Cheap greenhouse?!

[HoofyLoo]

I'm struggling to find one. I have zero budget and two toddlers so a glass one is a no no. I was thinking a plastic one will do the trick but I can't find one in my trusty Wilkos! I've been watching eBay but nowts coming up.



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[veggiechicken]

Do you mean a blowaway or a polycarb GH?
You can buy blowaways from B&M and lots of other cheapo shops - I'm saying nothing about quality though!!

[Penellype]

This was my attempt at protecting my tomato plants last year - I constructed a "greenhouse" from a blowaway greenhouse cover and some wooden stakes and canes with rubber toppers on to stop them from puncturing the plastic:

It was built inside a glass cold frame (one of the lids is broken), but you could easily just peg the cover to the ground. You can buy replacement covers without having to buy the frame, and old broom handles or similar would do for stakes. I used 2 stakes at the front and 2 canes at the back

The photo was taken at the beginning of June and the tomato plants were planted out mid May, and were fine.

[richie3846]

A virtually free greenhouse can be built out of 2l plastic bottles. There is plenty of info on how it is done on the web. I bet if you asked your friends and neighbours to hold them for you instead of recycling you may be ready to build it later this year.

[ancee]

Can you source some old double glazed windows? Kids shouldn't be able to break these - unless they are determined to!

[Kristen]

Dunno about the glass bit, but I know of several people who have blagged a greenhouse from a garden nearby - where it was clearly being unused, and unloved. I would expect most would be glass though ... so either need to change the glass low down to toughened, or put a fence around it to keep the toddlers away.

[Alison]

I'm struggling to find one. I have zero budget and two toddlers so a glass one is a no no. I was thinking a plastic one will do the trick but I can't find one in my trusty Wilkos! I've been watching eBay but nowts coming up.



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As a kid I spent a lot of time at my grandparents house, as did my two brothers. My grandad had a glass greenhouse (and I doubt it was toughened back then) and an open pond in his garden which are now both seen as no nos by many people with young kids. However we were made away of the dangers from very young and kept away from them when too young to appreciate danger which meant we were all fine, in fact my sandpit was right next to the greenhouse and I was allowed to go in during summer to pick cherry tomato snacks which I loved (still do). Suppose what I'm trying to say is if you're really uncomfortable with glass then it's your call but normal levels of supervision (which you'll be providing anyway if your kids are that young) and basic education can work well too and will help kids in other situations which you can't control - and might open up the option to you too


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[Kristen]

normal levels of supervision (which you'll be providing anyway if your kids are that young) and basic education can work well too and will help kids in other situations which you can't control

I am of that school of thought too ... but I cannot deny that our kids were much more mollycoddled than I ever was as a kid. I think the safety-conscious culture rubs off on everyone, even people who say they want their kids to grow up "as we did" ...

[Alison]

I am of that school of thought too ... but I cannot deny that our kids were much more mollycoddled than I ever was as a kid. I think the safety-conscious culture rubs off on everyone, even people who say they want their kids to grow up "as we did" ...

I'm also very conscious that as somebody who is child free I might well do things totally differently if I had my own rather than occasional responsibility for relatives and God children. I do however cheer whenever I go round one friends house and see them teaching their young son how to climb trees, chop up branches etc


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[BertieFox]

I can never understand why more people don't simply build a greenhouse from scratch. Depending on how you intend to use it, there are numerous designs. I have built a 'solar greenhouse' quite cheaply from concrete blocks, polycarbonate panels, lots of insulation, cheap wood panelling, and a few sheets of opaque plastic. It kept all my tender plants going without any external heating through the winter, though it has been admittedly very mild. It seems to give me at least three or four degrees advantage over the outside temperature.

I will happily send you some photos and my design if you are interested.

[gardening_gal]

I will happily send you some photos and my design if you are interested.

I'd be interested Bertie if that's ok. I do have a cheapo polytunnel but I'm always looking ahead.

[BertieFox]

Home built greenhouse design: Gardening gal

I'd be interested Bertie if that's ok. I do have a cheapo polytunnel but I'm always looking ahead.

I'm attaching a photo of the greenhouse when it was almost finished from which you can see the basic construction. It is south facing which is why it has the steeply angled polycarb panels to take advantage of winter sun. For a more general use, you could put the front panels at a lower angle by increasing the height of the front block wall. On an open site you can replace the back roof panels with polycarbonate too, though that would reduce the overall insulation and put up the cost (the panels being the most expensive single cost).

The panels here are three metres long while the rear roof fibre panels are 1.50 or so. The wooden walls are all lined with fibreglass insulation with an inner layer of cheap pine panelling panels. They are probably far cheaper here in France than the UK though you could use any boarding or MDF type stuff which costs less.

I made the doors out of reconstituted pine panels which was a big mistake as they have already warped and expanded. Better to build proper doors out of tongue and groove boards.

Somewhere I have the plans I drew up, but unfortunately due to my desktop computer crashing completely and a complete reinstallation of Windows, I think I have lost them, unless I had the good sense to back them up somewhere on another disk ... but who has good sense?

Regards,

[gardening_gal]

That's very impressive Bertie.

[Mr Gardener]

It is an impressive erection if I'm allow to say that...?

[cheapskate chaz]

Blimey! looks as if you took a leaf out of Kevin McClouds man-shed, but could still be pricey, or at least time consuming in sourcing materials from `skip diving`.

My 8`X 6` poly greenhouse is made from roofing batons and twin walled polycarbinate sheeting, all had been thrown out!,1/4" ply off cuts were used to join the corners or where some additional bracing was needed. The shape is traditional apexed roof, the top sheet was simply bent over the apex and nailed. All joints had a single long nail after the ply was addded to give a stiffer joint, I then nailed it down onto some old sleepers I was given, cost? just my labour and all on my own.
It`s nearly a year old, has been through nigh on hurricane winds and still stands. The only thing with Polycarb is less sunlight than glass, but heyho!