With the winter beginning to show signs of slowing down, some people may be anxiously awaiting the advent of spring, the perfect season to start thinking about your portable greenhouse. However, before you start thinking about setting it up, there are some steps to take first. Here are some of them:

-          Clear the Snow – If you haven’t done so, make sure your roof and any canopies or portable garages you own have been cleared off. Any buildup of snow and/or ice can be devastating to the safety of these structures and could injure someone.

-          Scrub Down Your Greenhouse – Take a pressure washer or strong hose and really give your greenhouse a good spraying. This should remove a lot of muck and dirt that may have built up during the off months in your garage.

-          No Chemicals! – One facet of cleaning that shouldn’t enter your greenhouse is any kind of chemical cleaner, regardless of how easily it removes tough grime. Use an eco-friendly cleaner if it’s absolutely necessary. You don’t want to start your season growing in a chemically loaded environment.

-          Setting Up – When you are setting up your greenhouse, make sure the ground beneath is absolutely dry because you’ll need a strong foundation to support your portable greenhouse. Also, the location is crucial to the success of your greenhouse – if you’re going to be growing a lot of plants that do not react well to sunlight, keep your greenhouse in another location. Also make sure that there is enough room around the greenhouse to move freely.

-          Portable Shed – Think about installing a portable shed next to the greenhouse. This kind of storage space will definitely allow you to keep your greenhouse uncluttered and simple to move around.

The Mail Online has an entire article dedicated to a new art form – tiny bottled gardening. Using a whiskey bottle, some people have figured out how to grow ferns and other such plants:

“Growing a fern in a whisky bottle may seem pointless, but a contained indoor garden or terrarium can be fascinating to develop and look beautiful, too. The idea began with 19th-century medic and amateur botanist Nathaniel ward, who designed a tiny, portable greenhouse. These so-called wardian cases, which used to transport vulnerable plants, have long been popular for growing delicate creatures at home.”

The article describes how to make your own personal tiny greenhouse bottled gardens, which I think is a really cool idea for décor around your home, particularly in the winter when it’s difficult to grow a lot of plant life outdoors. It turns out that these bottled greenhouse terrariums are actually easy to care for. All you have to do is not feed them because they are not a long term way to garden.

“Bottle gardens are not longterm, so there’s no need to feed the occupants. If you plant up a midsized goldfish bowl today, growth will be sedate during winter and the arrangement should stay looking pretty until about April.”

While it is definitely a difficult task to garden throughout the winter, it can definitely be accomplished with some hard work and the right tools. One such tool is a portable greenhouse, which can be essential to the success and health of your plants. Portable greenhouses are simply built and set up anywhere on your property and provide the perfect space for your plants during any season, but can be extremely helpful during the winter.

Now while a lot of plants cannot grow in cold temperatures, there are some veggies that can withstand rough conditions, according to this article in The Enterprise:

But what about winter when the garden is bare? In most parts of the country root vegetables are still available throughout the winter. Think of hearty dishes of roasted potatoes, carrots and parsnips, or a warming soup of chicken and root veggies.

- Carrots
- Sweet potatoes
- Onions
- Garlic
- Beets
- Potatoes
- Squash
- Parsnips
- Turnips

Shelters of America, a leader in portable storage products, has a myriad of portable greenhouses available for you. Check out its site today!

When I say undeveloped areas, I don’t mean unfarmed sections of the earth, but the vast potential of growing crops and other plant life on other planets and moons. According to an article in Popular Science, the University of Arizona’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (in conjunction with private industry) is developing a lunar greenhouse that will show how hydroponic systems may one day be able to grow some crops on other planets. In true form, this lunar greenhouse is portable, simple to set up, but still incredibly advanced:

“The 18-foot, membrane-sheathed system collapses into a 4-foot wide disk for easy packing on an interplanetary mission. When extended, it is fitted with water-cooled lamps and seed packets prepped to sprout without soil. They hydroponic system needs little oversight, relying on automated systems and control algorithms to analyze data gathered by embedded sensors that optimize the controlled ecosystem. The whole system takes just ten minutes to set up and produces vegetables within a month.”

The initial design for this greenhouse came from the United States’ station at the South Pole in Antarctica, where the same type of greenhouse was being used to grow crops. This story shows the importance of portable, easy to set up greenhouses to everyone. Right now, you may be using one to grow fresh vegetables for tonight’s dinner, but in the future we may be setting these greenhouses on the Moon.

Put simply, a portable greenhouse is the perfect alternative to spending your fall and winter without any fresh vegetables and flowers. Shelters of America carries numerous different models of portable greenhouse kits, ranging in various sizes. The 9′Wx12′Lx7′H GreenThumb Greenhouse has these features included:

- A 10 year warranty on the sturdy aluminum framing and polycarbonate
- Double walled UV-stabilized 4mm polycarbonate panels – excellent heat rentention and hot spot reduction.
- Large width sliding doors for ease of movement
- Four adjustable roof vents for superior venting and air control
- Corrosion fighting gutters with Weathertight poly gasket seams joining panels to frame

One of the best features of a portable greenhouse is the ability to automate and regulate temperature. Obviously, these features aren’t built into the greenhouse, but are incredibly easy to set up for your own personal settings and plant types. For instance, you can purchase solar panel kits that are simple to set up and heat your greenhouse appropriately for whatever plants you choose to grow in the off-season.

You can even use your portable greenhouse as a way to cultivate and experiment with your gardening hobby. It is perfect for casual gardeners who want to cross-breed different flowers for competitions or just showing off to other gardening friends.

In the case of this carport incident in Dallas, a contractor in Love Field was dismantling some of the metal on the canopy portion and the wind blew the piece off the structure. The metal canopy then landed on some parked cars, resulting in damage and causing a power outage. Of course, the contractor is only part of the occasion in this instance. As we’ve seen in past posts, a carport simply doesn’t need to be anchored or sturdy enough, and wind or snow will cause the shelter to fall over or collapse.

Many carport or portable garage kits will specify on the package that the shelter, when installed properly, is designed to support a certain amount of snow on the roof and a certain amount of wind. Usually, this ends up being about 55 pounds of snow on the roof and winds up to 95 MPH. There’s one catch, however – the carport needs to be anchored and installed correctly.

For carports and portable garages ranging from this airport shelter in Dallas to a square tube shelter, installation often entails anchoring the shelter through concrete or metal anchors. When this isn’t done, the shelter simply can’t handle as much snow or wind. Additionally, check all joints the shelter has, to make sure they’re secure and won’t cause the shelter to collapse.

One affordable option to start growing any spring vegetables is with a portable greenhouse. These structures, made from a galvanized steel frame and enclosed polyethylene canopy, can be used all year, with or without a heat source. But, even if you don’t use these structures to tend your plants in the colder months, you can take your portable greenhouse out from storage to start growing your plants. This is particularly easier if you’re a gardener, but even farmers can use large greenhouses to start growing certain vegetables and fruits in colder weather without the threat of frost.

One issue concerning portable greenhouses is to heat or not to heat. This, of course, depends upon the plants you’re growing. If certain species call for a specific temperature, finding a way to heat them is necessary to their growth. If middling early spring temperatures are appropriate to start growing, then the portable greenhouse may not need to be heated. However, if you plan to use the greenhouse in winter months, the shelter must be heated, especially if you’re growing off-season plants. Additionally, lighting and watering may be other issues much like heating that need to be addressed with all plants in a greenhouse.

Portable greenhouses range in size from sheds to put in your backyard to high-tunnel options, which are generally used on farms. High Tunnel greenhouses are made from a rounded galvanized steel frame and a translucent polyethylene canopy on top. Having this additional protection for certain seasonal crops allows them to be grown for a few months longer. In the case of the linked article, the goal is to extend certain crop growing periods by four to five months by using such structures.

Portable greenhouses and other similar shelters aren’t unusual on farms. In fact, they can be found sheltering livestock and equipment for part of the year. Aside from use on a farm, one of these portable greenhouses can be used on an individual level to grow your own vegetables. In some cases, if you use potted plants, you can continue to grow some vegetables and fruits in the winter months but, much like the use for the high tunnel greenhouses, smaller models can extend the use of your garden into colder weather. Continue growing your own fruits and vegetables for a few months longer and, in the winter, heat one of the greenhouses to continue growing potted plants.

If you’re not able to install a glass and metal greenhouse in your backyard, don’t worry. Dealers like Shelters of America and Portable Garage Depot carry portable greenhouses that, using the same type of design plan as a fully-enclosed portable garage, can be installed on your property for a fraction of the cost. Each shelter consists of a galvanized steel frame and a semi-transparent heavy-duty polyethylene canopy that fits over the frame. Inside, you can grow and arrange your plants much like in an ordinary greenhouse. For ventilation, vents can be added and, in the winter, a portable heater can be kept inside to give your plants additional warmth.

Such greenhouses offer portability, as one can be loaded onto a truck and taken to a local fair or gardening show, the practicality of such a greenhouse includes the fact that you can tend to your plants in winter. Much like how boats or RVs are stored during the cold months, plants can be kept in such an outdoor greenhouse to continue to grow. Amateur gardeners who tend plants or vegetables around their home often become disappointed in the colder months, as the ground is too hard and too cold to sustain anything. With a greenhouse on your property, you can continue to grow such plants during the winter months.

If a standard glass and metal greenhouse is too much of a financial hurdle, a small size portable greenhouse costs significantly less, with a small shelter starting around $400 at Shelters of America or Portable Garage Depot. Use one of these around the year to grow plants or use it as storage for your ordinary outdoor plants in colder months. This way, you can continue gardening without the cold stopping or hampering your efforts.

What about adjusting temperature? One of the benefits of owning a greenhouse is that plants can be grown all year long. With glass greenhouses, the inside can be heated naturally and, to alleviate some of the heat, vents are added. This same design is added to many portable greenhouses. Two possible portable greenhouse designs include polycarbonate and polyethylene panels. When completely closed, these structures retain heat inside but, in warmer months, to cool off the plants, vents are added to the roofs. With the temperature outside, the vents can be adjusted to the plants’ needs.

As with all types of portable shelters, portable greenhouses come in a number of shapes and sizes. Rounded and peaked roofs are two designs used across all portable shelters, and these, too, are applied to greenhouses in large and small sizes. For your personal garden, smaller portable greenhouses can be put together. But, if you need an industrial-size greenhouse for growing vegetables or plants in the winter month, rounded roof industrial-size portable greenhouses can be installed to cover a large area of up to 20 feet by 26 feet.