What Are Underground Pit Greenhouses?

03.12.2023 - 19:05 / gardenerspath.com / Kristine Lofgren

What Are Underground Pit Greenhouses?

Greenhouses are undeniably the gold standard for extending the growing season.

Commercial growers could hardly survive without them, but just because they’re awesome, that doesn’t mean the traditional structure is the perfect design.

The modern greenhouse was invented in the 1800s in Holland. If you’ve ever been to Holland, then you know it has a moderate climate – not too cold in the winter and not too hot in the summer.

But we’ve adopted the design for use in regions with frigid winters and sweltering summers.

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There are better solutions to the standard structure out there, believe it or not.

In the case of underground greenhouses, you get all the advantages of the traditional design with the added benefit of the earth’s insulation.

There are several types of underground greenhouses, and while they can be a step up (or down, as it were) from the traditional model, they do have some of their own unique challenges. We’ll go over all that and more in this guide.

Here’s what’s coming:

Don’t pull out your shovel yet. Let’s start by talking about the different styles so you can choose which will suit your needs.

There are a few different types of pit or sunken greenhouses.

All of them use the sunken design to harness the insulating properties of the earth and passive solar to provide heat. Let’s start with the Chinese style.

Chinese

Chinese greenhouses are far superior to conventional types for those that live in cold regions.

These structures are slightly sunken below ground level by a foot or so, with the north side buried in a hillside.

You can