Planting beds in a greenhouse
GreenLens
Posts: 3
Hi all,
I am looking at buying a new greenhouse for the garden (8*8ft) and I'm trying to decide if I want a planting bed running down one or maybe two sides inside. Could some explain the pros and cons to me, please?
Just a little about me and what I think I will be using the greenhouse for:
I have been gardening for a few years and still consider myself a beginner, but eager to try more. I have, so far, concentrated on flowering plants and would like to start growing some veg. I plan on having a couple of veg beds outside the greenhouse (probably 6*4ft) but would like to grow tomatoes, peppers and the like inside. I also hope to do some more organised propagation of my flowering plants and open up the range of tender plants I have which means storage space.
Any help would be very much appreciated!
Thank you 
Posts
Our good friend has a new aluminum greenhouse - his first season using it. The size is approx 6 x 8 ft. so not much different to yours Greenlens. He has a metal work bench set up down one side of the greenhouse, which is used for working at but also has plenty of potted veg. chillies, peppers, etc. on it at the moment. Under the bench he stores his peat, pots, containers etc. At the far end of the greenhouse he has peat bags with tomatoes plants growing in them.. Along the left hand length of the GH he has more tomatoes in bags, and cucumbers in big pots. He seems to be happy with this set up - everything is moveable if necessary. If you make a bed - it will restrict what you can put there - nothing on top, nothing below - do you think that will be making the best use of the space Greenlens? That's just my opinion.
The biggest problem with beds in the glasshouse is removing and replacing the soil in them which you really need to do every few years or risk a build up of pathogens which reduce the cropping.
Having had several GH's over the years I found the best way was forget inside beds. Digging the south side out laying a membrane then covering with pea gravel to a depth of six inches gave me a surface that could be watered and hold the water. Putting tomato's peppers and other plants in pots on that surface allowed more plants at floor level and when the growing season was done a staging put in the space for pots that needed some frost guard, alpines and such with space under the staging for overwintering other plants. On the north side a permanent staging for small plants, cherry tomato's seedlings etc. Also on that staging a heated sand box for seeds with shelves above the box to lift potted on seedlings still needing some warmth the whole having a curtain of bubble wrap around it to keep the heat in. All my storage is in the garage and my potting table can be inside or out depending on weather, I do not clutter up valuable GH space trying to do the potting and such in there. You will find your own way and it depends on what other space you have for working with your plants although you will find no GH is ever big enough for your needs. Hope this helps.
Frank.
I have shelves and a potting bench on one side of my GH and I have a bed on the other. In the spring when I have a lot of seedlings I put up trestles with wooden planks to make more room for seedlings. Then when the young plants go outside I take down the trestles and plant tomatoes. Every year I add manure or more compost. I haven't had disease yet and it's worked very well for around 10 years. The tomates do much better than the ones I grew in pots.
Last edited: 09 September 2016 17:40:37
I have benches on one side and bed on the other side. I personally think tomatoe plants do far better in the ground as well, dont have to do nowhere near as much watering as well. I got a monster cucumber plant as well must be over 12ft long it just goes mad, I let it grow across the shelving above the benches.
We have two sunken beds in our greenhouse. We replace the soil each year. No problems with disease so far and veg does much better there than in pots or outside. Wouldnt do this again with hindsight as you don't have any flexibility. Pots and grow bags can at least be moved around, or outside during hot spells. I'd opt for a gravel floor across the whole greenhouse if we were to start again.
It is all a matter of your own experience. After a year worse than this one many moons ago most people around me lost their tomato's to blight, we all had them in beds and the only one not infected was the chap who grew them in pots. Out went the beds in came the pots and all these years since have never had blight, that of course could be down to other things although there was blight around two years ago. The idea of the gravel bed is water holds in it and the area around the pots sitting on the gravel has a higher moisture level. I can get more pots on the bed than if it was a soil bed and plants can be moved around easily. My way with the pots is use twelve inch ones and plant half way down the pot, top up the pot with fresh compost every couple of weeks and then start feeding with Tomorite or some such, always had a good crop of fruit and as I said earlier no more blight.
That is what gardening is about experimenting until you find the best way for you then stick to it. When I had a soil bed it had to be dug out every couple of years and refilled to ensure no soil held infections that was OK when I had an acre but no good when we had a normal size garden and buying bags of potting soil can get expensive. I pass on advice as to what I found over many years and that is all it is advice, scoff at it or use it that is entirely up to the reader.
Frank.
I have a long bench on one side and a bed on the other. When I give my greenhouse a clean-up after the main growing season is over I take out as much soil as possible and in the early spring re-fill the bed.
I have to say I prefer growing toms and cucs in the soil in the greenhouse bed as opposed to pots the yield for me seems to be much higher.
Like others have said whatever works for you is the best!