blog
tips and tricks for greenhouse gardening success
Seed Shopping After Asking These Six Questions
Here are six questions to consider when you go seed shopping: 1. Are you a veggie or flower grower? I’m veggie annuals and mostly perennial flowers so I walk right past the flower seed aisle and focus on my vegetable seeds. 2. How much room do you have for growing...
The Problem With Spider Mites
Evidence of a two-spotted spider mite infestation in a hobby greenhouse in Alberta, Canada. Recorded Saturday, August 27, 2022.
Gray Mold Botrytis on Tomatoes
Your greenhouse is a glorious place for tomatoes to grow. It's warmer than outdoors. Plants are protected from wind damage. The heat of the greenhouse warms the soil so the roots are happier and the plant grows faster and more lush. There is a challenge we have to...
How To Buy Healthy Plants
Your best protection against a weak or diseased garden is prevention in the form of smart shopping. Start with healthy plants to give your garden the greatest chance for success. Plants that have been allowed to wilt frequently in the hot sun are never a bargain, no...
Buying A Greenhouse: 5 Things to Consider
Consider these five things when deciding which greenhouse works best for you. 1. Cost: Start with $/sqft but make sure you are comparing apples to apples here. When it comes down to dollar comparisons, some greenhouses are sturdy, some are flimsy. Some are made of...
5 Favourite Hobby Greenhouse Tools
Remote Weather Sensor - put a sensor in the greenhouse so you can monitor from the comfort of your home. This is clutch when the weather starts to warm in spring so you can go out and adjust the temperature using manual vents, opening the top of the dutch door, and...
How to Set Up your Hobby Greenhouse
You finally took the plunge! If you're like me, you dreamed of a greenhouse for years (decades?) and tried out a bunch of flimsy ones before finally investing in something that will last you for a few years. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of it....
Don’t Waste Greenhouse Space On These 10 Plants
Your hobby greenhouse can do a few things really well: It can protect your fragile (and expensive) crops from getting destroyed by those prairie hail storm. It can give you a head start on growing early in the season (harvesting your own lettuce and spinach in April?...
Beat The Heat
Prairie summers are notorious for extreme heat (and loooooong days). It's not unusual for temperatures to rise above +30 degrees Celsius. [Editor's Note: the summer of 2019 was unseasonably cool and wet so we'll call that an exception!] Average temperatures in our...
The Challenges Of Year-Round Greenhouse Gardening
There are some simple ways to get enough heat to extend the growing season by about a month on either side of summer. In Alberta, Canada (latitude 53 North) this means growing from April to October. For us, that means we have 50-gallon dark rainwater barrels in our greenhouse and paving stones on the ground.
Planning For A New Gardening Season
Every year at this time I reflect on last year’s garden and consider what improvements I can make to my Canadian prairie garden and greenhouse. What will I plant? What did I grow last year that I loved? That I didn’t love? What changes can I make to my landscape or...
Leaves For Compost
HEY LOOK!!! The free compost has arrived!!! These leaves are a gift from nature for the “frugal” gardener. I don’t bag up leaves, I let them accumulate on my garden beds and provide a blanket of protection for perennial roots, bulbs and bugs. Mixed with moisture from...
Why We Prune And Top Tomatoes
Don’t feel bad about ruthlessly pruning and topping your tomatoes. Feel HAPPY that you’re directing all that spectacular growth power into ripening the fruit that is on the vine. The fruit needs to get to a mature size so that the growth hormones evolve to ethylene...
Favourite Perennial Transplanting Hacks
Here's a few of my favourite tricks for transplanting perennials: All planting or transplanting is best done in cool weather (below 20C). Be sure the plant rootball is loose and remove all weeds and weed roots. Dig the hole larger and deeper than the ball. Place a...
How To Care For Delphinium’s
Delphinium worms can cause quick and thorough damage to your delphinium. These beauties were 8’ tall last year and I was a bit lazy in the fall, so I didn't cut them down. I leave the vast majority of the perennials in the demo-garden standing. It adds winter interest...
Late Fall Greenhouse Cleanup
It finally got cold enough in the greenhouse (without the heater on) that frost hit the tender plants. At -4 outside and no supplemental heat inside, the cells in the leaves of basil and tomato have burst. This makes them look black and droopy. It really and truly is...
