How to Maintain and Repair a Greenhouse

Your greenhouse is just like anything else and will occasionally need repairs and general maintenance. You will probably see a lot of mildew issues that come from the fact that the building is sealed and you have frequent water, including an automatic watering system, in your greenhouse. You will have to find a way to get the gaps under the roof and the venting areas themselves since mildew, mold and algae can all grow here.

You will need to clean these areas thoroughly for the health of your plants, flowers and most importantly, for you! You cannot let fungi and mold just cling to the walls forever since it’s rather unattractive. You don’t want the fungi and mold to spread all over the walls, into the air and into your lungs. Humans were not meant to breathe in fungi and mold regularly as it is not good for them.

You will need to take a cloth and wipe down surfaces regularly. If the mildew has built up, you can take a commercial cleaner to help remove it. You will need to work hard in the cracks with a sponge, but the end result of a cleaner greenhouse is always worth it!

The floors can also become a mess with the unwanted additions. Most greenhouse floors are made of dirt or maybe wood or gravel. These floors don’t have to be spic-n-span clean, but you will need to clean them occasionally. After all, wood can get mold, which will be slippery to walk on, while gravel and dirt lets weeds grow through. Dirt will eventually become muddy as well from all the water. If you have a cement floor, you will need to sweep it occasionally as well.

If you have a greenhouse made with plastic, you will see that over the years, your greenhouse becomes yellowish or darkens in color. When its color changes, it can have an impact on the amount of light transmitted into the greenhouse or even crack, unbalancing your humidity or temperature control inside. You will need to replace these pieces sooner rather than later for the health of your plants and flowers.

If you have regular glass, it can become dirty and brittle over time. You won’t see as much light coming through and if you accidentally bump it, it might break! This will take a much longer time than the plastics situation, but every 7 – 10 years, you will need to think about possibly replacing the glass for safety.

There are new polycarbonate materials that are now available for greenhouses. You can see that they provide plenty of light, have great temperature retention and can last a very long time. The seal between the materials, however, can require repairs occasionally and you will need to re-caulk these materials. All you need for this job, however, is a good scraper, a caulking gun and caulking glue.

The condensation that gets in between the polycarbonate panes, between the panes, on the walls and more can become covered with algae and mildew. You will need to clean these materials then, but fortunately not as frequently as you do with glass.

         

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