Greenhouse

[Franksmum]

Hello everyone, i would like some advice please...
We are due to move to our first house with nice (sizewise and largely unmessed with) garden sometime in May or June.

I am very keen to start growing our own veg and one of our big buys is going to be a greenhouse. I'd like some advice from you experts as to what we should be looking for and the maximum two beginners should be paying??

Many thanks!!

PS not going to be doing a fat lot to the garden for the rest of this year as we don't know whats in it or what the soils like yet.

[sandersj89]

Hi

I would suggest it need not be a large expense as there are always greenhouses for sale on ebay and in the local free ads, often free to a good home though you have to dismantle it and transport it.

If you want to go the new route again it can be cheap, there are some for less than a £100 if you search the web. Though you do get what you pay for and they may not be glazed with glass or the frames are lighter than more expensive numbers.

For a minimum I would suggest a 6’ by 8’ with at least 2 roof vents and ideally a louvered vent low on the end. Ventilation is key. Automatic openers are also a great idea.

Personally I prefer toughened glass in my greenhouse as I have young children in the area and horticultural glass is very thin and breaks easily into very sharp shards.

For more ideas have a look on line at any of the hundreds of sites selling them.

HTH

Jerry

[richard p]

just remember whatever size you get will in a year or two be too small, get the biggest you can fit in and afford. size does matter!

[Franksmum]

LOL I'll let the much beloved that - he'll sulk for a while I expect.....

Thanks for the tips so far!

My Mum has a standardish aluminium frame greenhouse and she complains it's too small after 8 years. I've seen some lovely cedar jobs but there's no way we can afford anything like that yet. There shouldn't a problem with space so I was looking for the largest for the money. But I gather glass wins over plastic every time?

I really need more info on what sort of ventilation and/or heating devices are needed - what sort of flooring do you have if any?

How do you keep out unwanted rodents?
I could use the mogs but fear they would use the pots as toilets after eating all seedlings available...

[sandersj89]

Glass is better for light transmission but plastic has better thermal properties, personally I prefer glass, others will prefer plastic.

Ventilation is as important as heating, that is why I said even in a small house you need both roof and side vents. This creates a flow of air through the whole house. Larger houses need vents all over the place to control temperatures and reduce humidity.

For heating most people start out with paraffin but I find this smelly and it produces a lot of moisture so prefer electricity. You can then use fan heaters and soil warming cables to heat the house. The fan heater also moves the air around increasing ventilation. Make sure the installation meets all the current regulations though as it is a wet environment.

For rodent control I rely on traps and poison.

HTH

Jerry

[Tigger]

I have two tunnel tents which the cats use as an alternative home during the summer to their winter barn, which keeps the mice and rats to a minimum.

I have doors at either end and eating vines growing inside which give shade during the hottest times.

My floors are sealed with liner and covered with gravel so I don't have any slug or snail invasions.

[Allan]

So much depends on the planned usage. If you are just going to grow tomatoes and cucumbers in the summer and put the bikes and lawnmower in it the rest of the year it would be far cheaper to buy them , preferably from a local grower. However if you plan the greenhouse as a stepping-stone for propogation, with maybe cold frames or low tunnels as an intermediary stage and maybe some containers of veggies at other times it may be a wise first purchase. I started off with a 14x10 after 3 years of experiments including cloches and makeshift frames, I got good use of it all. The standard recommended size over many years used to be 12'x8' which always has its uses, anything smaller tends to have wilder swings of temperature. Whatever your choice you could easily find that with staging,ventilation,watering, pots and boxes you have to spend a similar sum on those to get good use out of the greenhouse. How about spending initial efforts on raised beds for this summer, always useful, and get the greenhouse in the autumn when you have examined possibilities a bit more.

[Happymouse]

My Sister has a polycarbonate greenhouse. The panels blow out when it is windy. Usually end up in a neighbours garden !

[Chantal]

I bought a polycarbonate greenhouse, mail order, and it was a VERY bad mistake. Despite being told that it was "simple" to erect, I spent 6 months trying to sort it out, with the aid of several friends. After phone calls to the supplier we managed to put together one end. I then employed someone from my local garden centre to put it up for me. He said it would take about half a day, he does this for a living. It took him 3 whole days and at the end I still didn't have a window and the door didn't fit properly. He said it was the worse job he'd ever undertaken. The first slightly stiff breeze and three of the panels shattered and so it went on, it also went rusty. At 18 months old I binned it as it was made up of more greenhouse tape than polycarbonate and bought an Acorn greenhouse from my local garden centre. I built it myself in a day (which proves I'm not thick I suppose) and now have a second. My recommendation on polycarbonate is just don't go there!

[Compo]

I brought a little one from Norfolk Greenhouses and it took me hours to build it is now screwed to the side of the shed and works quite well, however, i was recently given a glass 10x6 and moved int all from a neighbours garden to my plot in a day, the base was made out of 4x2 anchored in the ground, i recommend glass any day, stick with 24inch square panes that can easily be replaced by glass merchants, spare clips for the glass can be brought in b and q or from many online sources

[Chantal]

Mine was from the same company. You live and learn.

[Johnboy]

I bought one a couple of years back at the Gardeners World Exhibition from Greenhouses Direct.I selected an Eden Greenhouse with the option of double sliding doors. Just normal Aluminium with Horticultural Glass it is 12'x 8' and cost £504.00.
delivered. I put this up very easily and it is on a concrete base, although it has it's own heavy section base, and bolted it down to the concrete because I live in an area of high winds.
Although I have commercial Tunnels I find that growing Tomatoes under glass is a far superior way. Greenhouses Direct can offer a very good range of greenhouses from different manufacturers.
If you go for the green coloured ones with toughened glass then the pennies really mount up but if all you need is a decent place to produce plants then you do not need to go mad about it.
Well recommended.

[Franksmum]

Wow thank you everybody for all your help!
We do want to grow much more than the odd tomato plant so I've made notes of all your suggestions and we shall a greenhouse hunting go!! (Although my partner suggested I calm down and wait til we actually get the garden to put it in first...) Men, huh.

[Deb P]

You could also try companies on eBay, I got my greenhouse like this last year (after the wooden one my joiner husband had been building me for the past 10 years was eaten by some bee larvae!)and negotiated to get exactly what I wanted. When putting them up, I suggest having a counsellor on hand to deal with the relationship strain! Some firms offer this as an extra...(the erecting of the greenhouse, not the counselling!!)I would seriously consider it!

[peter]

Try http://www.greenhousesdirect.co.uk/