The Greenhouse Thread

[Sticks.]

Jambo85 said:

I had that too, I think it was pretty widespread and I am sure one of the gardening programmes said was a symptom of the hot dry summer (contrary to what you might expect for a fungal infection eg. blight).

Thanks, I didn't know that. Let's hope so. I've just sprayed the slabs with Patio Magic as they'd gone green, and into the joins etc where I could see it.

[48k]

Spring onions have now got this far:



Is this the stage to move them to individual pots or do they need to grow more in the tray?

Peppers have appeared. Toms looking like they went the same way as the cucumbers so like those I'll do version 2 with individual cells and my newly discovered seed compost.



Garlic arrived yesterday the instructions say this variety can be sown till March 3 cloves to a 7" pot so will give that a go and see what happens.

[48k]

Cucumbers version 2 looking a lot better than their predecessors thank goodness.

[227bhp]

^^ Don't forget to turn them round every day.

Next time I think i'll start mine off in separate pots, I split them and replanted the other day, I knew they'd wilt and look dead after that, but was relieved when they'd picked back up again.

Edited by 227bhp on Thursday 7th March 10:11

[Antony Moxey]

Just taken delivery of an 8’x6’ greenhouse with a base plinth (four strips of metal to be bolted together) included. It’s going to be sited on grass so what’s the collective wisdom on how to proceed?

The delivery guy suggested a concrete slab, I was wondering about slabbing the floor which in effect means building a small patio. Below is a pic of where it’s going (behind the washing line half a metre from the back wall and half a metre from the fence. Over to you

[Jambo85]

Does the base have legs on it? Halls?

I made concrete "piles" for mine in the corners and mid way down the sides where mine also had legs (it's a 12x8, I assume an 8x6 will only have 4 legs).

A full concrete slab would be awesome, but overkill really. I have a mix of slabs and gravel in mine.

Another option is a few courses of bricks or sleepers or something to lift the whole thing up and increase the ridge height, which in an 8x6 will make a lot of difference for tomatoes. Also good if you're tall, I could only really stand under the ridge of my old 8x6 and it was up on one layer of sleepers.

I've always thought thermal mass in a greenhouse like bricks or concrete would be nice for maintaining night time temperatures, but haven't tried it in practice.

[Jambo85]

BTW - Monty started back on the telly last week, covered some basics on seed sowing etc.

[Antony Moxey]

Jambo85 said:

Does the base have legs on it? Halls?.

It is Halls, but not sure on the legs. There is some form of anchor though I think. I’m thinking probably use that matting that stops the weeds growing through on the grass and then laying slabs on that. Outside the greenhouse the grass will be killed off and replaced with slate chippings. There’ll also be a raised bed in front of the greenhouse.

[48k]

Antony Moxey said:

Jambo85 said:

Does the base have legs on it? Halls?.

It is Halls, but not sure on the legs. There is some form of anchor though I think. I’m thinking probably use that matting that stops the weeds growing through on the grass and then laying slabs on that. Outside the greenhouse the grass will be killed off and replaced with slate chippings. There’ll also be a raised bed in front of the greenhouse.

Mine is a Halls Popular. The base has four angled strips that go in to the ground if you're going in to soft ground, or cut to the height of the base if you're not.


It sits partially on an existing patio and partially on artificial grass so i made a timber frame to get a level across the two surfaces and sat the greenhouse base on that. Bit of hacksaw action to cut the base strips to size, jobs a goodun.

Edited by 48k on Tuesday 12th March 20:14

[Pheo]

Row of slabs down the middle and beds either side? Lift the turf, turn it upside down ontop of itself, will compost down. Then can plant into the beds direct, rather than pots.

No right answer though!

[48k]

My sweetcorn has what looks like mould on top.

I assume this means I've been keeping it too warm and moist?

[Skyedriver]

West coast of Scotland, warm enough but damp.
Onions and shallots, outside or polytunnel?
Garlic has gone outside and potatoes will once it stops raining.

[227bhp]

48k said:

My sweetcorn has what looks like mould on top.

I assume this means I've been keeping it too warm and moist?

I don't know the answer, but it isn't warm and moist as that is exactly what you do need. They should be covered over individually though with glass or some cling film.
It's probably something in the compost, what is it? I don't think it's a real worry.

[48k]

227bhp said:

48k said:

My sweetcorn has what looks like mould on top.

I assume this means I've been keeping it too warm and moist?

I don't know the answer, but it isn't warm and moist as that is exactly what you do need. They should be covered over individually though with glass or some cling film.
It's probably something in the compost, what is it? I don't think it's a real worry.

I took the cover off to take the photo. The compost is John Innes number 1. I'll keep an eye on them they are due to be poking out any day now.

[Jambo85]

Are those the biodegradable pulp type pots? I stopped trying to germinate stuff in them as they’re a bugger for drying out.

[227bhp]

Jambo85 said:

Are those the biodegradable pulp type pots? I stopped trying to germinate stuff in them as they’re a bugger for drying out.

Great for planting out without disturbing the roots though.

[48k]

Greenhouse 1 month in - sitrep.



Tomatoes, melons, cucumber, more tomatoes, chillis and sweetcorn. Garlic on the bottom shelf.

Urgently need to get the outdoor beds built! Having fun. Learning loads.

[Bill]

Here's ours my wife's, I have no idea what she's up to but she's mentioned tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, chillis and a mountain of salads.

[Jambo85]

Got loads of stuff potted on this weekend - a few brassicas which are a bit leggy but should be fine, peppers and chillis and aubergines.

Also doing a few flowers for Mrs Jambo, Dahlias from seed and verbena and penstemon from cuttings. Cosmos, lupins and delphiniums in the propagator inside too. Hopefully this will limit the number that get bought from the garden centre in full flower at £7 each and die on planting!

Everything is a mess as I’ve put a barrow load of concrete around the edges to try to limit the flexing and glass breakage in high winds!

[48k]

Update - week 6.

Melons, tomatoes version 2, cucumbers version 2, peppers beetroot and salad onions doing ok. Cucumbers are ready to go in to their final pots I think. Probably the melons too. Toms won't be far away. Peppers it says on the packet to plant 60cm apart!! this could be tricky - I was hoping to put them in a trough but the trough isn't big enough, so may have to pot them individually. Is it ok to do that?

Big lesson learned so far - you're not supposed to plant all the seeds in the packet. I figured on some failures but given how the cucumbers and melons are looking so far, and given the greenhouse is only 6x4, I've got a problem.



I bought little starter strawberry plants a couple of weeks ago and one is starting to flower so I've potted them on today. Garlic seems to be doing ok and I've been acclimatising it to the patio every day for the last week.



Sweetcorn has failed - three week and no shoots at all. Not sure why - maybe too wet in the propagator? Anything I've started in those fibre pots has failed, I've had no luck with them at all so will stick to trays and plastic pots.

Any recommendations for compost for potting on? Think I'm going to busy next weekend.