The busy days of the spring season are behind us. With lots of sales in May and June, it’s always an intensive period. We delivered many plants and there was less of a focus on growing and maintenance activities. For a short while, the greenhouse was 50% empty, but we’ve already started potting and spreading again.
The sections are getting greener with young bromeliad plants, which will be sold after Christmas. We’ve also got time now for the installation and partial replacement of our energy screen. We received a quote from a fitter, but the payback time exceeded the lifetime of the screen, so we decided to install it ourselves.
Temperatures were higher than average in Ontario this spring, reaching extremes of over 35 °C, which felt like 42 °C. According to the weather report, there were 9 days over 25 °C and 4 days over 30 °C in May. In June, this was 11 and 4 days respectively. On days like that, any measure to reduce the temperature is welcome. In our greenhouse, we’ve got Harmony shade cloth and a fog installation to cool it in summer.
We also chalked our greenhouse in June. Keeping the sun out means less irradiation, lower temperatures and a better growing climate in the greenhouse. We got the pump unit and buckets of chalk ready early in the morning and climbed up all the way to the gutter to spray it on. The height (4.2 metres) always takes a bit of getting used to. But with a view across the surrounding fields and forests, it definitely is something to enjoy.
Creating a good growing climate is always hard when you’re dealing with high temperatures. In Florida for example, we noticed people had installed the Harmony shading cloth on the outside of the greenhouse. That keeps the heat out even better. But it does mean you’ll have to replace the cloth every 5 to 6 years. This particular greenhouse didn’t have any vents, but a cooling system. Ontario doesn’t normally get more than 3 to 6 weeks of hot weather per year, but you can find them here too.
Creating a good greenhouse climate continues to be a topic that requires attention all day long. Especially when, during late afternoon, the high humidity level causes clouds to accumulate above us, we keep looking up to see if it’s going to turn into a thunderstorm.
In changing weather conditions, it’s important to close your greenhouse vents on time, to prevent damage. A neighbouring village was hit by a tornado on the 18th of June, and all the venting windows of a greenhouse were blown off. They’re still waiting to have it repaired. To prevent things like that from happening, constant attention is needed.
On these hot days, we adjust our schedule and try to get most of the work done between 7 and 12 o’clock. After that, it’s straight into the pool to cool down.
Angelle van Kleef,
Grower of potted plants, Ontario, Canada
