Beginner's greenhouse?

I see, sorry! It's in our contract that we should leave the garden as we found it, so I just assume that we will have to replace turf although we could definitely ask. I think it's an asset to have a veg plot as I'm sure a lot of people would but not sure how our landlord feels.

Thanks for the link to the polytunnel site!

P

 

Hello paddyrice I agree with Kristen I think it would blow away or over we do get strong winds now Have you tried the local paper you do get some people selling them you would need to take it down and you would need to get it to your house, on the costing ?

 

Hi Paddy hopefully I can help you regard to the polycarbonate option.
Bob and I were in the same situation as yourself last year although we don't have any little'uns they do visit and also one our neighbours has a couple of children so Bob would not entertain a glass greenhouse and safety glass cost so much more.

We looked around at the polycarbonate options there are basically two to choose from the ones that are just thin semi-hard moulded plastic panels and another that is twin-walled and disfused.

The normal moulded ones are really quite cheap B&Q sells them around £150 for a 6x8 but these are just terrible as they are so light the wind rattles them better than Rolf Harris could ever imagine and I really don't think even extra clips would keep all the panels on.

We decided on the twin-walled one and even though we have quite a nasty wind tunnel in our garden the only problem we have ever had is we didn't attach the door properly the first time round and in glale force winds it fell off but once we attached it back (correctly this time) we have never had any other problems with it.

Bob did build a little wall as the footings but as the guys have already said you can do the same with wood, we also have a slab walkway down the middle of it and gravel sides.

This is ours all built up, slabs in last year.
[media]http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x295/Hel_of_a_lot_of_fun/greenhouse.jpg[/media]
We brought ours off ebay I think we paid £330 for ours.Hel.xxx.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GREEN-ALUMINI...14&_trkparms=72:1296|66:4|65:12|39:1|240:1318

 

Sorry, I don't agree. 6 x 8 is plenty big enough for a small garden.

 

You've been selective in quoting what I said.

I said that if that was all the space that the O/P had that's fine, but I recommended a larger greenhouse if space/budget permits.

 

Lol Kristen I think know what you mean sweetie.

One of the mistakes some of us newbie greenhouse owners do is to fall into the trap of getting what we think is a decent size greenhouse for our own needs and sow as many seeds as we can maybe thinking all of them will not be successful.

When we find out that indeed most of them do germinate with ease we just can't move in the greenhouse so we have to house our tomatoes plants etc. in our houses until there's room for them in the greenhouse once the bedding plants have been removed and planted into the garden.

Isn't that what you mean Kristen?

I know I have found this out myself as yes you have guessed it ours is a 6x8 although I do have a cold frame as well so this helps the problem some what although I find after the bedding plants have gone out of the greenhouse the problem disappears.

I have also found that a cold frame is as good as a greenhouse you just haven't got the height.Hel.xxx.

 

"Isn't that what you mean Kristen?"

Yup. But also I think the "crop" from 6' x 8' is quite small, and may be disappointing.

Of course if that is all the space that is available, or the budget limit :(, then small is better than nothing for the aspiring gardener.

My calculations are:

8' wide = 2' middle path, borders 3' each side, 3' at the end - so for a greenhouse 6' long the path is 3' long.

Allowing 2' between plants I make that 18 plants - and that's assuming that you only want cropping plants - no bench / staging.

I think an average household (depending on what they like to eat of course!) would need something like:

• 6 main Tomato plants. 4 cherry ones, if you like those - or maybe 3 of each.
• 2-3 Cucumbers
• 3-4 Sweet peppers
• 3-4 Aubergines
• 6-8 Melons

so I reckon nearer 30 "planting stations" would be good for cropping. That would be 10' x 8' (3' wide border each side (7' long), 2' middle path, 3' border at the far end)

 

Hello all,

The size/budget conundrum is the main reason why I'm now considering a polytunnel rather than a greenhouse, I can get a 10x8 one for less than my budget limit of £350, of course there are differences in quality but it seems like the best way to go for me at the mo because to get a 10x8 greenhouse is prohibitively expensive. Thinking about how much we want to grow in it, more space would be good - we're big fans of aubergine, peppers, chillies etc.

What do people consider the main drawbacks of polytunnels vs greenhouses? I know that I need to make sure of ventilation in the summer.

P

 

I recommend you look on eBay / freecycle for a second hand greenhouse. The bigger size you would like tends to sell at a price within your budget. Only snag is that you may have to look for quite a long time before you find one near enough - and maybe you don't have a vehicle able to take the longer pieces (i.e. there will be some struts the length of the greenhouse - so 10' long lets say), or dismantle and rebuild is not the sort of DiY project that you fancy!!

Polytunnel can be a bit harder to ventilate - but if you can have one end pointing towards your prevailing wind (S.W. in this country, normally) you should be able to get a good through draft in the summer. (However, ventilating by "breeze" is less good than convection as the plants will transpire more, but as I said before ventilation of a small greenhosue is usually the same issue - you have to open everything to keep the temperature down, so in a small greenhouse you'll have just as much transpiration.

Heating polytunnels is not so good - they lose more heat than glass. But I guess you weren't planning to heat it anyway.

The sloping sides of a Polytunnel can mean that you can't get close to the edge - whereas a greenhouse usually has vertical sides. That effect is more pronouced the narrower the house - so wider polytunnel would be better.

The Polythene will need replacing every few years.

Sorry, can't remember if I already suggested this link for building a DiY Polytunnel:

http://www.overthegardengate.net/UserPages/pp_view.asp?FName=polytunnel&Page=1

 

Paddy if you do decide on a polytunnel then you will need quite a few extra hands to help you put the blinking thing up.

Our allotment buddy (Ray) brought one from First Tunnels around October last year and although he has the bones up he is still waiting for the doors and poly to go on as the male members of his extended family haven't got round to giving him a hand with the rest of it of it yet!

It's far from a one man job and I think even a couple of people will struggle some what or have a few choice words to say to each other as the work is in progress, Bob and I could well be pressed ganged into helping out in fact we have already offered all for the princely sum of a couple of drinks of Bovril!:thmb: Hel.xxx.

 

Thanks for the info!

I've researched polytunnels and this is the best deal I can find online:

http://www.firsttunnels.co.uk/polytunnel.asp?cbowidth=8

I'm not sure whether to bother getting the more expensive cover (thermal anti fog plastic) as I'm not planning to heat it. What do people think??

Also I thought I would add on the 'ventilated ridge kit' which says it will help get rid of hot air collecting at the apex of the tunnel. Is this a good idea? With this add-on the price is £295.

To your more experienced eyes is there anything glaringly wrong with this package? If not I think I'll go for it!

I have looked on eBay but tbh I don't really want to wait too long for something suitable as I'd like to get on with things. I did see quite a good looking 10x8 one (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=230320584614&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=013) but it seems not to have a base with it! Plus they want the buyer to dismantle it before taking away and I wouldn't have a clue how to go about that. I'd also have to factor in the cost of hiring a van and petrol, as it wouldn't fit in my teeny car!

Btw Helofa: my brother and my father in law both lift weights, so if I could manage to rope both of 'em in it'd be okay... I hope!

P

 

If you are in a residential area it may pay to check how a polytunnel would be viewed.
Tunnels tend to get a cooler reception than regular greenhouses from the neighbours probably due to the large expanse of poly

 

Shiney - I hear ya but we have our heart set on it, we both really love chillies, aubergine, peppers etc and eat them in large quantities, so are very keen to grow our own and save on supermarket costs / food miles.

Hex - I'm sure it won't be a problem as 8x10 is really quite small in the context of our garden as a whole, and we have a hedge all around so people won't be able to see it unless they're upstairs. Plus next door have a 10x12 greenhouse. I'm thinking of prettying it up with some wildflowers planted around the edges too.

P

 

I have a 20x10 p/tunnel in my garden as well as a 14x8 g/house and live in a residential area had no complaints yet, the best thing is to interact with your neighbours talk to them give them the odd plant you will find you get away with murder,do take notice about what Kirsten as said about ventillation and heat control when comparing the g/house and the p/tunnel, I have the whole of one side of my tunnel that ratchets down when it's hot and the doors have removable panels that leave just a fine mesh and still it gets too hot I also have a 18" fan blowing on max on hot summer days,conversely in winter the tunnel is the same temperature as the outside ambient temperature, to try and heat it would be cost prohibitive,I have built a smaller tunnel inside to keep one or two special plants in this maintains something like a 4c differential with the main tunnel.