Mini greenhouses?

Does anyone have any experience with greenhouses the size of cupboards, or smaller? (possibly just a cold frame on a table). My garden is absolutely tiny (6m x 6m with a small additional alley) so no room for anything really but I'd like to grow some seedings through winter outside. Do you think that will be possible in something only a few feet big, or will it just be too cold?

 

How about something like this Jack, it would take up very little room. It would also benefit by drawing a little heat from your house wall.

http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co...greenhouse-are-best-suited-for-small-gardens/

 

Or a wooden one , blend in great with your garden

http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/greenhouses/mini-greenhouse

 

Ooh, I like that little wooden one! That might work. Ideally I need something for growing seedlings in outside at the start of the year. I tried indoors this year but there wasn't enough light, they were too leggy and weak.

 

you can get more expensive or cheaper but at least you get a idea and you can have a look around to see what you like you should get a bargain at this time of year as a lot of online will have sales either now or very soon, I find the wooden greenhouses are more useful of keeping the frost at bay.

I think with small gardens any structure stands out so go for a feature that will compliment and look good at the same time .

Spruce

 

Jack I have found just the right spot as well

 

Haha I was just toying with the idea but I think you've both convinced me :D my poor wallet. I like to think of it as an investment... Perhaps after 10 years of growing tomatoes I'll break even.


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could be a Christmas present from your family if you put the word out early

it will soon pay for itself , cost of seeds compost compared to bought bedding and then peppers toms after you have planted the bedding out, winter crops as well off lettuce etc , I dont think it will be that long before you break even

 

All very good points dear spruce! I shall begin lobbying the present buying committee post haste!


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Hi JackJJW,

If you are thinking of buying a wooden one, have you thought about making it yourself. It would cost about a quater of what the ones in shop are and you can make it to the exact size that you want for the save you have.

Rusty

 

Have you got enough room indoors for a growing lamp? That would give you, say, 2 feet square of growing space, through the winter. Might be cheaper than a "structure" plus because it is indoors you will be able to grow anything that will tolerate the Min/Max temperature in your house.

 

I think that's the best option as I do something similar on a reasonably large scale that enables me to defer putting my greenhouse heating on until we're bursting with early germinated seeds indoors which are then brought on under lights.

One of the links above is to a 'mini greenhouse' costing £199.99 and anything sown in it would only be a degree or so above outside temps and have less light that in a conventional greenhouse, so it may be far cheaper to set up some growlights (I use T5's but there's supposed to be even cheaper LED panels available) in a box indoors and use those in conjunction with a heated propagator. Trays of plants can have 8 hour shifts under the lights, so you can grow three times as much stuff if you do it that way.

 

My 2 penneth worth.... A tall green house with small footprint will give you maximum growing space. I bought a 'cheap' plastic covered greenhouse - for around £20 if I recall correctly. I had no problem growing seeds (until the wind blew it over). Wilkinsons sold them last time i Looked. One other advantage is that the shelves can be removed and you have enough space to grow tomatoes. Marvellous bit of kit.

 

Apart from the wind blowing it over though

Cheap and cheerful, but if it fails in more seasons than not then its a rather soul destroying They are also very prone to cook the contents, if you miss opening the zip (which is usually cheap, and prone to failure too) on a sunny day ...

I'n not knocking them, just need purchasing with their "issues" in mind. Weight it down with sandbags / compost bags or the like

 

This is something I made this year: http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/turning-a-bedframe-into-a-coldframe.60922/

Maybe worth baring this in mind.