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If you are into planting and gardening, you might love the idea of building a greenhouse. By building it, you do not have to worry about extreme weather and drastic changes that can damage your plants. Besides for making your plants look more arranged, greenhouses are great for your plant to grow consistently. Greenhouses help you maintain the heat and light for plants to perform photosynthesis. It is what makes our fruit and vegetables have such sweet and tasty flavor.
Now, do greenhouses need to be airtight? The answer is yes. This might be confusing because scientifically, plants need air to perform photosynthesis. Don’t worry, the explanation is coming right up. So, without any further ado, read on, and let’s dig deeper about greenhouses!
Why is airtightness important in a greenhouse?
As I mentioned previously, greenhouses help you grow your plants consistently. The fundamental purpose of it is to stabilize the air circulation and cultivate the biosphere within the greenhouse. With the airtightness of the greenhouse, we will be able to decrease the impact of extreme weather change.
By the airtight cycle, the greenhouse holds the internal temperature from the sunlight. This is the benefit of see-through material, like glass, plastics, or polycarbonates. The recapitulation of the light itself will subsequently change into the heat that sustains the photosynthesis process of our plants.
The plants in the greenhouse are usually from a rare endemic and the tropical type of plants. For that, this is the major role of the airtight cycle. The airtightness’ role is to trap the air inside the greenhouse. We have to equalize it by supplying proper nutrition that helps our vegetative fruition. For example, by giving adequate fertilizer or spraying precise amounts of water for instance.
What is the best material for the airtight greenhouse?
We can build greenhouses from various resources as long it is sturdy. We can use glass material for the layers of the greenhouse because it is renowned for its versatility. Also, we can hinder the outboard heat with the glass, especially the solar infrared radiation. Besides, glass is one of the materials that are easy to find. In the scope of design, glass is considered timeless because of its elegant transparent trait. The maintenance is easy. If by any chance the surface of the glass gets dirty, we can clean it with soapy water or alcohol-based cleaner. The making of the glass material is consuming the minimum chemical substance.
The alternative option besides the glass-based greenhouse is polycarbonate greenhouse and this technique might sound kind of new for some people. Polycarbonate is a durable material that weighs relatively light in contrast. The cool thing is, it shares the transparent trait as the glass. However, the two have different characteristics. Unlike glass, polycarbonate is almost impossible to break, even if it is pressed by intense force. The material used in making polycarbonate is flexible which makes it easier to adjust.
However, if you decide to go with plastic material, you should take good care of it because its color can turn yellow over time. It is not that difficult. All you have to do is to avoid using the abrasive liquid to clean polycarbonate and start using clear water because it is the neutral substitute for it. The clearer the polycarbonate is, the more it can break the UV light from the sun from piercing the inner greenhouse.
The importance of blocking and how to do it
Now that you know how greenhouses work and why it needs to be airtight, it’s time for the next step. How do we make it airtight? Of course, the answer is with sealing and insulation. By doing this, not only your plants will be safe during weather change, but also keep them away from pests. To start the sealing process, look around the greenhouse and check for gaps, especially in the bottom area. After that, you can start caulking those gaps to prevent the heat from escaping. Greenhouses also have frames, so you should seal them as well. It will make a huge difference.
The caulking method is done by utilizing a gun-like tool that releases an adhesive substance and we can find it in the construction shop. The glue substance from the caulking is impervious or in other terms is waterproof so we do not have to worry about leakage in your greenhouse.
One of the main concerns of taking care of our plants is pest incursion, which is why it is prohibited to leave any unnecessary gaps on every visible or hidden corner of the greenhouse. If there is a wide space where it cannot be closed by the caulking method, we can put big stones or woods to barricade the hole to avoid the unwanted things that might come from the outside.
Conclusion
Airtightness is an important part of a greenhouse. It is one of the reasons why we have to balance this technique with other supporting instruments, such as the materials or even the construction method. However, without the airtight technique, our greenhouse will not be in the right motion.
The treatment of our greenhouse should be the same as how we treat our plants inside, by love and constant affection. Now that you know the requirements for building the most efficient greenhouse, I hope you can learn from it and try applying it to your own greenhouse.
