November Greenhouses

Hobby gardeners have many activities that are completed during different times of the month. For the new hobby gardener the seasons can sometimes seem confusing and you might not know what activities or tasks you should be starting with and when. Over the next couple of weeks I would like to tell you more about some of the things I do in my Europa Manor over the course of the year.

The great thing about gardening in the greenhouse is that you can grow whatever you like, when you like, and you can change the seasons in the greenhouse to meet your own growing zone needs In November I still need to vent my greenhouse on some of the hottest days. During the ends days of November I need to keep my vents closed and start turning on my heat system for the long colder nights. I know when to turn my heat on because I am always watching the temperature in the greenhouse and I write down what the high and low temperatures are about four times a week. During the month of November I start insulating my greenhouse by fixing any air leaks around the panels by adding a little caulking and I also add bubble wrap around the bottom perimeter of the greenhouse about three or four feet high to ward off some of the coldness from winter winds. I am also bringing in the last of my outdoor plants and flowers around the first of November. Transplanting them into larger pots if needed and splitting any plants up that are getting to be too big for their pots.

I keep checking all of my plants before watering them because some, like my fruit trees that I keep in the greenhouse, are just starting to go dormant for the winter and do no require a lot of watering. If you have some Christmas cacti this is a good time to start watering them so they will start to prepare for flowering in time for Christmas. If you are growing Poinsettias in your greenhouse you might want to start un-bagging them early November if you haven’t already. They will be ready for sunlight and watering again.

I also start planting some of my spring bulbs during November just so I can have some great smelling flowers among my vegetables during the winter months in the greenhouse. Don’t forget if you are going to be using bulbs in your greenhouse you can keep them in the fridge for a few weeks before using them so that they will be forced to go dormant and then when you bring them into the greenhouse for planting they will grow nicely.