A critical facet of running a plant growing greenhouse operation is temperature maintained inside the greenhouse. Obviously, if your plants get either too cold or too warm, you're going to get the same end result, dead plants.

The different types of greenhouses will experience different types of inside temperatures. For example, there is a type of greenhouse which isn't heated, otherwise known as a cold house. There is also another type of greenhouse which is better known as a warm house. The temperatures inside a warm house, during the cooler temperatures of the evening, range from 55 to 60 degrees. Lastly, there are warm houses. These types of greenhouses usually maintain a temperature of 60 to 70 degrees in the evening time.

Any time the ideal growing temperatures are given to you in regards to evening greenhouse temperatures, its important you understand that your greenhouse should be ten degrees warmer than what the necessary evening temperatures are. For example, if the instructions say that the evening temperature should range between 60 to 70 degrees at night; your greenhouse should maintain a temperature of 70 to 80 degrees in the day time. Each of these three classes of greenhouses is suitable for growing certain kinds of saleable plants.

The biggest contributing factors of what type of greenhouse will suit your best is how many months a year you want to grow plants in your greenhouse and what type of climate you live in. If you happen to live in a place where the temperatures regularly drop below 32 degrees F, during the winter; you'll be a little more limited as far as what months you can grow. For example, if you want to use a cold greenhouse, you can grow well into late fall. However, once the temperatures start dipping, you'll have to stop the operation of your greenhouse. You won't be able to start growing in your cold greenhouse again until the temperatures warm up in the spring time.

If you do live where temperatures don't regularly fall below 32 degrees F, you can get away with something as simple as an unheated or cold greenhouse year round. These types of greenhouses are ideal for your climate. You don't have to stop your growing at all, like the people in colder climates do.

Cold greenhouses are best suited for annuals, spring flowering bulbs, and bedding plants. This type of greenhouse can help you to force or start them late February or at the start of March. Cold greenhouses are also a fantastic place for you to grow lettuce.

When summer arrives, you can use the unheated greenhouse for tomatoes, seedling perennials or pretty much any plant or flower that grows well in the summer time. In unheated greenhouses, it's best to put any plants that are winter grown straight into the bench soil. You should do this because it's easier for them to withstand colder temperatures by being in the bench soil, as opposed to being in planting pots.

About the Author

Russell Clark owns and operates the website ProfitableGreenhouses.com