Content
- How to build a Plexiglas greenhouse yourself
- Plants love plexiglass greenhouses
- Thermal transmittance - measure of all things in greenhouse construction
- Greenhouse with Plexiglas, stable and heat-insulating
- Tips
Plexiglas is a cheap and robust alternative to glass
How to build a Plexiglas greenhouse yourself
If you plan your new greenhouse, most hobby gardeners think of the traditional material of glass. Building a Plexiglas greenhouse yourself, however, would be a thoroughly worth considering alternative. The plastic convinces with excellent heat values and a number of other advantages.
First of all: The often encountered prejudices that glass would be just glass and far superior to a "plastic house", not least because of the aesthetics, are a bit premature. The best example is the commercial nursery, in which Plexiglas, especially in vegetable growing, has been the undisputed favorite among roofing materials for decades. Why this is so in this way, we would like to introduce our readers to some interesting facts.
Plants love plexiglass greenhouses
The quality of light, which can be analyzed very reliably today with laboratory test equipment, is almost completely identical to that of natural light, and Plexiglas is the only material with it complete UV transmission, This alone causes the plants already a better education of their characteristic flavorings and dyes, ensures optimal flowering and reduces the need for fertilizers in the form of nitrates, which is particularly for growing vegetables of great advantage. And then there is the UG value:
Thermal transmittance - measure of all things in greenhouse construction
Do you remember our overview of the technical parameters of certain materials relevant to greenhouse construction? Otherwise compare the UG value (of 2.5) if you are building a Plexiglas greenhouse yourself with our published material overview. Moreover, due to its high quality and proven resistance to aging, plastic glass is also in great demand in the automotive and aerospace industries. Manufacturers of prefabricated greenhouses give their products therefore also up to 30 years warranty, for example against yellowing.
Greenhouse with Plexiglas, stable and heat-insulating
If you build a Plexiglas greenhouse yourself, you do not have to worry too much about hail resistance. Although hailstones the size of a ping-pong ball will not be damaged by local damage, a glass house and its cultivated crops would be totally destroyed in such cases. Similar the balance sheet looks positively on energy costs for a heating of Plexiglas greenhouses. Calculations have shown that the energy balance of 16 mm thick double-skin sheets compared to the single-glazed greenhouse is a whopping 40 percent cheaper. Not to mention the benefits to the environment in terms of sustainability.
Thus, on the positive side of a perspex roofing for greenhouses:
Tips
If your greenhouse is made of Plexiglas itself, you should choose the best when buying the panels with a special coating that counteract the formation of dripping water in the interior and significantly improve the climatic conditions for the plants.