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A greenhouse is made up of a transparent material such as glass, in which plants are grown under regulated climatic conditions according to their requirements. In other words, we can grow out-of-season plants against excessive cold or heat under a specific environment known as a greenhouse.
What is greenhouse drying and why is it important?
Greenhouse drying is a method to remove the moisture from the product. The medium by which the product is dried is solar energy. Solar energy is the type of energy that is easily available and is low in cost for the farmer. Using this method helps to cut off the product loss by spoilage and in return, it gives benefits to the gardener.
What is a greenhouse dryer?
A greenhouse structure used for drying is known as a greenhouse dryer. By using solar thermal energy, crops are dried in the greenhouse dryer. A greenhouse dryer can be of glass or polycarbonate sheets.
Traditionally, greenhouses are made up of glass panels. However, the recent advancements are reducing the use of glass for greenhouse. The use of polycarbonate sheets or polycarbonate panels is taking place instead of glass. It is said that these panels are equal to the glass or better than the glass panels in several ways.
What is the reason to grow vegetables in a greenhouse?
Mainly, the reason to use a greenhouse is to extend the growing season and have the perfect conditions for your plants for the whole year. Hence, you use greenhouse glazing that lasts for years and gives you your desired results.
Using a glass panel or polycarbonate panel is perfectly the user’s own choice, but here we are giving some pros and cons of both choices so you may have a brighter idea and can make your decision easier.
Polycarbonate Sheet VS Glass
Polycarbonate sheets provide better light diffusion due to the thickness that doesn’t allow much direct light to pass through as the glass does. It means that the light will equally spread in your greenhouse. The equally spreading light is more beneficial for the plants and vegetables in the greenhouse.
Whereas the greenhouse of glass gives no heat protection or diffusion that causes harm to your crops. This means you will have to pay an additional cost to heat or cool the glass greenhouse as per requirements.
Benefits of using polycarbonate sheets in greenhouse
Polycarbonate sheets are becoming a premium choice for gardeners. It works in all kinds of climates. It lasts longer than the glass panels and provides you with the ultimate required strength. Below are the benefits of polycarbonate sheets that are briefly discussed.
- Better insulation makes greenhouse work well
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One of the important and main aspects of polycarbonate sheets is that they provide better insulation properties than glass or any other greenhouse material. It gives good heat retention than glass and the loss of heat is also less in these sheets.
So, the polycarbonate sheets have more temperature than the other greenhouse materials and it helps to keep the plants warm. Furthermore, this property also makes it cost-effective.
- Stronger than glass
The polycarbonate panels are twice as strong as compared to the glass panels. Moreover, the weight of these panels is much less than the glass, which makes them easier to fit and handle.
Glass is a heavier component and demands skills and attention to create a greenhouse. Therefore, you have to hire a contractor to install a greenhouse made up of glass. On the other hand, polycarbonate sheets are easy to handle and carry and don’t demand skills. You can easily install it by yourself without any fear of its breaking.
- Its durability is out of the question
Imagine having a glass greenhouse and it got a hit from a football or basketball. What do you think will the glass greenhouse sustain this hit? There is a ‘BIG NO’ for this question.
Unlike glass, the greenhouse made of polycarbonate sheets can withstand the impact of football, basketball, hailstorm or even rocks, all without having any damage or breakage.
Using a glass greenhouse will always put your money at risk with a potential element of fear of breaking glass. Hence, it is recommended to use polycarbonate sheets instead of glass.
- Polycarbonate extends the growing season
Polycarbonate panels give you a prolonged growing season that allows you to have more plants and vegetables all the year. This extension in the growing season, makes you able to harvest more plants all the time.
- Easy and quicker installation
Another significant advantage of using polycarbonate sheets is that you can install these sheets easily and quickly. You can even do it yourself and it would only take a day for you to complete its installation.
- Cost-effective and low maintenance material
The cost of a polycarbonate sheet depends upon its quality, however, it is more cost-effective than the glass greenhouse. Moreover, the maintenance of the polycarbonate greenhouse is very low or no maintenance as you don’t have to clean the panels after every 2-3 days. Polycarbonate sheets can be cleaned once or twice a year.
- Customizable Frame
While using polycarbonate sheets for a greenhouse, you have many customizable options. The polycarbonate panels have wooden frames and glass panels come with the steel frame. Hence, you can treat a wooden frame according to your choice by painting it of any color. Whereas the steel frames come pre-treated with color and it is harder to put your creativity on.
Bottom Line
Having a greenhouse increases the yield of your crops but sometimes it gives damage too. To abstain from the damage, you should install polycarbonate sheets for your greenhouse, as they diffuse more light and, hence, benefit plants. Furthermore, it is lighter in weight than glass and is more durable with low maintenance. Polycarbonate sheets are easily available in the market or you can purchase them online from the Fab Glass and Mirror online store.
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