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Greenhouses South Africa

Greenhouses South Africa: Gardening Sustainably

Gone are the days where growing produce was something only farmers could do. With a big enough space, anyone can install a greenhouse in South Africa and grow their plants all year round. A greenhouse is an exterior structure used to grow plants in controlled conditions and can be made from glass, Perspex, aluminium, galvanized steel, wood, or plastic.

Greenhouses come in a variety of sizes, ranging from a backyard shed, to massive industrial ones the size of factories.

 

Benefits of Greenhouses

A greenhouse has several benefits compared to growing outdoors.

Complete Climate Control

Come rain or shine, your greenhouse will offer protection from all of the elements that can be harmful to plants and hinder your produce growth. You can create a sustainable and consistent environment for your plants to ensure optimum yields. They can be used in harsh climates. You can even control how much carbon dioxide enrichment they are getting, with the appropriate systems. In some settings, grow lamps can be used in place of sunlight – this makes it ideal for growing plants in areas where there isn’t much exposure to sunlight.

With some greenhouses, the covers have the ability to deflect sunlight, allowing the light to be spread evenly no matter what time of day it is. This benefits all of the plants in the greenhouse.

Pest Control

The greenhouse not only protects plants from the unideal – it ensures that your plants are safe from pests like birds, bugs and rodents. Other plant-eating pests can be kept under control more easily, as the plants are contained in a small area and can be monitored, and subsequently sprayed and treated regularly.

Controlled Nutrients

In a greenhouse, it’s a lot easier to organise your plants and monitor their nutritional needs. Greenhouses can be fitted with automated systems that can balance the humidity and temperature, and even distribute fertiliser.

 

3 Types of Greenhouses

There are multiple greenhouse designs for different spaces, requirements and sizes.

Lean-to type greenhouse

A lean-to design greenhouse, like the name suggests, is when part of the greenhouse structure is installed against the side of an existing building. It uses the existing building for support. It should be installed to incorporate adequate sun exposure. A big advantage of the lean-to type greenhouse is that it’s typically close to available electricity, water, and heat depending on what the building can offer. It is the least expensive greenhouse structure.

Even Span Type Greenhouse

This is the most common type of greenhouse. It is completely standalone, with each support beam of equal length. These are constructed on level ground, and offer flexibility in size. This design is ideal for smaller greenhouses, and it can only be constructed on level ground. For air circulation, the even span design has a better shape than a lean-to type to maintain uniform temperatures during the winter heating season.

Uneven Span Type Greenhouse

This greenhouse design is perfect for uneven terrain, on hills, etc. The support beams are of different lengths, making the structure able to remain level on slanted ground. It is one of the least popular greenhouse types, as it is unable to be set up with automated systems.  

 

DIY Greenhouse Kits in South Africa

DIY greenhouse kits come with all the tools you need to get your greenhouse up and running. With a few additional tools, most DIY greenhouse kits can be set up in a few hours. The components will be reinforced where they need to be, but if there are other systems that you want to implement, you’ll have to source those separately.

 

Vegetable Tunnels for Sale South Africa

If you aren’t looking to install a fully-fledged greenhouse, you might want to consider putting up a vegetable tunnel to keep your produce safe and protected. There are different vegetable tunnel suppliers who offer different sizes and in different variations.

 

For vegetable tunnels or greenhouses and all of their components, visit our directory.

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Green Houses | vegetable tunnels | Gone are the days where growing produce was something only farmers could do. With a big enough space | anyone can install a greenhouse in South Africa and grow their plants all year round. A greenhouse is an exterior structure used to grow plants in controlled conditions and can be made from glass | Perspex | aluminium | galvanized steel | wood | or plastic.