Grow Your Own Magazine

I have a small plastic greenhouse, one of those ones with the roll down cover on the front. When I have used it last year, i got lots of flys and bugs buzzing around in it, I think the flys like the warm etc they seem to be breeding in their. I tried leaving the door open when poss but cant get rid of them. This may seem a very silly question but is there anything I can do to get rid of them? Every time I try to use it I get bomarded by flying things!!!!!

2nd question: Can you get mini polytunnels and if so can you get them second hand....anyone know????

Have a good day
Sam

hi ! probably the best thing is to hang up some sticky fly traps ,these will catch anything that flys into them both good and bad(not so good) also perhaps try a fly screen on your doors /windows ,old net curtains are good for this.hope this helps. if you go online ebay or the polyt makers they will give the smallest sizes they make,best of luck,.

I always use the yellow sticky traps too, they're dead good and obviously not chemical. The only problem can be is that they're non specific ie anything will stick to them (usually my hair!) including beneficial insects.

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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?

I dip some tissue paper in meths and light it. It drives off all the bugs without killing them.

Thanks for the advice....may try the meths method as dont want to kill everything.
Sam

Hi Ellarsmum, welcome to the vine.

You can make your own poly tunnels with alkathene pipe for the hoops and UV resistant polythene to cover them and then you can have them any size you like

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Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poet

Hi Ellasmum

Have you tried Freecycle? you can get all sorts of things, maybe polytunnels. Try this link http://uk.freecycle.org/

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Regards, Jane
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? The creative adult is the child who has survived.
Ursula LeGuin
http://www.etribes.com/madderbat

Hi Ellasmum, be careful if you use the burning meths method - you might burn down your greenhouse as it's plastic!
It does sound as though it's warm & damp in there so keeping the vent open at the front as much as possible should help. There could be fungus gnats as well , laying eggs in the damp compost in your pots in there so try to keep it fairly dry.

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Into every life a little rain must fall.

Hello Ellasmum and welcome to the vine! As you can see we are a very friendly bunch and there are lots of experienced gardeners here to answer any questions you may have. (more experienced than me!).
Have you got the latest copy of Grow Your Own magazine - excellent reading! Also try the chatroom onthe Vine on a Sunday night at 7pm - its a real hoot!
As to flies etc I use those sticky fly papers in my greenhouse and they seem to work. I started off with a little plastic greenhouse last year and was hooked!
Have you tried ebay for cloches? I got a couple of the very cheap plastic ones, which survived last year, but having said that I've got mice in my store so they may well have chewed through the plastic! Oh well. Look forward to hearing how you get on. DDL
PS My 2 1/2yr old niece is called Ella Lily!

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Hi DexterDog,
I have an Ella Beth.....
I am off to buy GYO mag today, I am very keen to get started. I got the Carol Klein book yesterday too.....
There is something about watching things grow that is so good for your sole...dont you think?
Sam

Hi all, Stop right there with your sticky traps and poisons! Before you go killing your 'flies' - could they be hoverflies? I only ask because hoverflies always invade my plastic greenhouses; I don't mind because their young eat up lots of aphids for me. However, I do spend all summer shooing them out, but they come straight back in, battering themselves on the roof.

They are also an aid to pollination!!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

If it's one of the small 3 or 4 tier mini greenhouses you could try taking the cover off on a nice day and letting the little dears fly away. The reason they don't often find their own way out is that they like the warm air at the top of the house (which is usually way above the vent even when open)