Would this work?

[Bohobumble]

You could also have a propagator top on the seed tray, inside the big propagator, inside the mini greenhouse, wrapped in fleece, inside a blowaway, inside the greenhouse.

Inception.... dreams within dreams within dreams.......

[veggiechicken]

Jay-ell & Bohohumble - its time for you to join this http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...s%27+club.html

[Jay-ell]

Sign me up

Jay-ell & Bohohumble - its time for you to join this http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...s%27+club.html

[Kristen]

a little legginess in toms can be rectified when repotting.

Seedling legginess can be rectified when pricking out, but further legginess (if light quality is insufficient as the plant grows on) can't be rectified so easily.

You can plant a Tomato plant deep,. burying its stem (not many plants tolerate that), but you won't have any pots deep enough to gain more than an inch or two, and that will put the rootball right at the bottom of the new pot so less compost for the roots to grow down into (new roots from the stem take weeks to develop, so not an instant-fix), so no real chance to rectify legginess until planting out - and then only if planting in the ground.

Better to avoid the legginess in the first place - delay a few weeks until the light is stronger, and get a more robust plant that hasn't been stressed. Two - three weeks delay in sowing seed, now, will be 3 or 4 days, at most, earlier cropping, and earlier sowing carries a far greater chance of stressed plants that succumb to some disease as the season progressed.

[Bohobumble]

Let's see how that goes, will transport my onion seedlings there tomorrow

Thanks all for your comments!

[Penellype]

The reason why the blowaway is warmer than the greenhouse or polytunnel is that it duplicates the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse captures the heat from the sun and loses it slowly over night, which is why t is warmer than no greenhouse. The blowaway will do the same but will stay warmer because the surrounding air is warmer than outside. It isn't a lot, but its worth having. I'm currently considering doing the same at my friend's house, although as some of the panes of glass in her greenhouse have holes in it may not be great.

I'd like to mend the glass, but unfortunately the broken panes (from when a tree fell on it apparently) are not accessable from outside, and as I understand it, you have to replace glass from the outside of the greenhouse.

[FlawlessVictory]

Started a thread about blowaways and this one is right under me! Always the way! Will I be able to get things outside earlier in mine?!

[Bohobumble]

I'd like to mend the glass, but unfortunately the broken panes (from when a tree fell on it apparently) are not accessable from outside, and as I understand it, you have to replace glass from the outside of the greenhouse.

Are they on the side or the roof, maybe a little jiggery pokey and a lot of swearing will sort it? They are designed to be affixed from the outside usually yes

[Penellype]

Are they on the side or the roof, maybe a little jiggery pokey and a lot of swearing will sort it? They are designed to be affixed from the outside usually yes

They are on the sides, but there are miscellaneous large and immovable objects in the way - a large water tank, a tree, a fence and a covered seat as well as some bushes. The worst pane (completely missing) is the 2nd pane up, right in the centre of the back of the greenhouse, about 18 inches from a fence, with a tree between the greenhouse and fence, so no chance. I've covered it up with a piece of polycarbonate propped up on the floor and hopefully that will be some help. But there are other broken panes, some on the bottom row that are completely inaccessable from outside. There is ivy growing through some of the gaps and 4ft high thick polystyrene insulation covering some of the holes on one side. The ivy is holding the polystyrene up!

[Penellype]

Started a thread about blowaways and this one is right under me! Always the way! Will I be able to get things outside earlier in mine?!

It will certainly help with hardening things off, but you may have to bring them indoors over night if its forecast to be cold. Blowaways are much better than nothing but not as good as a glass greenhouse. I use the covers over stakes to cover my early outdoor tomatoes from about May when they get too big to leave in pots and I've found they work well, wlthough they can get very hot if its sunny (40 degrees on one occasion).

One other thing - make sure you put something heavy on the bottom shelf. I had one against a wall and it blew over in the first decent breeze.

[Bohobumble]

They are on the sides, but there are miscellaneous large and immovable objects in the way - a large water tank, a tree, a fence and a covered seat as well as some bushes. The worst pane (completely missing) is the 2nd pane up, right in the centre of the back of the greenhouse, about 18 inches from a fence, with a tree between the greenhouse and fence, so no chance. I've covered it up with a piece of polycarbonate propped up on the floor and hopefully that will be some help. But there are other broken panes, some on the bottom row that are completely inaccessable from outside. There is ivy growing through some of the gaps and 4ft high thick polystyrene insulation covering some of the holes on one side. The ivy is holding the polystyrene up!

Wow! sounds like you're making the best of it tho, can you seal the edges of the polycarbonate with glazing tape (http://www.amazon.co.uk/WEATHER-PROO.../dp/B0046ZCMQ0) to keep drafts out?

[Kristen]

The blowaway will do the same but will stay warmer because the surrounding air is warmer than outside.

I need to try putting a temperature logger in one ... it seems to me that the blowaway has no thermal mass, and its polythene cover has lousy insulation properties! so it ought to just lose heat to the outside (i.e. the greenhouse it is within) so quickly that it equilibrates very quickly.

[Thelma Sanders]

It seems reasonable, to me, that if a cloche or cold frame provide added protection outside....................

they'll do exactly the same thing inside a greenhouse

[Kristen]

Hmmm ... I see a cloche as keeping the wind off (reducing transpiration stress) and warming the soil - which in turn provides heat back in the night, but also provides warmer feet for the roots (same as underfloor heating). By comparison I don't see any of those benefits for a tunnel-in-a-tunnel - the greenhouse is already doing the wind-break protection and the thermal gain during the day (and any slab/concrete floor would provide some thermal mass), but putting an extra tunnel within the greenhouse doesn't increase any of those, to my mind. It might heat up internally more during the day, although that may be offset by lower light quality, but I think it will cool down as quickly at night.

I'll dig mine out, and the logging thermometer, and stick it in my greenhouse for a few days to see.

[Bohobumble]

The temp this evening was 19 degrees in the blowaway, a few degrees more than the greenhouse.

It might well ultimately end up the same as outside but the heat differentials should mean it'll cool down slower, hopefully meaning that any cold periods are minimised inside before sunrise.

Will be interesting to see others' more scientific results.

Either way, it can't hurt my onion seedlings!