greenhouse random thoughts

Albe · July 2023

I've been toying for a while on buying, or building, my greenhouse.

Here one more thought:
It is reasonable that every summer there will a 2-3 weeks period when nobody will visit our garden. If I make our own greenhouse myself, with timber bars and polycarbonate layers, I can make it such that the roof is easily removable, so that during the period we are away the tomatoes at least catch rainwater.
But if instead I buy one off-the-shelf greenhouse, either glass or polycarbonate, of course this roof-removal option will not be there (I know one can open small windows for ventilation etc, but that's not rainwater).

Any comment?

Dovefromabove · July 2023

My initial thought is that you’re assuming that it will rain during that 2-3 week period when you’re away … here in East Anglia we’ve just had an approx 8 week dry spell when we’ve had no rain … none at all … not a drop … all our rainwater butts were bone dry and we’ve been watering our outdoor tomatoes (and lime-hating blueberries) with expensive (and hard) Norfolk tap water 😢

I’m sure it’s possible to build a greenhouse with a removable roof … I just don’t think you can rely on British weather to cooperate with your holiday plans I’m afraid 😢

Albe · July 2023

Sensible comment, thanks. Yes, I was counting on rainwater indeed.
Anything else?
You folks have experience with these automatic watering system? Like with a computer timer?
Cheers,

Pete.8 · July 2023

You could have a browse through some of these posts below.
It's a question often asked on the forum as it's a common problem when folk go on hols.
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/search?Search=+automatic+watering+system

I love the idea of a greenhouse with a removable roof, but as Dove says you can't rely on regular summer rain like we did back in the good old days

McRazz · July 2023

Why not just collect the rainwater from the greenhouse roof? Any rain that is collected can then be sent directly to the plants via a solar pump and battery timer. If you want to get creative, and it sounds like you do, then this is where I'd focus my efforts.

Loads of second hand greenhouses on Ebay.

Fairygirl · July 2023

I think some people on the forum use those irrigation systems if they don't have a neighbour or friend etc to come in and water for them. It's not going to be possible to rely on the weather if you're in a drier part of the country.
Might be worth starting a thread and asking @Albe, or seeing if you can find some threads via the search option at the top of the page. It isn't always very great though - rather random.
That's frightening @Dovefromabove. We've not had a day without rain since the horrible hot spell ended ten days ago, and even within, and just before that, we still had reasonably regular rain, although less than usual. Hope you get some soon.

Dovefromabove · July 2023

We had some the other day @Fairygirl and the butts were filled 🙏
but it was a long wait … the little pond was not much more than mud and we were watering with the hose every day. Coupled with that the chalk aquifer from where Anglian Water extract our water is apparently now in a ‘cone of depression’
https://sciencestruck.com/what-is-cone-of-depression-how-is-it-formed

Fairygirl · July 2023

It's very worrying @Dovefromabove. I get annoyed when people are in very dry areas yet they keep trying to plant shrubs/trees/hedges etc in late spring/summer, which they must be using huge amounts of precious resources on to establish.

I just had a look at my totals as I got one of those rain gauges last year. We actually had slightly more rain in June this year [68mm] as opposed to last year, but it came in the last week -10 days or so. I can't remember ever having such a long stretch without rain as we've had recently. April and May were very dry though, for this area. Definite changes going on though, with two mild winters as well, although the last week has been more normal - cool, wet and windy.
The problem is that people are so used to having plenty here, that they just carry on without thinking - scalping grass, then putting sprinklers on it for hours. Our levels are pretty much back to normal, but in the north west [around Loch Maree] unbelievably, it's still at a dodgy level as it's still not been as wet as they'd like in order to restore it.

Your situation is very difficult, because it can't easily be amended without huge investment, and that's a whole other s**t show...

wild edges · July 2023

The easy way to deal with this is to treat the greenhouse like a polytunnel and plant the tomatoes into the ground with weed barrier and mulch to retain the moisture. If it rains then the water seeps into the earth under the greenhouse, especially if you direct the gutters down to the base, and you don't get the blight risk or exposure to cold weather that removing the roof would potentially cause.

The downside is the risk of pests building up in the soil which you don't with pots or growbags. This can be managed with some work and good hygene though.

Dovefromabove · July 2023

I think that would be my preference too @wild edges 👍

steephill · July 2023

Get one of these - https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/sussex/woolbeding-gardens/new-contemporary-glasshouse-at-woolbeding-gardens

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