Kitchen Garden Forum

After years of having a small greenhouse I've just acquired a 12 x 8 aluminium greenhouse in order that I may grow a wider variety of tomatoes and other crops. I'm putting it on a brick base. The inside of the previous greenhouse was concrete, but as I'm starting from scratch with the new one I'm unsure whether to create a traditional "soil" border (or is it better to have two - one each side) or concrete the whole lot. Do the advantages of one method outweigh the other? Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks

Hi Littlesprout. I have a 10'x8' greenhouse and have always had soil borders on both sides of this one.

The other greenhouse is 6'x8' and I didn't have a soil border at all in this one, everything was in buckets and tubs. I changed that this year and dug out a border at one side as it seemed strange without soil. I have to admit, I do prefer growing in soil as opposed to the buckets and tubs. The crops -peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers - all grew very well and I didn't have the problems of worrying about them drying out if I couldn't get to the allotment one night, to water up.

Hope this helps.
Cheers.

By the way...Welcome to the forum Littlesprout!
Love the name!
cheers.

Rather than concrete, I would be inclined to put down mulch matting / woven mulch. It gives flexibility in allowing you to take up some of the weave if you want to create a bed sometime in the future. To revert the space back for pots and such, you can always put it back again. It's cheap, and lasts for years.

hi has anyone got any tips for what to grow and when in a greenhouse? i'd like to get as much use as possible out of mine

I've found the two soil borders with a path down the middle the most useful. You can put staging on one side while you are growing the seedlings, and then if you want you can remove the trays on the staging and grow taller things in the soil below and use the frame of the staging as a support, so both borders are in full use.

Over winter I usually put some lettluce, parsley, fennel, khol rabi, spinach, pak choi, spring onions and other chinese greens in. Most have already been started off in September to give them a chance to get growing before the light levels get too low. The plants that don't grow enough to pick this year usually tick over and start up for a nice early crop when the light levels increase again in February. You just have to check for bugs and slugs and put some fleece over them when it is very cold.

Hi Littlesprout.

Hope you are enjoying your new greenhouse.

We have a 12ft wide polytunnel fixed onto hardstanding (flags). With it being a reasonable size, we have built a raised bedding area down the middle which is filled with soil... It's like having a mini garden within the polytunnel and is just like growing outdoors, but with the all the added protection and benefits of a polytunnel or greenhouse.

We have staging down one side of the tunnel on which we grow flowers in trays and pots during Spring.

Down the other side of the tunnel we have large pots in which we grow our tomatoes. The tomatoes take longer to ripen at this time of year, but we still have a whole pot full in the kitchen! (Tomato soup will surely keep me warm over winter!)

I agree that you should consider a Ground Cover, rather than concrete, then you can easily swap and change whenever you feel like it or whenever your plants need it. Ground Covers are a great weed control, while still allowing water to disperse through into the ground without collecting in puddles. Most Ground Covers have grid lines, so you can set your pots out at regular intervals.

Have a great weekend!