If your goal is to extend your growing season, either in lingering cold days of spring or the quickly approaching cold days in autumn, providing a covering for your garden space is the way to go. However, much like everything else in farming, there’s more than one way to do pretty much everything.
In this instance, you need to figure out whether you need a greenhouse or a high tunnel.
High tunnels are often mistaken for greenhouses but they do have some important differences. While comparable to traditional greenhouses, high tunnels are usually lighter, more movable, more flexible and more versatile. For growers, that can yield some important benefits in creating an environment ideal for vegetables, leafy greens and other crops.
High tunnels are named appropriately, as they are typically much taller than greenhouses – so much so that users can sometimes bring larger farm equipment directly inside. They usually only have a single layer of covering, and growers can easily remove that covering and give their crops exposure to the outdoors. This is especially helpful when crops are planted directly into the soil, rather than in raised beds, like in a greenhouse.
Other benefits of high tunnels are that they’re much less expensive than greenhouses, they can offer more growing space and they can be physically relocated season to season. Ventilation is much easier to achieve with these structures. Of course, they’re also not as sturdy as greenhouses and their covers will need to be replaced every few seasons.
Greenhouses provide a growing space designed for year-round use, with much better protection than that from a high tunnel. Built properly, they can be utilized year-round to grow a variety of crops.
Some benefits of using a greenhouse include a sturdier growing environment and better protection from pests and diseases. Maintaining heat levels is easier with these structures, which can help with more temperature-sensitive plants.
Because they are more permanent structures, though, a lot more goes into erecting greenhouses. You need solid site preparation, they must be professionally installed, replacing panels can be difficult if they become damaged and they definitely involve a larger financial commitment.
By figuring out what your growing (and budgetary) goals are, you can determine which season extender is best for you.
by Courtney Llewellyn
