Home Removal Services Blog

As summer closes and fall settles in, you may notice insect pests are settling in your greenhouse, too. Vegetation in your greenhouse provides an appetizing alternative to the outside garden. Aphids are a common greenhouse problem, and not the easiest to combat.

The first step in dealing with aphids in your garden greenhouse is to make sure you carefully monitor plants you choose to transplant into your greenhouse. Plants selected for your greenhouse should be healthy and vigorous. In addition, you should spray them down with your garden hose to knock off any hitchhikers. If the plant has an obvious insect infestation, do not bring it into your greenhouse without more drastic measures. You can spray it with an insect control spray, or enclose it with a plastic bag in which you place an insecticide strip for two or three days. After taking your plants out of the treatment bag, hose them down before transplanting them to your greenhouse.

Sometimes aphids can become established no matter how careful you are in your preparations and preventative tactics. In this case, there are several alternative paths you can take. If you are a purist and do not want to use insecticides in our greenhouse environment, you have a couple options. Hosing down infected plants with a powerful stream from your garden hose can be effective for a while. If you plan on closing down your greenhouse soon, this may be the best option. Some hobby greenhouse gardeners choose to shut their greenhouse down for anywhere from 2-4 months in the winter allowing Mother Nature to take over and freeze out insect pests. If you want a little more aggressive natural control, diatomaceous earth is effective. You can sprinkle this powder on and under leaves of effected plants. If you catch the problem early and have isolated insects in one part of your greenhouse, this can be an effective control.

Another way to control your aphid problem is to use a fast acting insecticide that is safe for using on vegetable gardens. There are several varieties out there that are “garden safe.” Check your local garden center or hardware store for alternatives. Most of these involve an organic insecticidal soap that takes care of aphids, or at least significantly reduces their number. You can also make your own version of this by mixing a tablespoon of liquid dish detergent with water in a quart sprayer. The soap coats the aphids and reduces their numbers. You have to spray every day for best results, paying particular attention to the underside of leaves of infected plants.

Another alternative to aphid control are biological controls, such as lacewings, ladybugs and midges. Several companies provide these predators for your greenhouses. If using this approach, be sure to limit your use of insecticidal spray, as it will kill off your predator population, as well as your pests.

Using a combination of the above controls, you can keep your greenhouse healthy and productive throughout the fall and winter greenhouse growing seasons.

Betsy Woodworth writes about gardening advice and also about how to build a greenhouse.

Have you ever watched those shows about renovating yards and thought that you wish you could do that? Thats where I was last year with the poor me syndrome. Then one day I woke up and decided to put my budget together and see what I could do. I am so glad I did because I have come a long way since that first day!

In the beginning it was important to me to access what I had at my disposal. I first looked at what skills I had then looked at the kills and knowledge base of my friends and family. Once that was done it was apparent that I had unbelievable knowledge and skills that I could count on for my yard project.

The next step was to prioritize with my wife the things we both really wanted to do to the backyard like putting in some raised beds and a garden. We also wanted to add some features in the yard like a water feature of some kind and storage options. My wife has dreamed of having a greenhouse as well in order to grow food year round so we also placed that on the list.

Once the list was completed I have to admit it seemed daunting. Just looking at the work involved made mw wonder if I had bit off more than I could chew. It was time to call in the Calvary and get a couple of opinions from knowledgeable friends. Both suggested I start by working with what was already there, which was the fence and deck so I did that first. I moved the fence and repaired the deck.

Dealing with the fence and deck was a job but it was well worth it. I did some research and found out that once you have these items you have to take care of them by sealing them for your weather conditions, which we did. My wife found some great wooden post caps to finish off the look and protect the posts as well and it still looks fantastic!

As things have progressed since then we have made great progress. We purchase what we want in kit form and move on from there. Doing it this way has worked out great. We arent finished and just chip away at it as we can. Even though its not complete its far better than it was this time last year.

Using kits was a great idea for us. Weve been able to buy as we go and they are really easy to put together. Weve used them for our shed, several raised beds for vegetables and flowers and for our Rion Greenhouse. We are just weeks from being finished with a sitting area that includes a garden arbor in one of the garden spaces we created and after that its just filling in with trellises, planters and other garden dcor items and we will be done! I know I need to take time to enjoy it all but I have been overtaken by the DIY movement. Im thinking a new addition; so is my wife but we are not talking about the same thing!