Adding Accessories To Your Greenhouse

This article highlights some of the more common accessories available for your greenhouse:

Benches and Shelves

Inside your greenhouse you're going to need something to put your growing plants on.

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An integral part to the growing area of your greenhouse includes benches and shelves. Benches for use inside of a greenhouse can be made from several different possible materials. You could use redwood, a wise choice because of its natural rot resistant properties. You can also have them made from cypress, or asbestos. There are two different types of benches you can have too. Your greenhouse growing benches can either be slatted or they can have a solid surface.

Another decision you have to make is whether you want to place your greenhouse plants directly on the benches or put something in between the bench and the plant. I, personally, don't like to put my plants directly on the benches. I make use of galvanized tray inserts set into the benches. I then put 2 inches of pea rock inside the trays. Finally, I put the potted plants on top of the pea rock.

Other growers prefer to inset a wooden tray into the benches. They then put soil inside of the wooden tray. They do this, because then they can grow the plants directly inside the benches.

If you would like to try this method, instead of soil, you may want to put sand inside the wooden trays. Then you can push pots down inside the sand inside the bench. By keeping the sand moist, you'll provide a better growing environment for the plants in the sand. By keeping the sand moist you're going to keep the pots buried in the sand cooler and it will provide a little extra humidity for the plant in the pot.

An asbestos bench 3 feet wide, up to 49 feet long, with 6½-inch sides, including pipe and fittings, retails for about $4.00 per linear foot (or at least it did when I bought one a while ago).

Shelves can be of glass or wood. You can purchase ready-made ones, or start out by making a few of your own and adding more as your operation expands.

Greenhouse Walk

For a walk between the benches, use a cement slab, flagstone, wooden slats, pebbles, or gravel. My walk is a cement slab, and I find it satisfactory since it is easy to wash down.

Potting Bench and Storage Cabinets

Besides lots of growing space inside your greenhouse, you're also going to have to make sure you plan to have room to put a potting station. After all, you can't grow, if you don't pot. This is something you can easily overlook when you are planning out how you want your greenhouse to be built.

You have to remember that not the entire space of your greenhouse can be devoted strictly to growing. You will need a place to pot the plants too. However, if you are on a limited budget or have limited space available for your greenhouse, and need to maximize growing space, there are ways around putting the potting station in the greenhouse. You just have to get a little creative.