Learn fun facts about greenhouses and greenhouse uses.
- A greenhouse covering can be glass or something more durable, like polyethylene, polycarbonate or fiberglass.
- One of the earliest greenhouses, known as a specularium, was built around A.D. 30 to satisfy Roman Emperor Tiberius’ craving for cucumbers out of season. During cold months, cucumber beds were covered with sheets of mica, a translucent stone.
- The ideal temperature range for most greenhouse crops is 55 to 60 degrees at night and 70 to 75 degrees during the day.
- The French called their early greenhouses orangeries, since they were built to protect orange trees. Today, in English, “orangery” is still sometimes used as a synonym for “greenhouse.”
- Andrew Faneuil, a wealthy Bostonian of the early 1700s, grew fruit in what some believe to be the first true greenhouse in the United States.
- George Washington grew pineapples, his favorite fruit, in a Mount Vernon greenhouse known as a pinery.
- By 1825, greenhouses were becoming more common throughout northern regions. Many were heated by furnaces; others were built into the earth and warmed by south-facing windows, a design still practical today.
Learn about the life of a greenhouse grower here.
