An educational greenhouse offers a variety of benefits to your campus, from providing hands-on learning experiences in botany to giving students the opportunity to take on the responsibility of planning, maintaining, and harvesting a crop.

However, as exciting as a new educational greenhouse is, we know the process can feel overwhelming with so many options to choose from and uncertainty about which features will be most beneficial. Our team at Stuppy is ready to guide you through the process as we share five things you need to know about building a greenhouse from the ground up:

Start With a Flexible Structure: Stuppy offers two structures that work particularly well in educational settings. The Rainbow®Plus greenhouse is customizable to what is sometimes limited space on campus, covering anything from 1,000 to 1 million square feet in growing space. It also features a low-profile roofline, allowing you to reduce your heated surface area while improving cooling efficiency in summer months. The Rainbow®Plus is a versatile and affordable choice for educators.

The CS3 is an A-frame greenhouse featuring a design that offers superior strength and flexibility. It can be used with rigid or corrugated metal coverings, and single- or double-motorized vents which both work well with the CS3. It also has wide bays, maximizing environmental control though tall sidewalls.

Add Air and Humidity Management: The process of building your structure includes equipping it with fans, evaporative cooling, vent systems and heaters with horizontal air flow (HAF) fans. These important elements maximize heat distribution and control humidity in your greenhouse. They also mix the warmer air that tends to be near the ceiling of your greenhouse with the cooler air that lingers near the ground, allowing for a consistent growing environment.

Install a Way to Control It All: Once you have everything you need to manipulate and manage the humidity and temperature inside your greenhouse, you will need a way to control it. Controllers take the guesswork out of the greenhouse environment, equipping you to maintain consistent temperatures, humidity and flow of air, all optimized for the plants you are growing.

Choose Benches: Growing benches come in a variety of materials and features, allowing you to optimize to your growing needs. You might choose a fixed steel bench system, or you might prefer rolling or portable benches that allow you to modify your greenhouse.

As you are choosing your bench systems, you may want to consider the Heat₂O Hydronic Heat designed by Stuppy. You can enjoy a high level of temperature control and optimization by heating the soil, roots and plants with bench heat or with under-bench heat.

Finish With Irrigation: A greenhouse irrigation system is an efficient and cost-effective way to provide consistent and easily-controlled water supply to your plants. From drip irrigation to greenhouse misting systems, there are many options that equip you to water and fertilize your plants to promote healthy growth.

When you’re ready to begin construction on your educational greenhouse, contact us at Stuppy. We can assist you in choosing the right structure to fit your space and your growing plans, then guide you to the right equipment to fit your needs and budget. Your greenhouse classroom takes planning and careful construction, but it will offer immeasurable benefits to your school!