They ain't earned the nick name of Blow aways for nothing. Sorry I could not resist. But I am on my third, the better ones do last a few years each. If you can find a good cover. Some are very poor. You can get a white netted reinforced one as well as green. (Sorry to name drop but Wilkinsons do white ones), which may be a tiny bit better than the green versions with light. Not by a lot I would imagine. But the "netted" ones do tend to be thicker and last a bit longer than some other covers.
Thank you all, this was very helpful @Topbird, that's exactly what I was wondering re propagating seeds. If I'm needing to propagate them indoors and then also pot them on indoors (which is where the real space problems start!) if I'm only using the grow house to harden off I'm not sure it actually is worth the investment (or the faff).
WISH I could afford a proper greenhouse! Maybe if I write to Father Christmas
Better with a decent cold frame for seeds. They really don't offer much protection, other than from rain. They don't have any insulating properties for cold weather, and get very hot inside, even on days which haven't a high temp, and with the doors open fully, so you have to be very vigilant with young plants etc. Fluctuating temps can be more destructive than just high or low temps. The wind problem is well known, and the covers rip very easily. Better to invest in something better. The only good thing is the shelving - the perfect sized holes to make cages for bird feeders
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Depends what you want to sow and when @gilla.walmsley - you’ll get away with some things. If you can wait until March / April to sow and stick to things which you could sow outside (many vegetables and hardy and half hardy annuals perhaps) you would find one very useful for getting a head start. Even things which require a more regulated temp to germinate can be germinated indoors but grown on in the grow house. Maybe with a view to bringing them indoors if it’s forecast to be very cold.
Rigid expanded polystyrene can be recycled to lay on the mesh shelves for a bit of extra insulation and a very sheltered spot and a fleece blanket can really help. A long burning candle under an upturned terracotta pot on the bottom shelf to light on a chilly night can also be surprisingly effective (not if there’s a risk of it blowing over though!)
It will never be the same as a heated greenhouse but it can be a useful tool if you adapt what and when you grow while you save for your ‘proper’ greenhouse.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Better with a decent cold frame for seeds. They really don't offer much protection, other than from rain. They don't have any insulating properties for cold weather, and get very hot inside, even on days which haven't a high temp, and with the doors open fully, so you have to be very vigilant with young plants etc. Fluctuating temps can be more destructive than just high or low temps. The wind problem is well known, and the covers rip very easily. Better to invest in something better. The only good thing is the shelving - the perfect sized holes to make cages for bird feeders
Spoilsport 😋. I'd agree they aren't something you can forget about for long periods, probably similar to most greenhouses/pollytunnels though likely exaggerated owing to the small size. Damping off is also an issue.
I've never totally seen the benefits of coldframes, I'd image they are warmer/stronger but provide less light and height. I'm happy to be convinced though 🙂
I ave a couple but I tend to use the shelves without the covers. Currently one is full of pots of bulbs to be planted in the ground in a couple of months, the other is against the house wall holding plants in pots that benefit from just a little bit of shelter in the winter.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I used one for the first time last year, with extra weight to hold it down. Assuming you have it well pegged / weighted to the ground, another useful thing I found when the wind blows is to attach a pair of clothes lines tensioned with bungee cords , horizontally around the whole structure, which reduces the billowing of the cover.
Mine had a fair amount of weight in it earlier this year but still toppled forwards to dump a lot of plants on the floor. So now it has the weight (bags of sand and grit) stopping it from taking off plus the cord strapping it to the fence.
I plan to turn an old tile packing crate I found online for free (thank you FB Marketplace!) and turn it into a cold frame using lots of spare bubble wrap.
It's heavy already but I'll level out the 'floor' with a spare patio tile. I'm aware that it won't be much use for growing from seed, but plan to use it as a place to harden off vegetable plants, and for extra warmth when growing my summer tomato and chilli plants as it will be in a south facing position. And in winter I can keep any more tender potted plants out of the worst of the frosts.
It will be bit of a learning curve but given all of the materials will have been for free, I feel it's worth giving it a go! I guess if the plastic cold frames aren't too expensive, give it a go and see what works for you
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need"
I have had 2 of these plastic greenhouses. My first, lasted a few years. Where is was kept was very sheltered. It did break due to very high winds towards the end of one summer. I think that I got quite complacent with it as where it was, I thought no element could get it.
My second greenhouse was one you walk into with shelves on each side. This was put up in my current garden, somewhere I thought was sheltered. I was wrong with that. I got up one morning to a shredded cover. I bought a replacement cover and within weeks I had the same, along with poles that had been blown along with the cover. The bottom was still intact as it was weighted down with bricks.
I think these greenhouses are good. Just in the right place. Make sure it is in a very sheltered part of ulur garden.
Like you, I would love a green house. I currently grow my seeds in my conservatory which is fine but in spring time you have to watch your footing when having a sit down in there
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Sorry I could not resist.
But I am on my third, the better ones do last a few years each. If you can find a good cover. Some are very poor.
You can get a white netted reinforced one as well as green. (Sorry to name drop but Wilkinsons do white ones), which may be a tiny bit better than the green versions with light. Not by a lot I would imagine.
But the "netted" ones do tend to be thicker and last a bit longer than some other covers.
WISH I could afford a proper greenhouse! Maybe if I write to Father Christmas
They really don't offer much protection, other than from rain. They don't have any insulating properties for cold weather, and get very hot inside, even on days which haven't a high temp, and with the doors open fully, so you have to be very vigilant with young plants etc. Fluctuating temps can be more destructive than just high or low temps.
The wind problem is well known, and the covers rip very easily. Better to invest in something better.
The only good thing is the shelving - the perfect sized holes to make cages for bird feeders
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If you can wait until March / April to sow and stick to things which you could sow outside (many vegetables and hardy and half hardy annuals perhaps) you would find one very useful for getting a head start. Even things which require a more regulated temp to germinate can be germinated indoors but grown on in the grow house. Maybe with a view to bringing them indoors if it’s forecast to be very cold.
Rigid expanded polystyrene can be recycled to lay on the mesh shelves for a bit of extra insulation and a very sheltered spot and a fleece blanket can really help. A long burning candle under an upturned terracotta pot on the bottom shelf to light on a chilly night can also be surprisingly effective (not if there’s a risk of it blowing over though!)
It will never be the same as a heated greenhouse but it can be a useful tool if you adapt what and when you grow while you save for your ‘proper’ greenhouse.
I've never totally seen the benefits of coldframes, I'd image they are warmer/stronger but provide less light and height. I'm happy to be convinced though 🙂
Mine had a fair amount of weight in it earlier this year but still toppled forwards to dump a lot of plants on the floor. So now it has the weight (bags of sand and grit) stopping it from taking off plus the cord strapping it to the fence.
It's heavy already but I'll level out the 'floor' with a spare patio tile. I'm aware that it won't be much use for growing from seed, but plan to use it as a place to harden off vegetable plants, and for extra warmth when growing my summer tomato and chilli plants as it will be in a south facing position. And in winter I can keep any more tender potted plants out of the worst of the frosts.
It will be bit of a learning curve but given all of the materials will have been for free, I feel it's worth giving it a go! I guess if the plastic cold frames aren't too expensive, give it a go and see what works for you
My second greenhouse was one you walk into with shelves on each side. This was put up in my current garden, somewhere I thought was sheltered. I was wrong with that. I got up one morning to a shredded cover. I bought a replacement cover and within weeks I had the same, along with poles that had been blown along with the cover. The bottom was still intact as it was weighted down with bricks.
I think these greenhouses are good. Just in the right place. Make sure it is in a very sheltered part of ulur garden.
Like you, I would love a green house. I currently grow my seeds in my conservatory which is fine but in spring time you have to watch your footing when having a sit down in there