New Greenhouse ...

Okay so my mum and dad have just put up their new greenhouse - new to them, recycled, it's an old Halls greenhouse, it's 6' x 8' I think. Looks huge because it's empty at the moment - dad has to concrete the base in etc; because of high winds.

Question is - what do you put into the greenhouse in the winter (mum has said I can use it for seedlings when I come to do my veg ready for the spring). I've never had a greenhouse so haven't got a clue, lol. My mums really got into the veg gardening this year but has told me she never wants to see a corgette again! She browses these forums and has joined but hasn't made a post just reads :thumb:

Would really appreciate some advice from you guys that know. Then the greenhouse can be used to it's full potential :D

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi Katherena, It depends if you are prepared to "heat" the greenhouse in winter...
Mine is unheated, so i just use it to overwinter my delicate plants, Dee..

 

My mum has been looking at various heaters on the internet, so she might be getting one for the greenhouse, I suppose it depends on the price of it. I'll ask her tomorrow about it, so far she's moved the tomatoes from the temporary plastic greenhouse to the new one. They've now got lots of room instead of being a little cramped.

 

Katherna unless you have a supply of electric heating to your 'new' greenhouse I should imagine it will be very expense to keep it heated through out the whole winter more so if we have a really bad and late cold snap like we did earlier on this year.

I have a paraffin heater for ours but to be honest I only intend to used it to bring on the seedlings early next year and not through the whole winter.

A cold greenhouse isn't so bad you can use it as Dee says to house your tender plants or cuttings you take this year to over winter in, you can even use a coldframe in the same way which is what we did last year with great results.Hel.xxx.

 

WRT to heating in the Winter:

First up will be to insulate the greenhouse - otherwise you are heating the planet as much as the greenhouse!

Second is electricity (nice and easy to control thermostatically, plus if you have Economy 7 it will be cheap as most of the usage will be during the night)

Then I would choose Gas because its quite adjustable

and last I would choose paraffin because (unless technology has moved on) you have to guess each night and set the wick to control the burn rate. And it produces a lot of condensation.

Keep the Plastic Greenhouse and consider putting that inside the greenhouse with a lightbulb in the bottom (if you have electricity) to provide background heat - or in a conservatory, if you have one.

 

So pretty much a nightmare or expensive to keep a greenhouse warmed in the winter. Pretty much anything thats overwinter under glass can go in, and things that may die off in the winter can go in. I'll go on the assumption that it's going to be unheated. It's all new to me, I've only started to take a proper interest in the garden in the last 12 months so everything is a learning curve, but if I don't ask then I'll never find out.

The greenhouse looks really good now it's up and cleaned, just wish my garden was big enough to have one :( so I'm going to have a 'share' in my mums. I'm also going to teach her how to use this forum properly, so she can post and reply.

 

I wouldn't be so downhearted!

I used to grow all sorts of stuff in my greenhouse when I was a teenager, and my parents encouraged me by laying Leccy to it - and paying the bill!!

We have gorgeous Freesias flowers in the house during the winter, and Cyclamen and so on.

Insulating the greenhouse with bubblewrap is not that big a deal. You'll probably get a gas greenhouse heater on eBay for 50 quid (if you start looking now, and are patient!)

Anyone know what it costs to heat a greenhouse these days? Given that I haven't done it for ... errmmm ... 35 years I think my old man's Leccy bill, from back then, may no longer be relevant!

 

The whole of my back garden is 35m square (I think, might be slightly out and a little smaller than that) and a triangular shape, my mums gardens bigger. I've got a coldframe that my dad made me sat on the patio so I can do a small amount of overwintering things. I love freesias, I was going to grow some inthe garden next year but might just see if theres any in the sales and see what happens.