(I don't think there are any dumb questions.) ;-)

I grow everything in containers in my greenhouse (cacti and succulents) but I've seen many pics of greenhouses that have plants in the ground, or in large community planters or bins on the ground, or up on benches.

However, if you're trying to escape your high heat problem, I think you'll find the summer temps inside the greenhouse are always higher than the outdoor temps (unless you can equip the greenhouse with something like an evaporative cooler.) Greenhouses are really good at holding heat...even when we don't want it (our summer temps can be murder here too.)

I have a little 10x12 greenhouse, with a pretty good sized exhaust fan, summer screens on the south side, and big sliding screened doors that remain open all summer. Even with this, it's always hotter inside the greenhouse than out, so my succulents just have to tough out the summer period.

I guess it's possible to configure a greenhouse so it's cooler inside than out, but I don't think it's easy or inexpensive. We'll see what other folks have to say; I have no experience growing veggies in a greenhouse, so there may be something I'm missing!

My greenhouse is cooler inside than out. All it takes is a good evaporative cooler and exhaust fans. The standard for exhaust fans is one air exchange per minute. This limits the temperature increase to 10-15F from intake end to exhaust end. But with the low humidity like we're having now, the air off the cooler pads is 20-30F cooler than outside. The hottest my control system has registered this year is 93F. Outside has been near 100F many days.

I have many fruit trees in pots and inground. Both work but the fruit is often sweeter from potted trees. The key to sweet fruit, mainly nectarine and pluot, is not over watering.

I've had no issues with pots over heating in the greenhouse.

Yes, I grow veggies in the ground in my greenhouse, and it works great. I agree that keeping things in a greenhouse in Texas would be a challenge in the summer, and I'm not sure what the advantage would be.

You can definitely use the ground. It's just that (as you discovered), containers heat up even faster and provide a double benefit to warmth-loving plants in cool climates. But in Texas, that's a bad idea! I use in-ground beds, which are slow to warm up in spring but also slow to cool off in the fall. If you are overwintering something that does not like having its roots chilled, in-ground is definitely better than containers in winter.

The other advantages of containers are, easy to fill up with good, disease-free soil, and are well-draining, which is beneficial if your soil is prone to waterlogging.

I live in East Texas and my greenhouse has shade from some pines from afternoon and morning sun. They also have good shade from two sweetgums though I really dislike the tree its nice in the winter to have sun during the day and late afternoon sun. I would recommend using a shade cloth in Texas if you don't have something similar.

A huge thing for me was drip irrigation. I started using the drip and just switched to misters as I water 6 times a day for 2 minutes, mainly to cool things off. Its been high 90's here for the past 2 months with little rain. I am actually moving things back into the greenhouse as its doing much better. The misters help cool off and increase the humidity. I have plywood walls on the outside bottoms that I remove to increase circulation. In Texas its been so dry that I am finding the humidity to be helping, as well as not having to water. It is weird moving everything inside the greenhouse but its much better than having to water daily at 7 am for 30 minutes everyday.

The watering is done automatically, if it gets over 100 I will run the misters 12 times a day for 2 minutes. I think it has an evaporating cooling effect as well, it always seems to be around the same temp as outside in my greenhouse, sometimes a degree or two cooler max 5 right after.

Hi all!

I am so in love with but totally overwhelmed by this forum!

So... being cheap and lazy, i decided to "greenhouse" my experimental watermelon plant by putting a thin plastic cloth over a round tomato cage, and placing the whole thing over my watermelon plant. I left a small hole in the top for a vent. the good news: the plant grew way faster and larger than any previous attempts. (although it hasn't quite flowered yet, but it looks like its about to.) Bad news: the top few leaves, which may have been pressing up against the plastic, look slightly blackened... is this what it looks like when you "burn" a plant in a greenhouse?

Also, more generally: I'm having a hard time navigating this forum... is there someplace i can look for newbie directions? for example, i want to know if there's any way to get automatic follow up to a follow up posting sent to my email? also, is there a better way to conduct searches? i was searching for "plant burn greenhouse leaves" etc, and not coming up with anything specific enough. Help!

Thanks!

Hi Everyone,
what details need to do for planting tomatoes, watermelons and cucumbers in hot greenhouse in south Texas?
I have large greenhouse with two huge evaporators and two exhaust fans in opposite sides, my thermometers read 95 F in mid-days.
thanks a bunch,