When it comes to greenhouse flooring, selecting the right material is crucial for maintaining a healthy and productive environment for your crops. While traditional options like concrete and gravel have commonly been used for decades, plastic sheeting technology has come a long way over the years and may be a great option for your next project. Here’s a closer look:
Main Considerations For Greenhouse Flooring
Growers must consider two main factors: weed prevention and drainage. Preventing weed growth is essential for maintaining a clean and healthy environment for your plants, while proper drainage ensures excess water is efficiently removed, preventing issues like waterlogging and root rot.
Common Types of Flooring Used in Greenhouses
Before plastic sheeting became a readily available option, growers have historically leaned on materials such as concrete, gravel, and even bare soil.
Concrete
Concrete flooring has been a popular choice for growers for years, especially within greenhouse setups that require a durable and level surface. Concrete offers the advantage of being easier to clean, but isn’t a great option if you’re looking to prevent pools of water from forming in your growing area, and often warrants under slab vapor barrier solutions in order to prevent cracking and degradation.
Gravel
Gravel greenhouse flooring is usually reserved for greenhouses with raised beds, thanks to their ability to allow plant roots to extend deeper into the ground. These provide better drainage than concrete but don’t do a good job of stopping weed growth.
Soil
And then there’s the oldest form of greenhouse flooring of all: soil. Some growers opt to plant directly into the native soil in order to provide improved access to nutrients and promote healthier root development. With that said, it can easily become muddy or difficult to work on depending on the amount of water that’s accumulating at the surface, and do little to nothing to stop weeds from corrupting your growing environment.
Related Article: Greenhouse Plastic Sheeting: Which Type Should You Use?
The Best Plastic Sheeting Options For Greenhouse Flooring
If you’re tired of switching between the same antiquated forms of greenhouse flooring and are thinking about making the transition over to plastic sheeting, two materials stand out among the pack: HDPE and Ground Cover.
At Americover, we have a variety of options available for our customers in both categories. While they have some crossover, one may be a better choice than the other, depending on your unique greenhouse project’s needs.
HDPE Greenhouse Flooring
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is a versatile plastic sheeting option known for its exceptional strength and durability. It has several benefits that make it an excellent choice for greenhouse flooring applications. Textured HDPE creates a non-slip surface, which is safer to walk on than native soil setups, especially in wet conditions. It’s important to note that regular HDPE can be slippery when wet. Additionally, HDPE effectively prevents weed growth. These product features also make it the ideal flooring material for rolling carts and supporting small equipment.
This type of plastic sheeting is heavy-duty, yet lightweight, and won’t rip or tear easily either. It offers long-lasting durability without compromising on flexibility. That means it’s easy to install, and can even adapt to uneven surfaces while still providing the protection that growers have come to expect from other greenhouse flooring alternatives such as concrete.
Ground Cover Greenhouse Flooring
Ground Cover is a polypropylene-based fabric specially designed for greenhouse flooring applications. It allows air, water, and nutrients to pass through the soil while still blocking enough sunlight to inhibit weed growth – making it much more versatile than soil and gravel options.
Tightly woven and built for durability, this greenhouse flooring application is great for reducing the need for herbicides and manual weed removal while still being breathable enough to prevent water from pooling on the surface.
Related Article: 6 Features to Consider Before Buying Your Next Greenhouse Cover
Find The Right Greenhouse Flooring With Americover
As an Americover customer, you will receive the personalized support of a dedicated account manager to simplify the ordering process and ensure the best solution for every one of your projects.
Our friendly, knowledgeable staff is here to answer your questions and fulfill orders Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. For more information or a free sample, call us at 760-388-6294 or visit our Contact Us page.