Beginner's Guide to Greenhouses: Best of Growing Joy Replay

Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care

Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness

Education, How To, Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Home & Garden, Leisure

4.8 • 883 Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2025

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I feel like there comes a time in every plant parent's life when we start to get really curious and excited about having a dedicated space for all of our plants. If you are an outdoor gardener, the promise of a greenhouse for seed starts and overwintering plants is even more promising! I’ve had several different moments in life where I’ve Googled greenhouse kits but never crossed the finish line due to the overwhelming and somewhat intimidating aspect of installing them properly (and the price tag). Hopefully, this episode will set you up for success if you feel like you’re ready to take the leap of installing a greenhouse!

In this episode, we learn:

[11:35] Things to consider before planning a greenhouse
[12:28] Why do you need a license for your personal greenhouse?
[15:00] What direction should a greenhouse face?
[16:44] Pros and cons of different greenhouse materials
[20:29] DIY greenhouse vs greenhouse kit
[25:07] What to consider for your greenhouse flooring
[30:52] Different types of greenhouses and ventilation settings
[33:08] How to calculate greenhouse heating and ventilation requirements
[34:31] Different types of fans and vents for greenhouse ventilation
[39:16] How much does a good beginner greenhouse cost?
[43:37] How greenhouses help in pest control and management
[45:45] Troubleshooting greenhouse ventilation and humidity issues
[46:40] What is the ideal temperature for a greenhouse?
[50:12] Greenhouse #1: Amy’s apartment-deck greenhouse in cold Massachusetts
[53:27] Greenhouse #2: Tiffany’s indoor greenhouse for 200+ plants
[59:28] Greenhouse #3: Kristin’s fully-customized permanent greenhouse from a kit
[01:05:48] Greenhouse #4: Eric’s Instagrammable East Nash Greenhouse with recycled windows

Mentioned in our conversation:

Patrick's other blogs: Sublime Succulents & Self-Sustaining Ecosystem
Domino Magazine article: How a Stylist DIY-ed Her Dream Greenhouse From a Prefab Kit

Interested to learn more about greenhouses?

Check out the full show notes and blog for the best beginner tips!

Follow this episode's guests:

Patrick / greenhouseinfo.com: Greenhouse Info | Email

Andi and Eric / East Nashville Greenhouse: Instagram

Kristin / Tending West: Instagram | Newsletter | Website

Tiffany / plantmahmah: Instagram | Email

Amy Lefavour: Instagram

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

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Transcript

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0:00.0	So there comes a point in every plant person's life when they realize, hmm, it would be really
0:05.1	useful if I had a greenhouse right now, whether that was because you've simply run out of
0:09.5	window sill space and you need someplace to grow your houseplants, or you start gardening and
0:14.3	you're interested in seed starting. There are so many different amazing reasons why greenhouses
0:18.3	can help you continue to grow joy in your journey in
0:21.9	plant parenthood. And today, we're hearing from multiple members of our community on how they have
0:26.9	successfully installed and kept greenhouses in their space. Get ready for your mind to be blown,
0:33.0	plant friends.
0:44.8	Welcome to the Growing Joy with Plants podcast, where we not only learn how to care for plants successfully, but how to simply and affordably use our plant babies to cultivate
0:49.2	more joy in our lives by doing so.
0:52.0	I'm Maria, former plant killer turned happy plant lady,
0:55.3	author of Growing Joy, The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness,
0:58.4	speaker, podcaster, and most importantly, your new best plant friend.
1:02.4	On Growing Joy with Plants, you'll find conversations about house plant care,
1:06.0	gardening tutorials, and wellness through the lens of plants.
1:09.6	Plant care is self-care on growing joy.
1:18.6	Hello, plant friends, and welcome back to the best of growing joy series
1:23.0	where we are bringing you extra episodes every week,
1:26.0	celebrating some of the older episodes that we've had
1:28.4	way down the feed that some newer listeners might not know about and or older listeners might
1:33.7	want to hear again. This one in particular, because there comes a time where it's time to have a
1:38.0	greenhouse. And this episode is so fascinating because I was able to interview and feature
	...

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