Cleaning the Vegetable Greenhouse Windows
As many of you know, I have several greenhouses at my farm - expansive glass houses as well as smaller plastic hoop houses. For the most part, these structures accommodate the many potted plants, trees and other tropical specimens I have in my collections. One house, my vegetable cold house, is also used primarily for growing delicious fresh produce during the winter months.
Like anything else, these greenhouses need to be cleaned and maintained properly - especially the large glass houses. Over the last couple of weeks, Carlos and Fernando took on the huge task of cleaning the windows of the vegetable greenhouse. With its vast span of clear panes, along with the hard water here at the farm, calcium deposits develop on the glass as water droplets evaporate - eventually blocking much needed light for the growing plants.
Here are some photos of our cleaning process - enjoy them.
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- This is my vegetable greenhouse just before the cleaning process began. It is located near my Equipment Barn, and next to my Hay Barn and Citrus Hoop House. Inside, the entire bed was cleared and all the citrus plants were removed.
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- You can see how the calcium accumulated on this window.
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- When water evaporates from glass, it leaves behind white spots or residue, which are actually minerals such as calcium, or magnesium.
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- Here is a closer look at these white spot calcium deposits, which eventually can block out some of the light and heat needed for the plants to grows.
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- For this Herculean task, we use CLR to clean off the calcium. We also use cleaning sponges and brushes, towels and squeegees. CLR is a powerful formula for dissolving tough calcium and lime deposits from sinks, glass, chrome, stainless steel and many other surfaces.
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- Carlos starts by cleaning the screens. This chore is done once a year, so a lot of dust and debris can accumulate on the screens and windows.
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- Fernando starts cleaning the lower windows. The CLR is poured into a spray bottle and then applied.
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- Fernando also dilutes a small amount of dishwashing detergent in a big trug bucket of water.
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- And, carefully brushes the outer windows with the soap.
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- Next, he rinses the window and uses a squeegee to remove the water and any solution residue.
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- Carlos does the same from the inside – there are many, many windows.
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- Both Fernando and Carlos are very careful not to apply too much pressure that could possibly scratch the glass.
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- The uppermost windows on this greenhouse automatically open when temperatures inside are too high. Here, Fernando cleans the inside of these windows.
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- It is a very laborious process, which takes about two weeks to complete.
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- Carlos works very hard on each window – making sure there are absolutely no white spots anywhere.
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- Here, Carlos is on the back side of the greenhouse, facing my grapevines and strawberry patch.
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- Carlos also uses Barkeeper’s Friend, a product containing oxalic acid. The abrasive used in this powder doesn’t scratch glass or porcelain when properly used, so it worked nicely on windows with more calcium.
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- Carlos rinses the Barkeeper’s Friend with the hose after cleaning – he’s using our trusted Gilmour hose and nozzle.
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- Here is one of the completed ends – look how clear! There is so much height in this glass greenhouse.
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- Once all the sides are done, Carlos moves to the top windows. He wraps a towel around the squeegee attachment on this long telescoping pole. It is gentle enough to use on these windows.
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- He cleans from the top most window to the bottom — and he is seeing good results from the hard work.
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- Here he is from the inside – the cleaning makes such a difference to these windows.
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- Carlos gently scrubs the window with water and a small amount of Barkeeper’s Friend.
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- And then rinses the window clean.
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- He uses a squeegee to remove the water and any extra dirt an then moves on to the next column of windows.
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- After about 10-days, look how wonderful the vegetable greenhouse windows are.
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- The entire greenhouse looks like new. All winter long, cold hardy crops, such as lettuce greens, root vegetables, bunching onions, and brassicas can be successfully grown and harvested here.
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