Mini plastic greenhouse covers

[Primrose]

How many of you use these mini four shelved plastic greenhouses? Perhaps not many as you may all have the pukka jobs, but I've had one for several years and am very frustrated that the Gardman replacement covers I've been using always rip around the zipped area because the stitching is not reinforced and the cover seems to fit too tightly around the metal tubed structure.
I'm wondering if I'm the only person suffering this problem? I've tried sticking transparent duct tape over the tear but there isn,t sufficient "sticking area" on the zip material for the repair to hold. Any ideas how I can keep the cover going for another year as the rest of it is in good condition and I hate throw away items which may still have some active use in them.

[Westi]

I'd like to offer you a useful reply Primrose but mine blew away & I've never found it! (Obviously nicked) What if you got the hairdryer & Singer out? Warm the plastic so more malleable & sew some bias binding around edge of zip!

OK - just moan & moan to the manufacturers - they won't know difficulties unless someone tells them!

Westi

[Primrose]

I have just had a very positive response to my complaint to Gardman who are sending me a replacement cover, so full marks to them for good consumer service.
So with this in mind can anybody please tell me whether I'm likely to be successful in growing some living salad leaves in a plastic mini greenhouse over winter or whether the temperatures are likely to be too low?

[Ricard with an H]

Is it the same as mine ?

[Primrose]

No, yours is bigger than mine which is the standard four shelved mini greenhouse that you see in most garden centres.

[peter]

No, yours is bigger than mine which is the standard four shelved mini greenhouse that you see in most garden centres.

AKA a grow bag greenhouse when you leave the upper shelves out and grow tomatoes in a grow bag on the bottom shelf.

[Ricard with an H]

I've tried sticking transparent duct tape over the tear but there isn,t sufficient "sticking area" on the zip material for the repair to hold. .

Worth a try is to buy a tube of 'Stormsure' or 'Aquasure'. We use 'Stormsure' to repair outdoor clothing, sails, kitesurfing kites, wetsuits and now plastic greenhouses.

It's about £7 a tube from surfshops or chandlers. Once opened it needs to be kept in the coldest part of your fridge, I think it's whats know as 'Isocyanate-curing'. It doesn't cure by solvent loss so it's go off in the tube. Best use the whole tube in one go.

I can confidently say I have never found it to fail. When you've repaired the zip area you'll need to spray the whole zip regularly with silicone spray which might permeate the fabric and not allow any further repairs but will help stop any rot.

My tent has the fabric melting around the places where the tube touches it, i'll be gluing patches of sail cloth or rip-stop tent material over the holes with 'Aquasure' rather than stitching.

I was going to take mine down over winter but now i'll have a little more confidence to leave it up and use it for tender things. It is in a sheltered area though the vacuum in that sheltered area is as bad as a full-on 30 knots winds at times which is trying to lift the tent vertically from the ground.

[Ricard with an H]

I've just realised how bad this problem is and whilst the product I recommended is very good at this sort of thing I don't think it's the answer in this case.

On inspection of my plastic roof, everywhere it touches the steel tubes the plastic has come away from the reinforcing material.

How i'm dealing with it is to use some tape I bought from Lidle some months back, it's by a brand called 'Powerfix'. They call it waterproof or weatherproof tape and it is very-very sticky. I tested it overnight in water and it's still stuck so I started repairing my roof.

I think you can buy some clear tape that may be as good as this if not better from one of the online building and general suppliers like Toolstation or Screwfix.

We won't know if my fix has fixed the problem until after winter, i'm always up for a challenge and thank goodness i'm a serial-buyer or horder of anything that might come useful in the future.

Your-truly.
Mr R. Fixit.

[Primrose]

I suffered a particular problem with my mini greenhouse in hot weather in that where the plastic cover was resting on the roofing tubes of the greenhouse structure it was actually melting because the metal tubes had become so hot.

I found the only answer to this was to remove the cover while I wrapped a narrow Jeycloth-type long bandage around the roofing tubes wherever the plastic came into contact with the metal. It looks a bit unsightly but worked very effectively as an emergency measure and I imagine any material which insulates the metal and acts as a heat barrier to stop the plastic cover making contact with the metal would work equally well.

[Ricard with an H]

Same with mine, little squares melted out all along where the steel tubes touch. I took the advise of someone earlier in the year. Maybe it was you.

I just padded out the corners and the ridge but the plastic still melted at those spots and other places where an occasional contact is made.

I'll try to make this one last through the winter and spring, I learnt last year that unless you have heat you just have to wait until things warm up then all of a sudden it's far too warm.

Above 10 degrees seems to be the magic temperature, my grasses and weeds are growing at 10 degrees but a lot of the stuff I sowed failed or went leggy. Bizarrely those French marigolds I struggled with leapt into life eventually and they are still flowering along with the standard marigold where I have been able to dead-head.

I learnt a lot last year.

PS.

I had just saved enough money to consider getting involved in a greenhouse when the steering hydraulics went Kaput on our lovely motorhome.

Last year it was front wheel bearings, the year before a new sump and the year before. Yawn................

Will I ever catch-up.

[FelixLeiter]

Polytunnel repair tape ought to fit the bill. It's extremely sticky and it's made from polythene, rather than whatever-it-is-that-Sellotape-is-made-from (cellophane?) . Anyway, excellent shear strength, which is important here.

Polytunnels utilise anti-hotspot tape to ensure better longevity for coverings. I'm surprised your mini greenhouse doesn't include this. I suppose it cuts costs. If you know someone with a polytunnel, they might let you have the end of a roll.