Why should I clean my greenhouse?
If you are a true plant lover, you will know that to be properly nourished, your plant needs the ideal living conditions. Yes, in the wild plants don’t get someone coming around every so often giving them the right amount of everything and making sure everything around is nice and tidy but nor do they naturally grow in an enclosed glass box. By cleaning out your greenhouse, you allow more sunlight in as well as eliminating any pests or diseases that you may find. Whether you have a glass greenhouse, a plastic greenhouse or a polytunnel, you still need to make sure that the environment you’re growing your plants in is a clean, ideal safe place for them to grow in. As well as that, a shiny clean greenhouse looks much more impressive than an old dirty one.
When and how often should I do it?
There is no set time to clean out your greenhouse. The ideal times are before you plant new seeds/after you’ve gotten rid of a number of seasoned plants. You should keep an eye out for when the panels of the greenhouse become dirty or when the inside becomes cluttered and untidy and clean it then. Spring is a good time to clean as you have just come out of the winter months; it’s a fresh start for plants and with spring cleaning thrown in there too it just seems like the right kind of time. You really can clean it when you feel it is right but once a year should be your minimum just so you maintain the greenhouse and don’t have a huge amount to do when you do get around to it.
How do I go about cleaning it?
Both the interior and the exterior of the greenhouse need to be cleaned. Start by removing everything from inside the greenhouse and sweep all of the debris on the ground and dispose of it either in the compost or in the garden waste bin. Once you’ve done this you can clean the actual greenhouse. Each of the panels needs to be cleaned and you can do this the same way that you would clean any other window. Using an applicator, apply the soapy water solution onto the glass panels, applying generously and completely coating the area. Then use a squeegee to scrape off all of the solution. Do this for both inside and outside. If you would rather, you can clean it with a hose but then you need to wait for it to all dry and you get better results if you use the more professional method. You then have to clean any benches or surfaces that came from the greenhouse and then replace them inside. Make sure you look out for any broken items the whole time you clean as they need to be replaced or fixed as soon as possible. When replacing all of the plants, check for any signs of disease or pests and deal with them immediately if found. Any weeds coming through should be pulled by their roots.
If you have any temperature control or light control, you should make sure they are turned off before you start cleaning. You should also make sure you don’t have any electrical faults and everything is working efficiently.
It is easiest if you clean as you go to maintain the cleanliness. Do regular spot checks on things like plants, fallen leaves, broken items and diseases. It really will save you a lot of time when you need to clean the rest of it.