First active greenhouses

The world’s first known “active” greenhouses – which allow for greater human manipulation of conditions such as temperature and humidity – were constructed in Korea in the 1450s. Based on a culinary guide titled Sanga Yorok (authored by royal physician Soon-ui Jeon) from this era which included design plans, in 2002 a 42-m2 (452-sq-ft) greenhouse was reconstructed by the Korean Agricultural History Association, using the traditional Korean ondol underfloor heating system, and layers of oil-coated, translucent hanji paper for the interior walls and sloping roof.

Prior to the chance discovery of the 15th-century document entitled “Growing Vegetables in the Winter”, it was thought that the earliest active greenhouses emerged in Germany c. 1619, with a stove used to moderate temperature.

More basic passive greenhouses (i.e., structures which primarily serve to protect plants from external weather) date back centuries earlier, at least to the reign of Emperor Tiberius (14-37 CE) in ancient Rome. Seeking to fulfil Tiberius’ desire to eat Cucumis melons year round, his gardeners devised portable carts, which during cold weather could be moved into a specularium – a small frame covered with transparent selenite gypsum.