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Setting up greenhouse interior

I have just had an 8x6  aluminium/glass greenhouse built. It is on a concrete base,  and I plan to grown tomatoes, peppers etc in grow bags and large pots placed on about 6inches of pea gravel.
I need to build a frame to retain the pea gravel . What would be the best material to use?
Also, will I need to have drainage holes drilled into the concrete base which is level either under the beds or under the staging on the other side?

Posts

  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    Answering your question with another solution, have you considered growing your tomatoes and peppers in Quadgrows? It is a hefty initial investment but the return is great. I had excellent quality fruit with no watering problems at all even if I left them to their own devices for days at a time. I would recommend buying lids to the pots as it makes attaching growing canes a cinch.
    Rutland, England
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    Why do you need pea gravel?  Can't you just sit your pots and grow bags on the concrete?  You will spill soil and compost on the floor of your greenhouse through natural use, and this will fall into the gravel and eventually act as a substrate for weeds and a hiding place for slugs.

    Most of our greenhouse is paved, so no drainage.  If you water carefully, with pots/trays under everything, then you shouldn't have a problem with drainage.  We use very large pots for our tomatoes/cucumbers in the greenhouse.  They are much easier to move around than grow bags, which can split.
  • You can buy large gravel trays reasonably cheaply and I find them very useful both on and off the staging. Plants that like it dry can keep their feet on top of dry gravel, but those that like a damp atmosphere or need lots of water can also be easily suited and it is easier to water the trays than individual pots.
    You do need strong staging though, a tray full of wet gravel  + pots is heavy!
  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    We used to have wooden staging which attached to the frame. I don't recommend it, it can bend/warp, and it's not very flexible when you want to rearrange things.  We replaced it with free-standing metal shelving from IKEA, it's much sturdier, and we can fit more plants onto it.  The shelves can also be set at any level, which is handy, and we can easily carry them outside when we want to clean the greenhouse.
  • cornellycornelly Posts: 970
    I use gravel trays to stand the pots on, the roots go down into the gravel, get good crops of tomatoes this way.
  • Many thanks for all your ideas and suggestions. The Quadgrows sound brilliant . Maybe expensive initially, but the cost of gravel, gravel trays and new large pots all add up too, and you can get a thrown-in holiday (what’s that?) watering system too.
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