Greenhouse set up
missclarech
Posts: 6
Hi just so you know I'm new here my name is Clare. firstly I have just brought my first greenhouse and it will be 10x8 (So excited) few weeks before it comes so currently making a base etc but am bit confused and lost to what to do for the inside after reading all your lovely posts for the last few days. Well I was going to have path in the middle and just leave the sides as soil for planting veg etc seeing as my raised bed gets eaten to bits by snails every year and boy do they keep at it all year, tried everything but nope they insist on eating the damm lot ????, which brings me to my new purchase of a greenhouse. So am I right that leaving soil in greenhouse a bad idea? Pests,disease & Damp. If so what do you suggest? Few raised beds with compost? As other wise if I do pots how can I grow deep root veg? Also so I gravel the greenhouse base and part gravel? Sorry to ask so many questions but as you see total newbie here but willing to listen to suggestions ???? oh also just so you know the greenhouse is supplied with a galvanised makers base which is going to be mounted on a concrete foundation with two tiers of bricks.
sorry this is so long.
Posts
Hi Clare.
The main issue with planting straight into the soil would be the build up of pests / diseases in the soil (this is why you hear of crop rotation) and of course loosing the nutritional requirements.
What type of vegetables are you wanting to grow? I only use my greenhouse for starting seeds off then growing chillies, peppers, and tomatoes; they all do fine in big tubs so that I can empty the soil into the flower beds at the end of the season.
Missclarech, Hello Clare and welcome. Ask as many questions as you wish you will always get an answer from the nice people on this board.
Over the years I have had a few Green Houses and found by trial and error the best way is path up the middle and a lining with pea gravel spread about six inches or more deep, Puncture the lining with a garden fork to allow some slow drainage though the idea is to hold some water to moisten the air. I did away with soil in the greenhouse because it had to be dug out and replaced at least every two years, some will disagree but my findings were it lost its goodness and the plants suffered.,
Orientation. Which way will it face, my main section is south facing, this can mean how much light heat sunshine you get and when, south facing is maximum light and sun. The north side has permanent staging with a sand bed I can heat for seeds, the underside allows me to store pots of plants I am bringing on before they go in the cold frame. The South side I grow tomato's peppers etc in pots, the roots go into the gravel and I keep the gravel wet. In Autumn I erect a staging for the winter to bring in plants in pots, grow some cut and come again greens and a few Alpines. Root Vegetables are seasonal and grow outside apart from some potato's grown in bags for Christmas so forget roots in the Greenhouse. Salad crops can be grown out of season but out side in summer, it gets way too hot for them in a GH. Over the years shelves have been erected high up to put pots on, there never seems to be enough room in even the largest GH. This is how I learned to work a green house over many years of trial and error but your needs may differ. feel free to ask more.
Snails and slugs will get everywhere even into your greenhouse, you have to be strong a tin with domestos and water, a torch and go pick them off and drop them in the tin. Keep the floor clear of old pots and things they can hide in during the day. In Autumn when I deep clean the green house spraying the gravel with a mild disinfectant kills any thing hiding. Hope this helps.
Frank.
Hi , I have a soil border in my GH, so far I haven't had any problems yet with disease / pest ( except slugs / snails ) This year I will just be topping up my soil border with fresh compost / manure , next year I might dig it out again like i did last year.
This is my personal opinion. I think you get far better tomato / cucumbers plants in a soil border. Watering is reduced a lot, handy if your on a water meter.
This is how i set mine greenhouse out 3 or 4 years ago
I had to add more shelving here there and everywhere after the first year.
hope this help
Last edited: 17 February 2017 11:55:29
Hi Missclarech,
I bought a 14x10 second hand greenhouse 3 years ago and it's the best money I ever spent. Lengthens your growing season and allows you to overwinter cuttings easily.
You are probably too late this year to do much in the way of seed sowing until the autumn but the advice I would suggest is that you think carefully how you intend to use the greenhouse before you set it up. Will you really grow tomatoes given that they take up a lot of space for a long time?
I now have a setup very similar to Perki's above with staging and a high shelf down one side with membrane & gravel underneath, a flagstone path and then soil on the other side. I have a couple of trestle tables which I put on the soil side to over winter cuttings and tender plants but in an ideal world I'd like some high shelving along that side too. I bought a few mat heaters which are a good investment for starting seeds.
I have grown tomatoes in the soil and in growbags and tbh they're a chore. Chillis and peppers are more useful. You only need ONE chilli plant though! I think it is probably best to grow these in large pots on gravel as Palaisglide suggests above. I am considering digging out the soil and doing as he suggests. I find that the soil gets very very dry inside the greenhouse so this would reduce the need to water.
Best regards
EB
Have you tried stapling copper tape around the side of the bed? Not that cheap but I have found it does work and friendlier to wildlife than chemicals. You will still get eggs hatching in the soil from last year but if you turn it over a few times in the winter that cuts them down too.
Thankyou for all the replies I have taken it all onboard and have also replied to your replies by message (hope I did this right) so advice needed on what time of year I do bits is needed. I have sown seeds in my little pop up greenhouse I had and yes was ok, I have a little belfast sink I have for herbs which is also good but I want to just spend hours after work in a greenhouse so all advice and ideas greatfully received.
what pots do you use?
what membrane/ lining do you use under gravel?
is it pea shingle I need or can I use any gravel? As in builders gravel is that ok?
i will take befor pictures tom so you can all see what a mess I have but I'm sure I have pictures somewhere of my garden last year only if you want to see of course.
My greenhouse is arranged like Perki's with a path in the middle, staging and potting bench on the left and an earth border on the right. I add extra shelving on trestles on the right over the border as I have a lot of seedlings in the spring. Then the staging comes down and I plant tomatoes in the border. I add manure and compost each year and sometimes change some of the earth with earth from the vegetable garden. Haven't had diseases yet.
Hi Busy-Lizzie
yes I will add gravel and see if I can make trestle I'm assuming that's a table for potting ☺️ Not used gardening words before so pardon my stupidness, I'm gonna see if we can make one as will need something or will be on my hands and knees and not be able to get up ha ha ha, regardless how much cos liver oil I take.
so what are the months you can use the green house without a heater?
do you need a heater?
I bought cheap trestles and some planks at the DIY place. I don't use my greenhouse in winter, I live in SW France and the winters can be colder than in England. I use it from March to early May with a little electric heater, 3 electric propagators and a warming mat for my seeds and baby plants. Don't need a heater at all after that until the tomatoes are over. Then the greenhouse is empty.
Clare Your greenhouse supplier will also sell Aluminium staging (the name of the benches in the greenhouse) they come flat pack you bolt them together and they are the right height, fit them on the side opposite the one the sun shines in. You can have a little part for potting if you wish though it takes up room where you could put plants, I have a potting bench in the garage but light enough to drag out into the sunshine if we get any.
You will need heat in Winter if you wish to grow things, usually we just store plants that need protection although I do have a Frost Guard electric fan heater it rarely kicks in.
Get your G/house up and ready then we will make a plan of what to grow and when, there is no rush end of March is the start of most planting and seed sowing.
Frank.