4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Chickens@61]

what do you grow in them?

 

we have a small veg plot in the garden, and now the children are getting older i am thinking of sacrificing some more of the lawn, i have wondered about getting a greenhouse.

 

do you think they are an 'efficient' use of space? and how much of the year is your greenhouse in use for?

 

sorry, lots of questions - will be grateful for any advice offered

[Cinnamon]

I grow tomatoes,aubergines,cucumbers & peppers in mine & this year I will do herbs too.

 

It is dormant from october to march really,but that doesn't bother me.

There are things you can grow overwinter if its properly weather proof & you have a heater

[surferdog]

I'm very much a summer gardener so it's just used for starting off seeds, dahlia tubers, onion sets, etc. Like Cinnamon's it's empty from October onwards (although I always start sowing too soon so by Feb it's chock a block again.... )

[missuscluck]

I use mine for sewing my seeds and nuturing little plants. When everything is planted out I use it to grow Chillis, cucumbers, aubergines and peppers.

I find tomatos grow as well outdoors for me.

My Greenhouse is very small 6x4. I wish I had got a bigger one. I do love it though. Its wooden and really pretty.

[Saronne]

Hi,

 

I use our 6 x 6 greenhouse for starting off seeds/cuttings, chitting potatoes, etc. from about February. Then, like others who have written, I grow tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, herbs or anything that appreciates a warmer environment.

This winter, I kept my son's orange tree in the greenhouse. He grew it from seed about 10 years ago and it's getting a bit big for the livingroom - it's also a bit spikey. During the really cold weather, I covered it at night with a polythene sheet for extra protection - it's been fine.

 

If you do decide to get one, get the biggest one you can afford - and go for safety glass rather than horticultural glass. Polycarbonate is very safe, too, but a bit lightweight and has a dull finish which isn't so attractive.

 

Saronne

[Snowy]

I had one many years ago at our old house, but haven't had one since. We grew tomatoes, cucumbers and melons! It got used a lot for potting and transplanting and also for storage over winter. I used to love being in it on a sunny winters day - it could get really warm! I am planning on fitting one into my current garden somehow!

[Chickens@61]

thank you for all the replies - we are definately getting a greenhouse anyway, as when we started mentioning it my parents offered us a 6x4 lean to free of charge!

 

i am thinking cucumber, peppers, herbs at the moment - our tomatoes usually do ok outside in their sunny spot

 

when you start veg from seed in the greenhouse - do they end up a bit 'leggy'.. we started a few things off on the kitchen windowsill last year, and they didn't do very well!

 

thanks again for any info

[Mrs Webmuppet]

I used to have a greenhouse. I grew tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, melons and raised all my seedlings in there ( I had collapsable staging on one side - used it for seedlings then collapsed it to make room for the tomatoes that were growing underneath). They don't go leggy in the greenhouse because the light is much better.

 

In the winter it was home to the guinea pig hutch (the pigs loved the greenhouse, it was always dry and they could run around in there while I cleaned them out) and my banana trees. Sadly neither the guinea pigs or the banana trees are with us now.

 

I have a conservatory now (different house, different part of the country) and still grow tomatoes and cucumbers ( or rather LMW claims to but the gardening fairy does most of the work )

[Snowy]

I've never had much success with seeds since losing my greenhouse - I used to grow loads (mainly flowers then) very successfully!

[Olly]

Mine's unheated, so I start seeds off in the house and then put them out there when they've been potted on or grown a bit. I'd never had a greenhouse till I moved here two years ago, and I tried lots of seeds the first year but found it was too cold for things to germinate out there.

 

In the summer I'll have tomatoes, cucumbers (I hope) and peppers in there. At the moment I let the chickens use it to dustbath in on wet days! They'll be banned as soon as I get seedlings in there, though.

 

It is lovely on a cool day or when it's raining, I can sit in there and potter and feel warm!

[Lesley]

We don't have a greenhouse - we used to have a polytunnel and now have a Keder Polygreenhouse (they call it a greenhouse but it's more poly than green!)

 

We grow salad leaves all through the winter as well as overwintering some of the herbs - I have an enormous parsley plant in there which I've been cutting all winter.

[Saronne]

Your seedlings should not get too leggy in the greenhouse as they'll have access to all that light.

 

Have fun with your greenhouse, you'll love it!

 

 

Saronne x

[Guest]

We use ours for seedlings and cuttings and overwintering things. We took loads of cuttings of this summers fuschias etc and have overwintered them - will save a bob or two down at the garden centre this year.

 

It's also a good place to keep the hose - stops it freezing!

 

We don't grow things in the greenhouse - I find tomatos grow brilliantly outdoors and last summer I grew the most amazing cucumbers outdoors - they were the best I'd tasted in a long time - shame I put them in so late that I only got a couple off of them.

 

Last summer we didnt' have a usable greenhouse - the one at the end of the garden has had it - leaks a little and wasn't even slightly frost resistant. It is now part of the chicken run and their fave place to dustbath (until it flooded a couple of weeks ago when Essex nearly drowned! )

 

Our lovely new greenhouse has automatic vents and leccie for a light and the old heater that Mum brought from her old house. And it's nearer the house so a lot more accessible on those short winter days - the old one is at the bottom of the garden. I'll not post another piccie cos it makes Christian go

[Valkyrie]

If I heated mine, I would be growing toms much earlier - and they can be kept going long into the winter - we had toms at Christmas before, along with orange, lemon and lime trees. But after a horrendous electricity bill a few years ago I decided to use the heat only in spring just to keep the frost off the seedlings. The citrus died after getting scale insect really bad even though I kept wiping the critters off.

We have had spuds in over winter in an unheated greenhouse too. I generally use mine for toms, peppers and aubergines. But I also have tagetes and other flowers to attract beneficial insects and the smell of the tagetes and French marigolds tend to keep the nasty ones out aswell. I also keep cuttings of penstemons and other plants in there until the wet season is over. I grew carrots in deep pots last year as an experiment and was successful. At the moment I am just starting to sow seeds and put them in some heated propagators, which are mainy for veg, some petunia seed saved from last year and a few other flowers. I love basil, so have several plants around the greenhouse just to brush against and sniff that wonderful aroma while pottering around.

Ours is an Alton greenhouse and has slatted vents at one end, windows at ground level that can be opened for more ventilation and roof vents which open automatically - and a double sliding door, we have electric sockets at both ends and a light for those evenings when you just can't stop finding something to do in there!

[Snowy]

Koojie your greenhouse sounds like heaven!

[blackgold]

I have 2 greenhouses one 12by 6 and one 6 by 4 and a conservatory. All our chokka by march. I spend half my life in them and the other half with the dogs. When i am not at work..... love Sue

[Valkyrie]

Ooh Blackgold - I think we would like to see your goodies in the houses!

Snowy - mine is about 15/16 ft long by about 10 ft wide - enough to fit the goodies in - probably overdo it as usual and have too many plants and too few gaps.

[Guest]

Ours is an Alton greenhouse too Koojie.

 

I only remember that because we bought it at my fave garden centre - Altons. They are not even remotely affiliated but it stuck in my mind.

 

Attendees on my hen parties get recommended to Omlet, Hens4homes and Altons!

[Valkyrie]

Hellooo Pengy! Yep love my Alton too. I have 2 Sungolds sprouting already - no sign of the other sowings though. I am a happy bunny today!

We got ours from a place in Farnham - it's quite an odd site with statues and greenhouses dotted up a hillside off a roundabout. Added bonus it's next to a really nice old antique place - spend ages getting lost in there. Fortunately the guys from the head office put it up for us because there were some bits missing as a gesture of goodwill. While they were here they freed a starling from the gutters of our house - it got tangled in some string that it was trying to nest with and I was given a book on growing veg in greenhouses - the guys own book. I read it and made notes and posted it back to him. They said good job they put it up - the instructions were a little lacking and we would have had problems doing it by ourselves. Apart from the initial inconvenience, they were really good and I recommend them too.

I get lots of leaf cutter bees popping their eggs in the gaps inside the greenhouse - more timewasters. I also have an abundance of spiders (encouraged by me) and baby spider nests/eggs are always rescued and put in safer areas where I am not going to drown or squash them. Since adopting these youngsters I rarely get pest problems in there anymore, although it can be a bit of a pain when the little'uns start abseiling everywhere and I often have them dangling in front of my eyes where they hanging on my fringe/hair. Then again towards autumn when they get bigger and I walk into a web just behind the door. Most do leave home to find somewhere new. Good job I love my little/huge arachnids. I also have the huge hairy ones on the ground under pots and someone is living in the bricks under the water butt - methinks another hairy one.

Anyone run away or got the shivers now? Harrrr!

[blackgold]

no I like spiders, they eat flies whose habits are digusting.......Dont like ants cos i am terribly allergic to their formic acid bites. try to encourage decent sized spiders in my greenhouses cos it seems to keep white moth at bay, Love Sue xxx

[Tiggy]

We don't have a greenhouse - we used to have a polytunnel and now have a Keder Polygreenhouse (they call it a greenhouse but it's more poly than green!)

 

We grow salad leaves all through the winter as well as overwintering some of the herbs - I have an enormous parsley plant in there which I've been cutting all winter.

 

I have a keder too, do you have problems with the screws comming out of the door catch? the wood seems very soft.

 

I have a fig tree in a dustbin over wintering and strawberried in hanging baskets, some broad beans coming into flower and salad leaves

[Snowy]

Never thought about encouraging spiders in the greenhouse - thats useful. I have a monster lurking in the shed - I'll transplant him when the greenhouse arrives

[Lesley]

I have a keder too, do you have problems with the screws comming out of the door catch? the wood seems very soft.

 

We haven't had any problems so far - have you spoken to Keder?