What is a cold frame greenhouse?

Experienced gardeners have many tools to extend the growing season and protect fine young plants. Some gardeners use traditional full -size greenhouses with air pumps and heating elements, while others prefer cheaper and easier Mintain method of using cold frame greenhouses. A great cold greenhouse is simply a four -sided structure that is low to the ground with a clean peak that is designed to release the sun's rays as a means to maintain plants inside protected and warm in colder weather. This type of greenhouse is easily made of recycled materials or can be commercially purchased in a set.

The basic structure of a cold frame greenhouse includes four low walls with two oblique side walls that are higher at the back than the front. The slope serves two purposes of a cold frame greenhouse: first allows snow, rain and debris to slip from the lid to make the upper panel clean; secondly, ensures that the spinery uThe interior receives the maximum exposure of sunlight even late on the day the sun begins to set.

The cold greenhouses should always face the south to allow maximum sun and should not be placed under trees or other objects that could throw it into the shade. On the south side of the house, garage or sheds are often built cold frames, allowing the wall of the existing structure to act as a rear wall of a cold frame. If the building is heated, it will help keep the cold frame in warm days.

The most important element of the green frame is a transparent upper panel. Gardeners who create their own cold frames usually use a recycled storm window as a lid, with screwed curtains easier to open and close the lid. Another material that can be used for the lid is a heavy, clean plastic that is strong enough to withstand wind and winterstorms.

While the cold frame should be kept closed to prevent heat leakage during very cold weather, it should be open on warmer days to prevent the plants from shining inside. The green -frame greenhouse should also be placed in a place that receives excellent drainage, so the plants do not slip in wet weather. The pages of the cold frame can be made of bricks, concrete blocks or wood types that are resistant to decomposing.

Gardeners in autumn use cold frames to extend the summer season, protect plants from decreasing temperatures and ensure harvesting herbs, salad green and root crops for the winter months. At the end of the winter until early spring before the last freezing with cold frames, they are used to start the annual seeds of plants to start a flowering lead or to stiffen the fine seedlings that started inside. If temperatures are particularly low, cold frames can be covered with blankets or insulating materials such as hay forkeeping the growth warm until the sun reappears.