All about how to make a greenhouse for growing various greens all year round

Greenhouse / Types of greenhouses

Growing greens in greenhouses using special technology

Growing greens in a greenhouse today is one of the most promising activities. If we talk about business profitability, then this direction is fully justified.

• 1 Greens in greenhouses and their benefits
• 2 Greens in a greenhouse: generating income 2.1 How greens in a greenhouse grow along with your profit

Benefits and what greens can be grown in a greenhouse?

You can grow various greens in a greenhouse. The most commonly grown plants are onions, dill and parsley, lettuce, basil, radishes, cilantro, etc.

If desired, you can grow sorrel, cilantro and any other type of greenery.

This method of growing has a number of undoubted advantages:

• growing in a greenhouse allows you to grow greens in March or even in winter, in January-February;
• in a greenhouse you can create ideal conditions for a particular type of plant. This will allow you to get a rapid increase in green mass and excellent taste ;
• you can use a mini-greenhouse and grow greens in your own apartment: on the balcony, veranda, etc.;
• You can grow several crops per year .

The same greenhouse can be used to grow other cruciferous and umbelliferous crops (radish, carrots and others).

Purpose

The main purpose of the design is to obtain a harvest of fresh vegetables and herbs at home throughout the house. Inside, the device creates an optimal microclimate necessary for normal growth and development of plants.

A greenhouse helps not only to grow plants at home, but also to prepare seedlings for the new season for further planting on the site.

A greenhouse helps not only to grow plants at home, but also to prepare seedlings

Types of greenhouses?

Mini greenhouse

Compact greenhouse, used for growing greenery in an apartment . It is a glazed box, which, in turn, contains smaller boxes filled with earth. Greenery grows in them. The simplest version of such a greenhouse is an ordinary old aquarium, adapted for a new function.

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is not even a greenhouse in the full sense of the word, but its simplified analogue. It is a structure made of thick wire arcs on which a film is stretched .
There is no heating, it is replaced by the sun and rotting manure and compost, which is applied to the soil (fresh manure is best applied in narrow paths on which there are no plants);

Classic version

It is a greenhouse with a wooden frame, covered with film or polycarbonate. You can also use old windows or other available materials for the greenhouse.

A greenhouse for greenery is usually smaller than for other crops, so one potbelly stove, infrared burner or electric heater is enough for heating. The foundation can be made columnar.

Winter

This is a more permanent structure than a classic greenhouse for greenery. It is characterized by increased requirements for strength (because it must withstand a lot of snow in winter), insulation and lighting. Lighting should be regular, from 12 to 18 hours a day (depending on the crop). Use fluorescent lamps.

For insulation, a double layer of covering material (usually film) and additional foil thermal film , which is used to seal the northern and western walls of the greenhouse and the western slope of the roof. The roof should be gable with a high ridge or in the shape of an arch so that the snow slides off.

Greenhouse thermos

This greenhouse is dug into the ground to a certain depth (from a few centimeters to 2.5 meters). This is done in order to achieve better thermal insulation and save on wall materials (the walls may be low or absent altogether).

Pros and cons of a homemade greenhouse

Advantages of compact greenhouses for an apartment, made by yourself:

• low price;
• ease of creation;
• mobility.

Flaws:

• To effectively use greenhouses, it is necessary to maintain optimal conditions in the apartment. It is necessary that the room is always warm and dry. Low temperatures and high humidity will lead to a lack of seedlings and poor crop growth. Consequently, the user will not be able to get a rich harvest;
• the need to organize an additional lighting source. This will lead to higher energy costs;
• can only be used in an apartment. Cannot be placed on a loggia or balcony, otherwise the plants will die;
• external unattractiveness. This especially applies to plastic bottles. Because of this, the entire design of the room is spoiled. The exception is the display greenhouse.

Compact greenhouse for an apartment

Preparatory work

Before building a greenhouse, you should decide on its type.

If we are talking about a mini-greenhouse, then a special place for it is not required: it will stand on the veranda or balcony and will be mobile.

For other types of greenhouses, you need to select and clear a place . It is best if it is a rectangular area oriented along the north-south axis. Its dimensions may be smaller than the size of a greenhouse for cucumbers or tomatoes. The width should not exceed five meters, the length can be ten meters. If you are going to grow greens just for yourself , a size of 2.5x5 meters .

Then decide on your materials and sketch out your final design.

After this, you can begin building the foundation . With such dimensions, a columnar foundation is sufficient. Using a shovel or drill, holes are dug into which wooden posts are buried.

To prevent them from rotting, they need to be treated with an antiseptic and/or painted. You can also char the part that will be buried on a fire. As an option, concrete the pillars or use a casing pipe made of plastic or the same concrete.

You also need to prepare
materials for the frame. The wood is cleared of nails or screws and treated with an antiseptic; iron can be painted, etc.
Film, polycarbonate or glass is marked and cut into pieces in accordance with the dimensions specified in the drawing. The film is cut with a knife, scissors or blade, polycarbonate is cut with a saw, grinder or tin shears, and glass is cut with a glass cutter.

For large greenhouses, you can use a strip foundation or concrete, wood or cinder block.

Advice from professionals

When organizing a home greenhouse, it is recommended to listen to the advice of professionals:

1. The windows should be decorated with blinds or small curtains that are fixed directly to the frame. This will help control sunlight, which can cause burns on plants, especially on young shoots.
2. Instead of soil for crops, you can use hydro- and aeroponics. These nutrient mixtures saturate plants with substances necessary for normal growth and fruit formation. As a result, the gardener reaps a rich harvest even at home.
3. A window for ventilation and irrigation is placed on top of the structure. This ensures a uniform air outlet and a fresh, clean flow inside. If the door is made at the bottom, then cold air will enter the structure, which will negatively affect the health of young shoots.

Video - How to make a mini-greenhouse at home

A mini-greenhouse for an apartment is a small greenhouse that will allow you to enjoy fresh vegetables, berries, and herbs all year round. You can make it yourself, or you can purchase a ready-made version. It all depends on the desire of the user and the size of the budget.

Photo

You can visually highlight the main elements in building a greenhouse for greenery with your own hands in the photo below:

Growing and forcing green onions

The popularity of growing green onions is due to the unpretentiousness of the crop. It will soon grow even on its own, and even more so with the use of all kinds of modern technologies. In the warm season there is no shortage of it, but in the cold season the demand remains just as high, which affects the cost.

Growing green onions is easier to turn into a profitable business, but you will have to take into account all the subtleties and pitfalls. If you grow onions in large quantities, it is better to aim for year-round operation. In summer it can be planted in the field, but for the winter period it will be necessary to organize greenhouses. In some cases, it is more profitable not to build, but to rent sites from farms. For growing onions, it is better to choose a plot with an area of ​​20 acres or more. In the spring, when the frosts have passed, onions are planted with seeds.

It is important to note that onion seeds “for the head” and for greens are different. Among foreign suppliers, preference is often given to Japanese and Dutch crops. It is more profitable to purchase planting material from the manufacturer or purchase it in bulk. Thus, seeds can cost from 2 to 5 rubles per kg.

Green onions

Bulbs are usually planted for the winter. This shortens the growing season, and the finished product has good taste.

Those who intend to build a greenhouse should pay attention to modern materials. Instead of traditional glass, it is better to use polycarbonate, as it is cheaper and retains heat better.

The climatic conditions of the region make significant adjustments to productivity. To minimize losses, you will have to use chemical protection products, fertilizers and chemicals. This helps increase yield and create a presentable appearance.

Own production of green onions requires the presence of storage for the goods. For 100 sq. m of soil will have to organize a storage area of ​​up to 30 square meters. m. Large productions hire industrial premises. If you allocate an area of ​​up to 600 square meters for cultivation in winter. m, then you will need the equipment of instantaneous water heaters for thermal watering, as well as lifts and furnaces for heating.

For greater efficiency, they often use purchased humus with fertilizers and fertilizing included. Lighting can be provided using fluorescent lamps as well as ultraviolet light lamps. Only if all these conditions are present can high quality green onions be grown all year round.

Usable area of ​​80 sq. m gives about 400 kg of feathers. The cost can range from 10 to 60 rubles. Onions take up to 21 days to grow. The process can be doubled if you use aeroponics technology. However, the cost will cost up to 4 thousand rubles per sq. m. m, and will pay off in several years. Aeroponic systems are recommended for use in large production areas.

In summary, when conceiving a green onion business, it is important to share the scale of production. If you have a small plot of land, use polycarbonate to build a greenhouse, and for a large enterprise, rent industrial facilities.

Build a greenhouse for growing greens all year round with your own hands

1. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, start construction with a foundation , which can be columnar or strip and consist of different materials, depending on the capabilities.
2. Then you need to move on to assembling the frame . With a columnar foundation, the pillars themselves are part of the frame to which other elements are attached. If the foundation is strip, vertical supports are installed in specially provided holes and filled with concrete.
3. Since the greenhouse is a winter one, you can make a small base up to half a meter high, and if the foundation is columnar, then the base can be replaced with formwork made of boards nailed on both sides of the pillars to create a double wall.
   The space between these layers can be filled, for example, with mineral wool. Such protection will not only serve as thermal insulation, but will also protect the film greenhouse in winter from breaking through with snow and ice.

4. 
   When the concrete has hardened, you can move on to the next stage of assembly.
   The elements can be fastened with nails, but since a year-round greenhouse requires increased strength, it is better to fasten them with bolts and nuts through pre-drilled holes. Be sure to provide a gable or arched roof from which snow will slide off, and two doors at the ends.

   A small greenhouse does not need windows , but if the width reaches 5 meters and the length is 15-20 meters, you need to provide one or more windows.

5. There must be in the roof for the pipe (a square of boards with a hole in the center the size of the pipe). If there will be several ovens, prepare several such places.
6. When the frame is ready, you need to think about heating and lighting . For lighting you need electricity (an extension cord is enough), and hooks on the ceiling for lamps. For heating, you can use potbelly stoves or any other stoves.
7. Covering material requires two layers. The film is nailed to the frame from above and from the inside through shingles (long laths), the polycarbonate is screwed using large washers. Then the northern and western sides can be additionally sheathed from the inside with foil film, which will reflect the sun's rays into the greenhouse and provide better thermal insulation.
8. Lastly, the vertical chimney is installed.

After this, the greenhouse is ready for use.

Those who have chosen film as a covering material should know that there is a special frost-resistant film that is ideal for year-round greenhouses.

Greens in a greenhouse: generating income

What kind of income can you get from grown greens?

For example, the quantitative yield of green onions can reach up to 1.5 kg per square meter, and up to 3.5 kg per season. There are varieties that give yields of up to 4 kilograms. So:

• The maturity period is approximately 30 days. It all depends on the type and quality of the product.
• The average annual retail price of the product is 87 cents per 130-150 grams. For a kilogram of retail you can get 7.5 dollars per square meter.

Note. At the same time, it should be appreciated that in our case it is possible to use racking systems that will use the space even more efficiently.

Costs are difficult to determine, since greenhouses for greenery are consumed differently in different seasons. But we can say for sure that from one planting you can harvest 4 crops at once. Especially if grown in the Kremlin greenhouses.

How greenery in a greenhouse grows along with your profits

Business plan for growing greens

To be able to calculate everything, let’s take as an example a greenhouse with an area of ​​100 square meters. This is a small structure, 5 meters by 20 meters. It is best to additionally organize the shelving system in two tiers. Then:

• You can plant greenery on all 200 square meters and earn $1,500 (200 m2 x $7.5).
• Next, we calculate expenses, which are approximately 50%, plus unforeseen expenses. At the finish line, the net profit per month will be approximately $700, this is with an established sales market.
• Above we talked about retail sales, if we take into account wholesale trade, then we subtract another 50% and calculate the net profit, which is approximately $500 per month.

Advice. Considering that the business plan includes practical tasks, you can conduct an experiment. You can try to do the same thing, only on one square meter. Then it will be possible to accurately judge income.

Features of a business idea

By greens we mean several types of cultivated plants that are grown in any summer cottage and without which the creation of culinary masterpieces is rarely complete. These are parsley, onions, dill, lettuce, spinach and other crops. These plants, or rather their green part, have always been in demand in the food market and find their consumers all year round. Even in the summer, when the majority grows them in the country, there are people who do not like to delve into greenhouses and beds and purchase such products in the store. And in winter, greens are sold for quite a lot of money, and the demand for it does not subside.

Greens are always in great demand

Greens are a product rich in various nutrients and beneficial substances, the contents of which are known not only to you, but also to your customers. And they will strive to constantly acquire greens. Question - do you have it? Competition in this business niche is very high, and your competitors are not only grandmothers near the markets selling products from their gardens, but also real “bigwigs” of green business.

Profitable business - growing greens for sale

The greens growing business can go two ways.

1. Growing greens “for yourself” and selling the surplus. In this case, especially if you have a personal plot, starting a business is not difficult, since the investment will be minimal. But this option will not bring big profits - it is pointless to hope for an immediate good income.
2. Organization of a real farm where greens will be grown only for sale. This option will require immediate and quite large investments, since it implies year-round cultivation of the product.

You can organize a real farm for growing greens for sale

On a note! Most greens are very unpretentious to growing conditions, are not afraid of cool weather, do not require super-expensive fertilizing, and grow quickly. But you need to have time to sell it before it loses its marketable appearance. For this, in addition to the greenhouse, special storage facilities may be needed.

Preparing beds for growing green onions

Agricultural business involves obtaining permits for this area of ​​activity. If you decide to start a business with the first option and move towards implementing the second, you can do without them. But in this case, selling goods through stores will not work - you can sell it either yourself on a spontaneous market or to resellers.

Beds with lettuce in a greenhouse

But if you open an individual entrepreneur, you will become an entrepreneur who will be able to independently manage his goods and enter into contracts for the supply of products.

Individual entrepreneur registration scheme

On a note! Agricultural entrepreneurs will not have to pay taxes on general terms. There is a Unified Agricultural Tax for them. This is a single tax designed for those who carry out activities of this kind. His rate is only 6% of net profit.

Advantages of Unified Agricultural Tax

Greenhouse business: market overview and expert advice

Organizing a greenhouse business begins with deciding:

• what to grow
• where to sell
• what type of building to do

Greens in the greenhouse

This area of ​​business is constantly changing, new technologies are appearing, equipment is becoming more expensive, so it is important to constantly monitor current processes and draw up a detailed business plan before starting work.

Having assessed the general situation in the region in the greenhouse business, it is important to determine for yourself whether this will be a seasonal or permanent type of business. For seasonal use, the use of ordinary farm equipment is suitable; for year-round use, you will need to equip industrial ones with heating and lighting.

Even before starting work, it is important to think through sales routes and establish relationships with wholesalers if you do not intend to sell the products yourself on the market.

If you are building a year-round greenhouse, you will have to obtain design documentation for it, including external networks. The document specifies the specifications for all equipment. This way you can know exactly how much the equipment will cost.

It is necessary to indicate where the greenhouse is located, what area it occupies and what exactly will grow there. You will also have to indicate the method of cultivation, whether hydroponics or aeroponics. You should also know approximately the amount of harvest obtained per square meter per year and the expected buyers.

When thinking through the purpose of a business project, it is important to take into account the demand in nearby settlements. The ability to sell products in nearby cities significantly reduces transportation costs.

According to experts’ recommendations, you will also have to calculate the cost of starting a greenhouse business at the beginning. The overall result should include all expenses: from the purchase of equipment and seeds to production costs. They inevitably happen, since all the nuances cannot be foreseen, which means, as experts say, we must calculate possible expenses before the first income.

Entrepreneurs who have organized a greenhouse business recommend assessing the technical side of production before starting work. To do this, it is important to consider the degree of remoteness of communications from the intended construction site of the greenhouse. All pipes will have to be laid at your own expense, so it is better to include the cost in the estimate.

It is necessary to choose a place for the greenhouse where it will be easy to organize access roads. Experts recommend renting or buying if there is a shortage of land, although in this case it may be more profitable to purchase prefabricated greenhouses, with which you can move to any place if necessary.

When organizing heating, you should pay attention to the latest technology, since it can be effective, but in this case you will have to get rid of the old one. Experts also recommend setting aside a certain amount for the introduction of new technologies that may appear after production is launched. This measure will allow competition until the greenhouse begins to pay for itself.

The benefits of greenery

The benefits of fresh greens are undeniable. Thanks to it, the body is cleansed, weight is reduced, and the condition of hair, skin and nails improves. Green vegetables and herbs contain large amounts of fiber. At the same time, you should not eat only salads, as this leads to disruption of the intestinal microflora. It is recommended to combine greens with fatty foods, so nutritionists advise seasoning salads with vegetable oils.

Not only the vitamins contained in greens have a positive effect on the human body. Greens also contain fiber, or dietary fiber, which is an important element of a healthy diet. The positive properties of fiber include the absorption of bile acids, organic substances, fat and water, acceleration of intestinal evacuation function and reduction of cholesterol levels. (Recommendations from Elena Vlasenko, author of the book “Greens for salads. Secrets of a miracle harvest.”)