Since a greenhouse is an expensive project, choosing the right one for your garden is essential.
This blog covers all you need to know about Victorian greenhouses. So, without further ado, let's get to the actual details.
Victorian Greenhouses
A greenhouse is an architectural marvel that traps the sun's heat, allowing more exotic kinds of plants and flowers to be produced indoors and extending the growing season of domestic species for harvest all year round.
Therefore, it should be no surprise that one of the finest technical civilizations in history is responsible for developing the typical English greenhouse. However, we are not discussing the Victorian era; we are bringing up the Roman period.
In or around 30AD, Romans built the first Greenhouse to cultivate vegetables for Emperor Tiberius. They made it out of a plastic-covered wagon comparable to a modern greenhouse's cold frame.
A little more than two thousand years later, Victorian Glasshouses extended this technique to the present day. They feature peaked and arched ceilings providing the most headroom and greenhouses with the biggest possible glass surface area to keep far more heat as the British sun could afford.
Now let's examine the identity left by the Victorian Greenhouse structure in greater detail.
What exactly is a Victorian Greenhouse?
Traditional Victorian Glasshouses are one of the greatest greenhouse-growing structures emblematic of the English Greenhouse style.
Due to the high glass cost, Victorian Greenhouses were mostly utilized as status symbols by the affluent of the time. Therefore, the extravagant and eye-catching frameworks were the center of attention in any Victorian garden.
The typical characteristics of a Victorian-style greenhouse include a high peaked roof for added headroom, wide glass parts (typically to ground level, though a partial brick wall is also conceivable), and a gable end door leading to the porch entry.
The Victorians truly perfected English garden design, and like the Romans, their mechanical brilliance left us with architectures that were difficult to match even one hundred years later. As a result, many home growers now use large and tiny Victorian greenhouses as a haven and a place to unwind, not just for growing exotic plants.
What are Traditional Victorian Greenhouses?
Traditional Victorian greenhouses often have steeper roofs that are 45 degrees and are higher than contemporary versions. This added height helps to manage and sustain more elevated temperatures, safeguarding your crops from extremely low or abrupt temperature reductions. For plants like the banana plant, this is great. Furthermore, your increased height enables you to produce more crops.
Early greenhouses and conservatories included masonry construction, a strong roof, and a stone or packed-earth floor to withstand dampness and plant clippings. Some of these structures resembled conventional rooms with an excessive number of windows. A glass lean-to with a brick wall to the north was a typical design in the 1700s.
The advent of cast iron at the turn of the 19th century allowed building stronger buildings with more sash. However, individual panes remained tiny and thin because the government taxed the glass in England by weight up until 1845.
People easily tolerated Victorian-style excesses because of the time's industrial prowess. They incorporated gothic, Moorish, and even Anglo-Japanese elements into conservatories. As a result, the buildings frequently symbolized what one source described as a conflict between horticulture and architecture.
Smaller-scale early gardeners heated their sash pits with vegetable or animal waste to protect their crops. The Dutch were among the first to employ charcoal braziers to heat bigger greenhouses. Open floors or walls that allowed hot air or smoke to flow from a brick fireplace on one end of the structure to a chimney on the other were typical in the 1700s in both the home country and America.
How do Victorian Greenhouses stay warm and heated?
People heated glasshouses with basic stoves that burned coal or Coke in the original Victorian greenhouses. However, cast iron boilers with pressurized systems started to appear in the middle of the 19th century. The use of coal as a heating fuel surged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leading to the development of several coal-fired power plants.
By the turn of the century, coal had replaced other fuels as the main way to generate electricity in North America and Europe. And in the 1970s, natural gas took the role of coal as the country's main energy source.
In today's period, a small glasshouse with lower temperature requirements only needs a fan heater. However, the need for a more complicated system arises if the size or temperature requirements are higher.
Experts advise employing a convection heating system, which operates similarly to a radiator heating system in a house. With this method, the glasshouse is surrounded by a mild convection current, friendlier to the plants than pumping hot air at them, which can dry up the leaves and spread disease. Electricity and hot water systems are both options for supplying heat.
During winter, greenhouse growers may need more alongside their heater to keep the greenhouse warm. By layering old carpet or curtains over the outside, any heat they begin to expel will be insulated. Alternatively, they can use the heater in an isolated area or LED grow lights to target specific plants that require additional heating support.
Small Victorian Greenhouses
Small Victorian greenhouses are an excellent choice if you don't have a lot of outside space but need extra space to house your plants. In addition, they are highly efficient in protecting plants from the weather throughout the year.
Although there isn't a set definition for a small greenhouse, in theory, it should only occupy a modest amount of floor space, making it the perfect Greenhouse for gardens with limited space.
Whatever the weather, gardeners may cultivate their plants and veggies all year long by using little Victorian greenhouses.
To ensure that you make the most of the space available, let's explore some small Victorian Greenhouse ideas and how to select the finest Greenhouse for small garden areas.
The Benefits of Buying a Small Victorian Greenhouse
Tiny greenhouses are not merely useful for small gardens or as a cost-cutting strategy. There are many more factors home growers consider when choosing a small greenhouse. The top reasons to purchase a tiny greenhouse are listed below.
1. Grow a variety of plants throughout the year.
If you're unsure what to grow in a tiny greenhouse, there is a huge list of options. However, all plants and vegetables will prosper in a little Greenhouse area.
A full growth schedule is one of the perks of using small greenhouses. If you can regulate the temperature in your Greenhouse effectively enough, you might even be able to grow your favorite vegetables and fruits when they are not in season.
2. Keep your plants safe.
A greenhouse of any size is preferable to none. A greenhouse will protect your plants if you store your most delicate pots and planters in a greenhouse during the dead of winter.
A greenhouse offers the necessary insulation even if the interior is not heated. In addition, the freeze-thaw action could help keep ceramic and terracotta pots from breaking in cold weather.
3. You will become independent.
Independence and self-sufficiency are key concepts in home gardening. To feel less reliant on others, you don't necessarily need to cultivate edible fruits and veggies in your small Greenhouse.
No matter the weather, having a place to work on your gardening may also improve mental health and provide a welcoming haven when you're tired of indoors.
4. It lets you control the environment.
As the interior of a tiny greenhouse can benefit from fresh air more immediately, ventilation in these structures is frequently as simple as opening a window.
You may utilize a lesser capacity unit and still effectively manage the atmosphere within your Greenhouse if you add heaters or coolers.
Why should you Buy a Victorian Greenhouse?
Victorian Greenhouses, also known as Glass Greenhouses, are elegant, attractive, and timeless structures. The transparency of the glass of these glass greenhouses, surrounded by their planted paradise, certainly gives the impression of being outside even while you're inside, making them the emblematic greenhouse for many people.
Many individuals will find this sufficient justification for picking glass as their greenhouse covering material instead of polycarbonate or polyethylene film.
The glass greenhouse is a great greenhouse investment since it increases the value of one's home and property over time. This fact is because the weight of the glass covering makes the glass greenhouse construction typically stronger than other greenhouses.
With Glass Greenhouses, you can choose single, double, or triple-paned glass to enhance insulation and airflow, reduce energy use, and better protect crops. Glass is far more inert than plastic. It has a 40- to 50-year failure-free lifespan. If regularly maintained, it retains its original transmission, is non-combustible, and is resistant to UV radiation and air pollution damage.
There are several advantages to buying a Victorian-style greenhouse. Here, we have curated a short list of the main reasons you should buy one.
1. The material lasts long.
For your garden, a sizable Victorian Greenhouse is a wise investment. These structures are long-lasting and produce a garden room that seems like a simple addition to the living area of your house.
2. It offers effective heat absorption.
The greenhouse's enormous glass surface area makes the sun's heat easy to enter but difficult to escape. This design enables you to increase your yields of greenhouse mainstays like tomatoes or produce more exotic plants like orchids.
3. The design delivers constant temperature.
Because of the Victorian glasshouse architecture, everything inside is not as heated as it could be. Instead, Victorian Greenhouses' interior design allows you to maintain a constant temperature simply by opening its windows and vents, with the hot air in the high-peaking roof.
4. It specializes in controlled humidity.
By placing your plants evenly around the Victorian Greenhouse's interior and utilizing windows, vents, and doors to control humidity, you can also guarantee that your potted plants and trays are draining properly.
Factors to Consider in Buying a Victorian Greenhouse
If you want a solarium, which is a sunroom that connects to your home where you can rest and grow a few plants, the choices are quite straightforward because the materials needed are ones that most builders recognize. For example, you might want skylights you can open because they might overheat depending on how much glass they have.
Buying or upgrading a Victorian Greenhouse to grow many plants raises many concerns. And we are here to help you learn several factors you should consider when purchasing a Victorian Greenhouse.
1. Ventilation
Heat and moisture must be allowed to move inside greenhouses. Vents can be as simple as opening windows or can be programmed to open and close automatically in response to wind, temperature, and rain.
2. Heat
Old greenhouses with hot water systems generate effective, uniform heating but aren't always easy to fix. Therefore, having passive radiant heating is a close contender.
3. Glass
Especially atop, tempered glass is typically substituted for ancient greenhouse glass by greenhouse restorers out of safety concerns. According to experts, the manufacturing process can cause tempered glass to appear wavy like old glass and have a fairground aspect. Still, whether the glass should be single- or double-glazed is a subject of debate among experts. It will depend on whether you want to produce tropical or temperate plants.
4. Supports
Cleansing and galvanizing can restore rusty cast-iron supports. You can occasionally locate the original blueprints for missing pieces and have the castings made. A more affordable option is an aluminum extrusion.
5. Shade
Glass may be colored or whitewashed all or part of the year in southern regions, depending on the structure's shape. Another option is to use shade cloth. Taller plants can also provide shade for smaller ones.
Custom Victorian Greenhouses
It is worth noting that it is always best to consult a professional in customizing your ideal greenhouse. Great engineering and design are essential for creating the ideal growth environment, and they must balance all structural components for the greatest outcomes. However, growers who construct without professional assistance might not be able to get the production results they seek.
Growers may be confident that their greenhouse area optimizes better quality crops and higher yields with the help of a custom greenhouse construction professional. However, growing indoors is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. The creation of a customized controlled environment agriculture (CEA) facility can assist increase efficiency while removing the element of uncertainty.
Setting up a Victorian greenhouse may be done in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, many growers try to create independently using their resources and human work. As a result, they wind up with a growing room that is vulnerable to the elements and full of inefficiencies. That might result in catastrophes, such as a collapsing greenhouse that obliterates crops and halts production.
In addition to the dependability of the structure, farmers may find the greenhouse design procedure burdensome without assistance. Most companies struggle to create a growing space that maximizes budget and efficiency on their own, from choosing structural materials to appropriately integrating equipment. However, growers may lessen some of these challenges and prevent output failures by investing in a customized Victorian Greenhouse.
A customized greenhouse eliminates the uncertainty for gardeners attempting to erect their facility with little assistance.
1. Ideal Production Systems
The quality of a greenhouse operation's produce will depend on how well they manage the other environmental factors.
For example, growers may precisely control their plants' water and nutrients by adopting specialized irrigation and fertigation systems. An automated system is essential since inefficient fertilization and water use can harm crops and raise operational expenses. Growers may significantly enhance plant conditions with an appropriate strategy that meets their crop's unique water and fertilizer needs.
Aside from greater yields and higher-quality crops, irrigation and fertigation arrangements also aid in cost management. A productive system uses less manual effort and wastes less water, lowering labor costs and decreasing water use. The application of fertilizer consistently also improves plant quality and development while minimizing nutrient waste.
In addition, custom irrigation and fertigation systems reduce running costs and mitigate the environmental effect, like runoff, even while commercial activities continue to develop. Finally, growers can collaborate with their designer to guarantee that their system fits precisely inside their brand-new or existing customized greenhouse.
A professional lighting arrangement will also have a favorable effect on greenhouse productivity. While the daytime sunlight benefits greenhouses, crops frequently require additional lighting to grow to their full potential.
A customized greenhouse allows producers total control over plant growth, photoperiod regulation, and utility needs with the appropriate supplementary lighting.
2. Optimize the Total Greenhouse Cost
A grower has to deal with a skilled and trustworthy designer or manufacturing business when they want to customize and buy a greenhouse for their operation.
Engineered custom Victorian Greenhouses enable home growers to get stamped drawings from a third party attesting to the structure's robustness and demonstrating what weather and climates it can resist.
Since greenhouses are frequently used in inclement weather, having one built by an engineer guarantees that it will adhere to all regional construction requirements and withstand significant snow and wind loads.
On the other side, a poorly constructed greenhouse will make it more difficult to have the building certified by local authorities and give producers unneeded trouble.
Custom greenhouses let growers equip their structures with cladding that fits their finances and crop needs. Different greenhouse cladding options have distinct features and cost ranges, so an operation may prevent overbuilding or squeezing its resources too thin. The three main types of greenhouse coverings are glass, polycarbonate, and greenhouse film.
The least expensive of these options, greenhouse film, enables producers to cover their greenhouse while minimizing costs efficiently. Because of the film's excellent light transmission and capacity to successfully eliminate sun damage, gardeners on a limited budget may supply their plants with abundant natural light and enough protection.
Although it is the least expensive of the three, it has the lowest R-value, with a single-layered rating of 0.83. Unfortunately, greenhouse film has a limited lifespan and is sometimes rippable and torn. Therefore, although being more accommodating to budgets, it requires replacement more frequently than polycarbonate or glass.
Glass and polycarbonate are similar in cost and quality. It earns a grade of 0.95 at 3mm thickness and 1.0 at 4mm, giving it a higher R-value than film but a lower R-value than polycarbonate. It costs more than film but is less costly than polycarbonate. Glass has the three best light transmissions, allowing sunlight to enter a greenhouse directly. The best choice for greenhouse cladding, according to experts, is 4mm thickness since it offers more durability and a higher R-value.
Polycarbonate is a good alternative for commercial growers seeking the best materials because it is a high-quality cladding. In addition, it has the highest R-value in 8mm twin-wall insulation, making it the most thermally efficient material. Compared to its rivals, it also provides the greatest strength, toughness, and a greater lifespan. While it doesn't transmit light nearly as well as film or glass, polycarbonate enables an abundance of natural light to penetrate the structure and offers the crops significant protection.
Growers might find a useful answer for their business in each cladding choice. Custom greenhouse owners may pick the greatest coverage for their unique demands while being flexible with their budget, lowering the overall cost of their greenhouse.
3. Implement Automation for Improved Efficiency
Automating a growing area is a core part of customization. Automated technologies in a bespoke greenhouse can give farmers the advantage they desire over market rivals and provide a profitable investment that saves long-term costs.
Automation also offers commercial growers complete control over their bespoke greenhouse and makes every piece of equipment they install more efficient. This component greatly lowers energy use and boosts productivity throughout the whole process.
The cultivation of greenhouse crops in environmentally and energy-efficient ways must be a top priority for greenhouse managers as power prices grow and environmental impact becomes a major issue. Growers have a powerful tool to address these issues with energy and efficiency in automated systems.
Operations may time and monitor every part of their growth, including the usage of HVAC equipment, lighting, water, and nutrients, by automating a specialized greenhouse. This strategy guarantees lower energy usage and reduces the need for heavy manual effort.
By enabling a single greenhouse manager to make several environmental modifications, automation also decreases the need for physical labor. A smart controller, which is now essential for greenhouse automation and ecological management, may be used to do this.
For example, you may connect all systems in your Victorian Greenhouse to smart controllers, which then integrate their operations into a single interface that allows for component-level monitoring. A clever controller will also ensure that no equipment is running needlessly, which is a typical mistake in industrial greenhouses and raises energy usage.
4. Improved Climate Control
Controlling the interior climate is where commercial growers concentrate most of their efforts since creating the ideal growth environment is an essential component of a greenhouse business.
The location of a bespoke greenhouse and the kind of plant being grown are the two main factors that influence the amount of temperature control needed. In addition, growers must think about how to fend against the elements and establish an environment that supports their plants to yield the finest potential yield.
Custom greenhouses let growers adjust their geographic location to their plants' needs and promote plant health. It might be challenging to acquire a greenhouse tailored to match a certain environment, such as an area with a lot of snowfall or high heat, using kits or self-built buildings. However, with a bespoke option, farmers may equip their facility with all the appropriately sized machinery to make sure they can economically grow all year long, wherever they are.
Climate control may require abundant equipment to support effective cooling, heating, and ventilation systems. Growers may ask their designer for advice when customizing to get the best equipment for their enterprise.
Production includes the ability to control the temperature, which is a perfect spot for operations to continue the customizing process. A producer and their designer may start considering ways to increase productivity through irrigation, fertigation, and lighting once they have determined the equipment required to sustain their crop variety.
Where can you get Victorian Style Greenhouses?
There are many used Victorian Greenhouses for sale in the market. However, suppose you wish to have all the good things this industry can offer, such as the Exaco Janssens Victorian Greenhouses; in that case, the best suppliers are available through Planet Greenhouse, one of the leading greenhouses and accessories retailers in the country. We ship Exaco Greenhouses and other brands to all 50 states in the US free of charge!
Exaco Janssens
Exaco is a family-owned wholesale distribution company based in Austin, Texas, founded in 1987. And for more than 30 years, Exaco has also manufactured luxury glass greenhouses.
Exaco offers distinctive, premium-quality imported lawn and garden items, emphasizing greenhouses, composters, and other "green" goods from Europe. Their products range from premium outdoor composters, kitchen compost pails, rain barrels, sandboxes, and planters to the finest greenhouses from Germany and Belgium, including Janssens Greenhouses.
Even in the middle of the winter, fresh vegetables, flowers, and herbs may be grown in Exaco Greenhouses. However, other greenhouses that utilize twin-wall polycarbonate less than 8mm thick operate as season extenders, used only when a small amount of night frost is forecast in the spring or fall. Therefore, home gardeners may only utilize them, at best, to store growing plants throughout the winter.
Gardeners also love using Janssens Greenhouses for their tubular aluminum profile greenhouses, which are well-designed, weatherproof, and durable. Additionally, stainless fittings, nuts, and bolts never rust, so you know the money you spent on the item was worth the expense. They also feature the finest hardened 4mm safety glass and polycarbonate glazing alternatives!
Pros of Buying Exaco Janssens Greenhouses
Besides the fact that Exaco sells a range of accessories developed especially for the Janssens Victorian line of greenhouses, there are numerous benefits and advantages to having an Exaco Janssens Victorian Greenhouse.
1. Durability
Regardless of your long experience with greenhouse farming, you must be aware that the toughness of your greenhouse is crucial. Because of this, you might wish to think about Exaco Jannsens' glass greenhouses. According to studies, glass greenhouses have a 20–30 year longer lifespan than the average 12 X 14 polycarbonate Victorian Greenhouses.
Overall, glass is the strongest greenhouse material and is better able to survive adverse weather conditions, collisions, and heat impacts than any other greenhouse material. Glass greenhouses also go nicely with covering materials. But compared to glass, polycarbonate is more resistant to impact damage and fractures.
2. Snow Load
Snow load and glazing type are important factors for buyers to consider when buying greenhouses. According to the International Building Code, several Exaco Janssens products pass the snow and wind loads test.
3. Material
Glass greenhouses are a trademark of Exaco Janssens. These greenhouses aim to improve your gardening experience with a chip, UV, and breakage-resistant glass.
Exaco uses tempered crystal glass to create greenhouses. Hence, they ensure owners have great insulating value and enhanced safety.
4mm toughened glass in full-length panes is standard equipment in all Janssens greenhouses. This glass is more durable and 6 times stronger than regular glass. Breakage is quite unlikely. Even so, there is little chance of damage because broken glass shatters into thousands of fragments.
4. Aesthetic Value
When choosing a greenhouse, visual appeal is significant, even though it is less crucial than the utility. The traditional English-style greenhouse design in Exaco Royal Victorian greenhouses improves your home's curb appeal.
5. Customer Demand
Exaco Janssens' Royal Victorian greenhouses are well-known across the world. Additionally, they stand out from the numerous other market possibilities because of their cutting-edge features.
Conclusion
Exaco Janssen makes the strongest greenhouse products available. Knowing that the Exaco Janssens Victorian Greenhouses have some of the most exquisite aesthetics, you are investing in more than just the protection and management of your produce.
