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  • Setting up a greenhouse

    Hi guys I will be getting a green house later this year and am so excited, but I now realise I need a lot of advice since reading on this site. The only place I can site it is against a west facing wall. Also I was going to put it on a base of slabs or concrete, but have seen some of you have border in the green house that you plant into directly. Which is best?
    Dogs have masters, cats have slaves, and horses are just wonderful

  • #2
    My greenhouse at home isn't in the best place but that was the only place it would go. I have a gravel floor and everything is grown in pots. The polytunnel at the lottie is much better sited and has a path and bed system with the paths formed by membrane (one day I may use paving flags if I get any cheap and can be bothered). Things grow better (much) in the tunnel but this could be due to the better position but also that if I forget to water there it doesn't matter so much as there is a large mass of soil around where as pots are very self contained. However I do have more control over the growing medium in the greenhouse as I can put whatever mix of compost I want in the pots without worrying about pest build up / nutrient deficiencies etc. Swings and roundabouts and all that

    Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

    Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

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    • #3
      Thank you for the info. I never even thought of gravel. We are currently getting rid of miles (it seems like) of gravel drives in the garden, so no shortage there. Would you put a weed suppressing membrane under it?
      Dogs have masters, cats have slaves, and horses are just wonderful

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      • #4
        I used to grow in pots, now grow in borders in the greenhouse.

        Standing a pot on the greenhouse floor reduced the height from soil-to-ridge (perhaps by a foot for a Big Pot) which is less cropping height / trusses for a Tomato plant (there are ways around that, such as layering)

        I used to water Tomatoes in pots often twice a day, sometimes three times in really hot weather. In the ground I water every 2nd day at the most.

        I replace the soil every year. That often is not strictly necessary, particularly if you use grafted Tomato plants (which are more tolerant of soil diseases and/or nutrient deficiency), but my "soil" is a 50:50 mix of rough compost from compost heap and rotted manure. At the end of the season I use that to put up Dahlias and Cannas etc. for the Winter, so my "border soil" is part of the composting process.
        K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our garden

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        • #5
          Will it make a difference as the green house will have a dwarf wall to about 18 inches. Will there be enough light to plant straight into the border?
          Dogs have masters, cats have slaves, and horses are just wonderful

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Bal View Post
            Will it make a difference as the green house will have a dwarf wall to about 18 inches. Will there be enough light to plant straight into the border?
            The plants will be fine. I have 2 courses of bricks, and have lowered the beds, so at least a foot of "wall". You need dark glasses when you go in there

            K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our garden

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            • #7
              Hi thanks for the pic really helps to be able to see it. I am so envious
              Dogs have masters, cats have slaves, and horses are just wonderful

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              • #8
                Kristen, how does your path stay so dry? Are those borders lower than your path. That's the same setup that I have but a few times when not watching my hose pipe my path became wet and slippy.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Scarlet View Post
                  how does your path stay so dry?
                  Heavy clay to start with. Never water it, as such. Soil in the beds is much better quality. I usually water with a can, but if using the hose I suppose I stand on the path and point it towards the plants so that path only gets "splashed"

                  Hadn't really thought about it TBH, other than every year thinking "This year I'm definitely going to pave that path" !!

                  Are those borders lower than your path
                  Yes, a bit. It was to give me more cropping height to the eaves. My "cropping" greenhouse has relatively low headroom.
                  K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our garden

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                  • #10
                    I can vote for borders. And pots which you can move around as space allows 😀

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                    • #11
                      I use plastic milk bottles dug in beside the plants and newspaper around the plants to keep the moisture in. I suffer with a bad back so I can't use the watering can. I only water every other day so I make sure that they get a good watering, I'm too impatient to stand and water so I drop the hose in the bottle....sometimes it bubbles out and runs off the dry newspapers, straight onto my path. I end up with muddy slippers!

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                      • #12
                        How about a length of leaky-hose down the length of the border - under the mulch / newspaper? Just hook the hose up to that for 10 minutes or so.
                        K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our garden

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                        • #13
                          I'm getting a new, small, greenhouse as Mrs H's retirement present to me.



                          We're going to look at some today, starting with the Rhino ones.

                          The only place it will fit is on an existing concrete standing, so although I've had a greenhouse before this is the first time I've tried to grow entirely in pots.

                          So, what kind of pot would be best for tomatoes? Can I just use ordinary plastic ones (presumably pretty big) or should I get something fancy? Also, what kind of growing medium to put in them?
                          My gardening blog: In Spades, last update 30th April 2018.
                          Chrysanthemum notes page here.

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                          • #14
                            I mostly grow in borders but I put my spare toms in flower buckets that you can get from Morriss@ns, they charge about £1 for 8 or Asd@ , my local one gave me mine. You may have to go back a few times though as they seem to go quick. It may be worth giving your local one a call.
                            I've got a rhino! Fabulous!
                            Last edited by Scarlet; 27-04-2014, 12:05 PM.

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                            • #15
                              The best scenario I can think of would be to have borders run along the sides and to have a potting shelf/staging on the far side to set of your seeds, if you have the room ofcourse!

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