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Why did I buy a greenhouse

LilyWLilyW Posts: 41
in Tools and techniques
I spent a lot of money on a much lusted after greenhouse. So now I have it, and it’s already April but my seedlings are still germinating on the kitchen windowsill, because of these continued low temperatures at night. so when can I actually put my veg and citrus Trees into the greenhouse? The only seedlings I have in there are sunflowers, which makes them very expensive per bloom!

is anyone else more daring? With temperatures not set to be above 5degrees at night in Surrey, when can I clear my windowsill and kitchen?
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  • LeadFarmerLeadFarmer Posts: 1,500
    I've got a heated propagator in mine going chilli plants, will be sowing some other seeds tomorrow.
    Not all seeds need warmth, many first need a period of cold to trigger them, so can be sown in the greenhouse now.
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    Not sure how to answer this but.....we have a polytunnel which is too cold to sow seeds when the frosts are about. So we sow indoors and then once growing put them into the polytunnel to harden off.
    We only do veg so maybe no use to you.
    Don't give up. Your greenhouse will work for you once you have a system but citrus trees...not sure.
  • borgadrborgadr Posts: 718
    I have a small electric fan heater in my greenhouse that keeps it just above freezing when it's exdeptionally cold (even when we had -8 outside in December) and at or above 5 degrees for most other winter nights. It makes all the difference - citrus trees and tender plants spend the winter in there.

    As for seedlings - I also germinate mine on window sills but as soon as they germinate they go straight  into the greenhouse. Honestly, citrus should be fine. Even if it drops below 5 in your greenhouse, it's not like leaving them outside  - the lowest temperatures are much shorter-duration in there plus they're not sitting in winter wet.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    edited April 2023
    I can't answer the query about citrus, but similar to @borgadr , once they've germinated (heated propagator in the greenhouse) l leave the lid off,  and then after a week or so they're taken out of the propagator altogether.
    They're pricked out and left to their own devices. I have an automatic vent and obviously keep an eye on the daytime temperature. 
    Any sign of temperatures approaching zero degrees C overnight and l put fleece over the seed trays.
  • LilyWLilyW Posts: 41
    Interesting.
    my courgette, peppers, tomato and Cucumber have germinated, thanks to trays on the windowsill and radiators underneath. Sounds like I can Transfer them over now then. Exciting.

    the expensive dahlias from the Loverly Sarah raven are also in the greenhouse now, but no sign of green shoots there. It’s amazing how short our window of growing plants actually is. I never really noticed before, as I just bought from garden centres.


  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    My small unheated greenhouse is full of plants. Sweet peas at night ( hardening them off during the day) plus tomatoes and cucumbers and courgettes seedlings, some cuttings from a senecio and catmint. In big pots are an olive tree and 2 guava plants plus freesia bulbs just poking through. 
    It’s the perfect place to potter when it’s raining outside as well. 
    The big pots will remain all summer and  there will be growbags for tomatoes and chillies and cucumbers. I also grow basil and thinking of a few strawberry plants. 
    It’s also a great place to keep secateurs and trowels and string and plant food all together in the dry. 
    I love my greenhouse. 
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    Some say that plastic containers, painted matt black and filled with water, will absorb sufficient daytime warmth to keep the night time chill off - but I don't have a greenhouse so am merely passing on gossip.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Thinking ahead, if you can see your greenhouse from the house, l'd suggest potting up Spring bulbs in the Autumn. 
    Things such as crocus and dwarf Narcissi will give you something colourful to look at in late Winter/early Spring,  rather than just looking at an empty greenhouse. 
    If you need the space, you can always move the pots out into the garden.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I wouldn't have dahlias out in a greenhouse just now unless it was heated @LilyW. 
    I don't sow until later March or April for things like tomatoes as it just isn't warm enough here, and we've had the heating on far less too, so everything's much slower than normal because of that as well. 
    You have to sow according to conditions as well as taking note of whether the plants are hardy or half hardy. Dahlias, and all those veg are half hardy, so they need enough warmth and also - light. Light is every bit as important for most of them.  :)
    Hardy annuals are a bit easier. I've got sweet peas out under the bench and they've been there a while, as they were sown earlier than usual as an experiment. The ones sown in late March [as normal] are just starting to germinate in the gr'house. Faster germination isn't necessarily a good thing either. It can make them weaker plants.  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • WAMSWAMS Posts: 1,960
    I am now hardening off my dahlias and bring them in at night to an unheated windowsill in a back room with a window that needs replacing... your Surrey greenhouse may be warmer lol
    Most seedlings are there too. 
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