For areas that experience significantly colder weather and snow during the fall and winter seasons, it’s important to prepare your greenhouses so your crops are protected. Here are a few things to consider when preparing your commercial greenhouse operation for the fall and winter:
Tidy up
Things may have gotten a little messy during the busy season when it’s difficult to find time to perform regular cleaning duties. This is a good time of year to catch up on any cleaning that may have been neglected during the summer to prepare for the winter.
- Remove any seasonal plants that are unlikely to thrive during the fall and winter to make room for new crops.
- Sweep and sanitize your floors to ensure no bugs or disease will spread to new crops. The same should be done to the framework, benches and other indoor greenhouse equipment.
- Clean the greenhouse glazing to ensure as much sunlight is allowed in the greenhouse as possible during the winter when light levels are low.
Inspect your structure
It’s important to make sure that all aspects of your structure, both inside and outside, are in excellent condition so that your greenhouse can operate as efficiently as possible when the weather is cold.
- Check your glazing to make sure there are no cracks or spaces. Having cracks in your structure in the winter will let in cold air which will be costly on your energy bill. It can also be more expensive to fix the longer it’s left.
- Regular maintenance should be performed on your heating system throughout the year but it’s especially important to make sure maintenance is performed before the colder weather starts to ensure everything is working as efficiently as possible when they’re needed the most.