Greenhouses on the windowsill and balcony: options for home greenhouses

Very often in the winter, you want to pamper yourself with fresh vegetables or even fruit, but because of the unsuitable season, you have to buy products brought from distant countries. However, if you make a small greenhouse at home (on the windowsill or balcony), you can realize what you want and eat something that is not just fresh, but also natural, hand-made. In addition, you can already start preparing for the summer season and get a good seedlings, which will soon give fruit.

Now in the shops you can buy almost any products that you can wish for, but it’s hard to say if their quality is right for you. It is not known exactly how these or other vegetables or fruits were grown, how long and by what means the greens were germinated, which should carry a wealth of vitamins into the body.All this causes the desire to independently grow all that will be in food.

In the summer, it is not difficult, because in the garden, under the scorching sun and with timely watering, any products will grow quickly and will soon give a long-awaited harvest. But what to do in the winter, when it is impossible to grow something on the street and you have to be content only with the purchase? In this case, home greenhouses can help. You can create a greenhouse on a windowsill or on a balcony rather quickly and in a short time get the first results.

To create a microchip at home, you can use a variety of objects. The main principle of operation of such a greenhouse is the creation of a suitable microclimate inside the structure, which is achieved by isolating the garden area from the outside world. Most often used for this polyethylene: they wrap the area with the ground. But you can use the materials at hand in the form of a plastic bottle with a cut off bottom: if you put it on the pot with the ground, you can achieve the effect of a greenhouse.

Now there is an opportunity to purchase greenhouses in stores.They are fully prepared and do not require any additional work, except for the assembly of the main frame and the installation of the film around it. Externally, microbaths may differ from each other, but they have one task - the opportunity to have fresh produce and greens all year round, as well as preparing seedlings for the future summer season.

Regardless of how exactly the greenhouse will look like, whether it is purchased or self-made, for its manufacture or operation There are certain rules and requirements that you need to know, otherwise the result of growing green areas in such objects will not have the proper result.

• Creating the most appropriate conditions for the plant that is grown. It is not necessary to place in one greenhouse cultures that need different growing conditions.
• A greenhouse must be convenient to use so that it can be washed at any time, something in it must be changed and corrected. All plantings should be visible, well viewed from all sides and have easy access for watering.

• In addition to convenience, it would be nice if the appearance of the greenhouse was aesthetic and fit the design of the room.
• The indoor greenhouse must be strong enough to withstand multiple uses.
• The location of the microhouse should be such that the plants receive enough light, but do not take it all from the room.
• The best place for the location of the house for future plants will be the window of the room where people are rarely located, and hence the loss of light from the greenhouse installation does not affect the standard of living of the household.
• If you can not find such a zone in the house, you can organize a greenhouse in any place convenient for all, but provide artificial lighting so that the plants can grow and develop properly.

If you are thinking about creating a greenhouse at home to be able to grow fresh greens and prepare seedlings for planting on the country bed, you need to consider all types of modern structures and decide which one is most convenient in a particular room. For an apartment, the most successful arrangement of a greenhouse for young plants will be a window opening, on which it is possible to build both shelving and a small greenhouse.

The window is usually grown parsley, dill or onion, what is most often used in food. If the task of the greenhouse is the cultivation of seedlings for the garden, then it is most convenient to bring the entire structure to the balcony. In this case, you can afford a more cumbersome greenhouse, where there is an opportunity to arrange a large number of trays with the ground, where the seeds will already be sown. Balcony greenhouse will give the result when all the conditions for the growth and development of plants will be present. If there is not enough light or the air temperature is below normal, the growth of seeds will be difficult, if not impossible.

To create a greenhouse in the conditions of the house, you can buy a simple greenhouse and start growing any greenery. The simplest design assumes a reduced variation of the country greenhouses, where instead of a large room made of polyethylene or glass there is a small shelving on which a special polyethylene cover is put on. Usually, the rack frame is made of metal, but at home you can also make a wooden version. For ease of care and watering polyethylene cape has a zipper.Having unbuttoned them, you can reach the necessary zone without opening the entire greenhouse.

Shelves can be of various sizes.which are selected individually, based on the availability of free space at home. The height may also differ, depending on the tiers of the structure, there may be two or more. Usually do not use shelves for more than five shelves, because it is difficult to care for plants and view their condition.

If there is no need for a large greenhouse, you can use the desktop type, which somewhat resembles an aquarium, but is made according to the principle of window frames for outdoor structures made of polystyrene. If you want to buy something more powerful, then in this case automatic systems will be the most productive.

If a simple design is home to plants, where a comfortable temperature is created for them, and the whole care is done by a person, then automated greenhouses take over these functions. Such systems can be partial (with a certain set of functions) or complete, where a person does not participate at all in the process of caring for plants. In these devices there are fitolamps,which give the necessary light for growth; the system of automatic watering, allowing to dispense the supply of moisture; ventilation, which renews the air and provides the whole range of conditions that are necessary for the proper growth of plants.

The advantages of such systems are that there is no need to look for a convenient or suitable place for them, as they will cope with any location, be it a window sill or a basement.

There are several variants of such automatic greenhouses.

• Grouboxes - this is a closed system, where there is autonomous lighting, air supply, light reflection. An important feature is the ability to choose the type of operation of the device, depending on what it will be grown in it. Planted plants in such a box can be either in the nutritional mixture or in hydroponics.

• Thermoboxes convenient to use in apartments. They can be placed both indoors and on the balcony. This device is not afraid of even a negative temperature and can independently adjust the microclimate inside so that the seedlings will be comfortable. The device independently waters the plants, controls the supply of useful substances, turns on and off the lamps at the required time.It is only necessary to place the seeds in the box, and then the machine itself will do everything.
• Aerogarden is a desktop mini-greenhouse, where the growth of greenery is on aeroponics (drops of the solution with nutrients, which is the root system of seedlings). The device not only helps to create ideal growth conditions, but even accelerates it several times, thanks to which you can get the finished product much faster.

For normal growth of any plants in the home, it is important to create for them a suitable habitat. The most important factor will be the lighting, which ideally should be natural. So that the seedlings can get sunlight, it is best to put it on the window sill. If the side of the house does not allow to receive the proper amount of light, then it can be compensated with a special lamp. With its help, you can get out of the situation when the seedlings are in a dark room.

The most convenient way to install a greenhouse on the balcony, because there is a fully glazed room and the light reaches the plants as often as possible, which ultimately gives a good result. At home you can grow almost any plant, the main thing is to know what environmental conditions are characteristic of it, and try to make them.For the cultivation of exotic fruits in the room will require an automatic greenhouse, because it will be able to give all the components for growth, and this is light, and moisture, and air.

Unlike the human body, plants need a segment of red in order to grow, develop and bloom. Waves should also have an appropriate length, which ranges from 600 to 700 nanometers. In addition, the blue spectrum is also important, the wavelength of which should be from 400 to 500 nanometers, which will enable the seedlings to grow vegetatively and develop properly. Simple artificial lighting will be insufficient and, instead of being useful, it will cause a state of stress in a young plant, therefore it is important to select light in the spectrum of the sun's rays. If this is neglected, fruits and vegetables grown in such conditions will have a different taste, lose most of the vitamins, and sometimes may be completely unsuitable for eating. If we are talking about flowers, then in this case, the effect is the opposite: from artificial light, their growth increases, and the flowering becomes brighter.

To ensure good growth and development of plants in the greenhouse, it is important to choose the right light in which the radiation of the appropriate color will be:

• purple or blue helps photosynthesis - the plants become stronger and begin to grow faster;
• yellow and green contribute to the inhibition of photosynthesis, and this causes plant diseases;
• orange or red are best suited in the process of flowering and active development of the fruit, but it is worth being careful with the quantity, because the crop dies from a significant dose of this light;
• ultraviolet radiation helps to accumulate enough vitamins in plants, in addition, increases resistance to cold.

If there is a need to use lamps, then you need to understand the difference between them.

• Incandescent lamps they light up and warm the air a little, but they consume a lot of electricity. Their range is 600 nv, which is not the norm for plant growth - on the leaves, burns or deformation of the stems may appear.
• Fluorescent lamps favorable for growing plants, because they have low heat transfer. In addition, they are inexpensive and do not consume much energy.
• UV lamps They work in much the same way as luminescent ones, but thanks to the addition of various components, it is possible to choose a suitable range for a particular plant.

• Mercury lamps have high pressure and heat up quickly. The rays have a near ultraviolet spectrum. You can use for photosynthesis, but in small doses. It is best used when ripening begins. You can use them if there is a stable voltage in the network, without drops, otherwise it is dangerous.
• LED bulbs create monochrome lighting. If you use a set and different color combinations, you can get the desired spectrum. These lamps are economical, work for a long time and do not deteriorate even at low voltage.
• Infrared lamps used to heat the air in the greenhouse. They are energy-independent, but they have a favorable effect on plants, their light is similar to natural.

In addition to buying a finished greenhouse, you can do it yourself at home in the home. It can be a small structure or a large shelving, it all depends on what exactly will be grown. For orchids or other flowers that need to be germinated from seeds or bulbs, plastic bottles are suitable: they are cut into pieces and a greenhouse is collected from them.The lower part serves as a base where you can pour the soil or put peat tablets, and the upper part is put on the plant and creates a suitable microclimate. For airing and watering it can be easily removed.

If you need to grow more plants, you can use the old aquariumwhere there are glass walls and a lid that allow solar or artificial light to pass through well. If there is no aquarium itself, any box covered with glass will be suitable, through which the necessary light will penetrate. The most difficult is to create a shelving greenhouse, but the harvest will be much more than with any of the above options.

To create a rack you need to think about its dimensions and materials from which it will be made. It is best to use plexiglass for shelves, but you can replace it with a regular chipboard or plywood. On the finished body, you must wear a plastic wrap in which there is a zipper or think of another option, how to quickly get inside for watering. Be sure to make such a rack with lights on top to always be able to compensate for the lack of sunlight.

If there is a lot of germinated culture, then it is most convenient to use the shelving, because here everything can be watered and ventilated at a time. The same applies to lighting: in the presence of transparent shelves, it evenly gets to all plants. The rack itself can be of any size and size, depending on the availability of space in the room and the number of crops for germination. The design with three inserts of plexiglass will be the most optimal, because it does not take up much space, it will be convenient to take care of it, and all plants will have the same and optimal conditions for germination.

When placing seedlings in greenhouses on the windows, it is important to have blinds or another system to protect young shoots from the sun, the amount of which must be properly dosed, otherwise the young leaves can simply burn. If it is not possible to devote a lot of time to a self-made greenhouse, you can partially automate it, for this a device is selected for automatic ventilation, lighting and watering.

If you need to increase the nutrition of plants, it is good to use hydro and aeroponicswhich have a quick effect: plants grow at an accelerated pace and grow healthy and strong. It is better to make a window for ventilation and watering from above on the structure, so that the air inside it goes out evenly, mixing with the existing one in the room and changing to a new, fresh and clean one. If you make such a window below, the incoming fresh air will be cold, which will adversely affect the fragile plants.

About what are the options for home greenhouses, see the following video.