BS: Fancy greenhouses

Subject: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 05:16 AM

I want to buy a greenhouse. How fancy does it need to be?

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 06:22 AM

What I'm looking for here is some advice on greenhouses - I don't know many people who have one. Things like - what will it need if it isn't going to blow away in high winds and how basic can it be? Some greenhouses sound great and are cheap but there are some very expensive ones around as well. Also, can I grow cacti in a greenhouse in the UK?

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 06:26 AM

Glass (or suitable type of plastic) to keep the heat in.
Windows/vents that open, to let the heat out.
Some way of suppling water (bucket/can/sprinkler).
That's about all as far as your plants are bothered.

Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 06:36 AM

Cacti do pretty well almost anywhere as long as they are protected from frost. It gets pretty cold in the desert at night you know...

A simple glazed frame raised off the ground worked well for my granfer for years - he'd got some house windows from a demolition site and put them up on a pile of bricks reminiscent of a Tate Gallery exhibit. Grannys cacti lived there very happily until someone dropped the tin bath on it.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 06:45 AM

My son has a lot (and I mean a lot) of cacti in his bedroom and I am keen to get some of them out of the house. I also want to start growing tomatoes etc. which I've never done before.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Janie
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 07:25 AM

How big a greenhouse are you considering? There are lots of kits out there in all kinds of price ranges. I've browsed a bunch of them, big and small, from hoop houses to glass. google them and you will find all kinds of information. Look at both garden supply and farm supply catalogs and sites. If you are going to get fairly complex and need to look at air circulators, solar lifters, heaters or roll-up panels, benches, etc. look at the farm supply catalogs.

Also look through the ads in garden magazines--both the big ads and the small box ads that usually run in the back pages.

I'm in the USA so the suppliers I am aware of wouldn't make sense for you. But for good information about materials, check out www.GrowersSupply.com. Their catalog has a wealth of information-I am assuming their website provides the same.

Janie

Glass will last but will cost. Plastics vary a lot

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 07:35 AM

I'm not absolutely sure of the size but I do want a reasonable sized one; I haven't got the space for anything too big though and I have to consider a number of things about position. I have looked on the internet at various garden supply websites but it hadn't occurred to me to look in farm supply catalogues so I'll do that. I'm not in a very sheltered position (I've already had problems with my new composting bins!) so I've been looking at the ones that sound like a rhinocerous. Anybody got one of those?

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 10:59 AM

Define reasonable size....

I helped put up a small Poly-tunnel (14x30 ft), in a very exposed upland site in the Scottish borders. It's still there several years later, in one piece, and doing it's job very well. Get one specified for exposed sites, and it will work.

The best labour saving device going for growing under cover is trickle-tape, ie the perforated hoses you leave on the soil, and they trickle water to the plants roots. They will save you so much time and effort compared to watering by hand, and cost very little.

Northern Polytunnels (link below) are very good, and do a very good range of sizes. I would urge you to go for the largest one you think you might want. The cost difference between them isn't too much, and the extra space is wonderful, as it allows you to do so much more. Things like early salad etc, germinating seedlings to plant out in the garden, as wells the cacti and tomatoes mentioned earlier.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Bee
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 11:19 AM

The other condition that kills the fatter cacti is cold and humid, which leads to mould and rot.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Alba
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 12:56 PM

Interesting topic actually.
I had a green house which I built using older window frames at my old House and now am looking for ideas for a smaller greenhouse at my new place.

Is this Link to the correct site you posted about Bunnahabhain? :Northern Polytunnels -uk

Those look very interesting and I know doubt can find something similiar over here across the pond.
Thanks for the info Folks and good luck with the catci and homegrown tomatoes those are the best kind of tomatoes eanjay:)
Jude

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 12:58 PM

Cacti need good drainage and as long as they don't get too wet a lot of them can tolerate some cold. Freezing isn't good for some of those that originate in climates that don't have cold winters.

Here in the U.S. you can find a lot of pre-fab plastic greenhouses buildings. A friend has a very efficient one that he bought at Sam's Warehouse Club (a branch of Walmart) about 10 years ago for $1000. Shelves, countertops, good drainage areas, vented windows and roof to keep the temperatures the way he wants. It's quite durable and very attractive.

I have a 7' x 13' dog kennel (cyclone fencing) that, with a heavy plastic wrap and a lid of some sort, would work for a temporary greenhouse.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 01:34 PM

That's the one alba. It was a Google ad I didn't get round to making into a proper link. I really can't recommend them enough.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Janie
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 03:09 PM

http://www.growerssupply.com/farm/supplies/home

For North America---Greenhouses, poly tunnels, growing supplies, kits of all kinds or the raw materials to design and construct your own--This place just about has it all. Primarily a site for farmers and market producers, but a great resource for the home gardener also. Prices are generally better than those of companies that target the home gardener as their primary market.

Reading the catalog is an education in and of itself.

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 03:51 PM

Some years ago, probably at a garage sale, I picked up an upright greenhouse- made of aluminum, 3 shelves, side walls created of visqueen and another sheet of visqueen at the front that rolls up to the top. It is bulky but not heavy; I can easily move it around. My idea was to use it as a starter for root vegetables and such.

As it happens, I've never used it. For most of those years I lived in a historic house museum devoted to the history and memorabilia of the District Judge who lived and died there, so only things that he may have had are suitable for display. And in his writings there is no indication that he had a greenhouse of any sort, although they had a garden.

After I left the museum my thought was to attach it to the outside wall of my apartment. My cautionary thought against that, however, is that it may draw bears. Juneau has a lot of black bears that roam the neighborhood. I really don't want to run into one at my door.

Any ideas? Next month would be a good time to start some potted veggies.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: dianavan
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 04:35 PM

You might consider a greenhouse attached to a window or to the side of your house. That way you can enjoy it year round.

http://longlife.ca/p_w_garden.html

http://www.sunspaces.com/sunspaces/sunspaces.htm

I've seen all kinds but I'm considering the window attachment. I have a window in my kitchen that faces east/southeast and I think it would be just right for seedlings and starts. I need to find out about leakage. Something tells me that they might be as much trouble as some of the skylights.

The most wonderful are the small solariums that attach to the house.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 06:48 PM

Re "solariums that attach to the house", I've never forgotten the article and photos I saw in a 'Mother Earth News' magazine featuring several homes where one entered the house through a porch-like solarium. Greenery was hanging everywhere and several black painted barrels were along the glass walls. The barrels were piped to release into the house at night the heat they accumulated during the
day. It was beautiful, and I can just imagine the odor of growing things.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 07:48 PM

Greenhouses? Well, maybe. But getting a good shed is the priority.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: dianavan
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 08:07 PM

Yes, the solarium I know of functions like a porch. Its wonderful. Its such a treat to have your food so close at hand. I loved sitting in there having tea. It was all so lush and fragrant. My friend says its a great place to putter and when the sun is shining, the light filters through the leaves and plays on the kitchen walls.

Subject: RE: BS: Fancy greenhouses
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Feb 07 - 09:45 PM

Light diffused and shining through green leaves is my idea of heaven, dianavan!