bucks otherwise spent on laborers and raw materials.
