Greenhouse maintenance
Over time, greenhouses can become dirty and harbor pests. Once or twice a year you should give yours a deep clean to maximize light and get rid of potential problems, including pests like spider mites and snails that can easily hide. Cleaning also gives you the opportunity to reorganize and get ready for a productive growing season.
How to clean your greenhouse
Cleaning your greenhouse can be very simple, but it is time-consuming. Adjust the time you set aside according to your greenhouse’s size. In general, it’s best to reserve a full day to ensure you have enough time to clean it thoroughly.
All you need to clean your greenhouse is a scrub brush, soapy water and a hose or rinse bucket. You can also use glass or other specialized cleaners, depending on how your greenhouse is made.
Move your plants
You will need to move your plants so you can clean the entirety of your greenhouse. It’s best to move your plants to a different greenhouse or, if the weather is good, outside.
If you do not have another greenhouse and cannot move the plants outside, shift them all to one side of your greenhouse. Then, clean what you can access before shifting the plants and cleaning the other side. While it may be tedious, it keeps the plants in a temperature-controlled area.
Regardless of where you move your plants, if you want to put them back the same way they were, take a picture. That way you will remember where everything was and it will be faster to organize everything.
Getting started
To make sure you get into all the creases, it is best to clean in a certain direction. It is most common to clean either from top to bottom or bottom to top. That way, you can easily keep track of your progress and get into all the creases.
When cleaning your greenhouse, make sure you clean it entirely. It may be tempting to clean only the glass, but every nook of your greenhouse needs to be cleaned to remove pests. For example, if your greenhouse uses brick for a base, spider mites can easily hide out there.
Rinse your greenhouse
Once you have washed all surfaces with soapy water, rinse it off. This is most often done with a garden hose on low pressure. This can be done with a pressure washer, but be careful to keep the force low.
If you do not have a hose that reaches all areas of your greenhouse, you can use a sponge and non-soapy water. While doing this by hand is time consuming, it is necessary to keep residue off your greenhouse. Carefully rinsing also gives you another chance to clean all the small nooks.
Clean your supplies
Once you have rinsed your greenhouse, you usually need to wait for it to dry. While you wait, this time is best spent cleaning your other supplies.
Since everything should be out of the greenhouse or moved, get rid of items that aren’t good anymore. You can also take inventory and decide what supplies you need. Clean the pieces you decide to keep.
It is important to clean any pots that may contain diseases or pests. Likewise, you should already have the supplies you need.
After your greenhouse is sufficiently dry and your supplies are clean, you can move things back into the greenhouse.
Can you pressure wash a greenhouse?
Yes, you can pressure wash a greenhouse. A pressure washer is great for cleaning the floor and other structures.
It is best to wash the windows and fragile items by hand. While some people wash their entire greenhouse with a pressure washer, it is risky — if the pressure is too high, it can potentially break the glass or damage the structure.
When in doubt, lean towards washing by hand. Cleaning by hand is gentler and allows you to pay more attention to small areas where pests hide.
How often should you clean a greenhouse?
You should clean your greenhouse once or twice a year. Twice a year is ideal, but once a year is good enough.
If you forget to wash your greenhouse after a long time, problems like pests and diseases may appear. You can always wash your greenhouse more often, especially if you are doing it by hand.
When should you wash a greenhouse?
Fall or spring is the best for cleaning your greenhouse. This is because the greenhouse is usually very full and busy during the summer and winter months. However, adjust your cleaning schedule according to what you are growing.
Regardless of the season you choose, wash your greenhouse on a sunny day — this will allow the greenhouse to dry out faster.
Jackalyn Beck is a writer for BestReviews. BestReviews is a product review company with a singular mission: to help simplify your purchasing decisions and save you time and money.
BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
