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New to greenhouse life!

ladybug22ladybug22 Posts: 6
in The potting shed
Hello I am about to start doing the base for my new 6 x 10 greenhouse and after looking at some great advice on here, decided on a full paving slab base and growing in pots/growbags to reduce bugs/pests. I know these are stupid questions- but,

  • If I water my pots on the paving slabs will the water simply drain away down the cracks of the slabs or will I need to brush it out? 
  • Also, if I decide at a later date to put in a raised bed along one side, made of wood on top the slabs, is that advisable?
  • Is it easy to add electricity after the greenhouse is erected as I am not sure I have the budget to do that at the moment. I am so excited to get getting one, and wonder if I need to curb the excitement and save a bit longer for the electricity bit!
I would be so grateful for advice from someone experienced as I a definite greenhouse newbie!

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    If the slabs are grouted then water will sit there as there is no where for it to go.
    Mine is also on a paved base and the paving is at a 4° slope so that any water runs away - and it does. You could fill with sand between the slabs which would help.

    You could use a raised bed, but why not just leave an area so you can plant directly into the ground - it's what I do and works really well.

    If you're not putting leccy in for day 1, then I'd suggest running some conduit under the slabs before you start, then it's just a matter of putting the cable through the conduit when you're ready.

    Good luck & welcome to the forum

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • ladybug22ladybug22 Posts: 6
    Hi Pete.8

    Some good suggestions thank you! I am not 100% I need electric as I guess I could battery powered lights, but I was thinking perhaps for a heat if I needed it?
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Yes a good idea to have the provision for leccy.
    A few metres of conduit is only a few quid. If you put that in before the slabs then you can decide at a later date and if you want power you can feed the cable through the conduit. I have heated propagators in my gh which are a godsend early in the year to get tomatoes/peppers/chili/cucumbers going early.
    I've had 3 cucumbers already this year from seed I sowed on 3rd March.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • angelique 2angelique 2 Posts: 19
    my green house sits on a concrete slab. I have used growbags and pots and I don't have electricity with no plans to add it cause its just too expensive for me.

    I bought a thing (no idea what its called) that my grow bags sit in. its like a flatish black tray. I got it to keep the floor clean and to catch the water from the growbags so I did not waste water no other reason. If I'm honest when it is hot like the weather we have been having you will be glad for the wet floor in the green house because it brings a bit of humidity which plants love the water soon evaporates anyways.

    I grow all sorts without electricity in my greenhouse Tomatoes cucumbers smaller carrots strawberries lettuce aubergines and bedding plants. My seedlings do fine and its a north facing garden. I got a small propagator which I use indoors to get things going but really my seedlings do better if I just let them get on with it in the greenhouse and be patient. I did an experiment with some cosmos seeds this year and the ones I let sprout in the unheated greenhouse are not leggy and are more bushy and have a stronger stem that the ones I used the propagator for.

    Yes my garden is about 3 to 4 weeks behind my neighbour's but I know exactly when my outdoor plants will survive outside because they have grown without an electric mate under them. I even think they are stronger for it.

    My green house door is only closed in bad weather and by that's I mean strong wind. to protect the automatic roof leavers. If I get really impatient and want to generate some heat I close it at night. The concrete slab heats during the day from the sun it gets and that keeps my greenhouse plenty warm overnight.

    Hope the above helps.
  • HeliosHelios Posts: 232
    edited June 2020
    When I had my greenhouse I didn’t initially have electricity running to it. However I found I wished I were able to plug in a heater as and when and also be able to use my heated propagators in there. 

    My greenhouse stands on a metal base surround on top of slabs which have sand in between the joins. The electrician drilled some holes through the metal base to enable me to have a power point inside the greenhouse. A good job done and not expensive. As Pete says, it’s great to be able to get the propagators in there and in an exceptionally cold spell at nights I don’t even bother with the heater now, just cover the heated propagators with bubble wrap to help maintain their inner temperature. I wouldn’t be without that power in there now🙂
  • cornellycornelly Posts: 970
    When I was growing from seed and cuttings I had gas heating in the glasshouse, now I have reduced the amount of plants grown no heating, tomatoes started in the back bedroom put in the unheated glasshouse when I believe it is safe, other veg ie cabbage lettuce etc sow the seed in trays in the glasshouse, as required.
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    I don’t have electricity and successfully grow tomatoes, aubergines and peppers. I can usually start sowing seeds in mid-March -all in the greenhouse.
    I also have beds in the ground and usually plant everything directly into them. This year I have some peppers and tomatoes in pots as I wanted to grow more plants and to be quite honest wish I hadn’t. Those planted in the ground I usually water once a week, maybe twice when we had the last summer drought. The pots I’m having to water almost every day at the moment, those in the beds once a week.
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
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