New(ish) Greenhouse

Well folks, having tried 2 GC`s AND a local nursery, no luck :( Seems they sold out weeks ago which is as I suspected. However, I`ll keep my eyes open. Cheers...freddy.

 

It being Sunday tomorrow - there's bound to be a car boot sale near you! I bet someone still has something for sale that you could grow in your wonderful greenhouse!

 

I haven't looked closely at them, but there are 61 auctions on eBay for Tomato Plants

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=tomato+plants

you could use the advanced search (postcode + distance) to find things within driving distance so that you could pick them up, and check they were more than just a germinated seedling!

(Some of them look to be hopelessly small to do anything this year Ho! Hum!)

 

Well folks, the deed is done. Whilst out at yet ANOTHER GC, I managed to get hold of some toms, 10 plants in all. So, that was £20 for the plants, £30 for the shading, £7.50 for the growbags, £6 for the compost, and a few quid for the canes ! Oh, and to boot, the toms don`t look great ! I suspect I should have followed my own instinct and left it until next year. Ah well, hopefully I`ll get a few pounds of toms out of them, but, not really a bargain IMO. Cheers...freddy.

 

Freddy 20 quid for ten Toms? They saw you coming mate. If you`d bought Coolglass instead of shading you would have saved about £25. Why buy Growbags AND compost? And lastly, but by no means, least. Why buy canes when string will do?:D

 

A belter of a greenhouse Freddy. plenty of staging and shelving and cedar looks more at home in a garden than aluminium. It should give years of pleasurable use, good luck with it and happy gardening.

 

Great greenhouse. Lives up to the name doesn't it? GreenHOUSE, it's huge!

 

"the toms don`t look great"

Don't worry about that, they don't look after them in the GC - they just douse everything and they mostly get too much or not enough. Plus if the Toms have been there a while they will be desperate for a bigger pot and some feed!

 

Hi Dai (and folks). I can`t say I`ve ever used `Coolglass`, bit i HAVE heard it tends to wash away over a period of time and CAN look a bit unsightly. Also, I`m thinking that the shading will last for years. As for buying both compost AND growbags, I thought I`d cut the bottom off of some plastic buckets used for displaying flowers (given away free at my local supermarket - thanks ASDA ), and place them in the growbag. Is this what they call `ring culture` ? Anyway, my thinking was that I should use compost ( J.I No3) as I understand that the roots at the top are for feeding and the ones further down are for drinking. As for the string method, I think it would have driven me crackers trying to keep the strings in place, I just wanted a quick and easy fix. Anyway, canes are always useful. BTW, the plants are looking a bit better now. Cheers...freddy.

 

BTW Dai, saw some toms at B & Q today, £6.99 a go !

 

Patio ones, about 2ft tall and in fruit. Didn`t know you were growing using ring culture. I`m inpressed.:thumb::D:rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Patio ones, about 2ft tall and with fruit on, they`ve also got peppers here. Didn`t realise you were using ring culture, I`m impressed.:thumb::rolleyes::D:D

 

I might try some peppers next year, but the last time i grew them they seemed to attract whitefly and develop that sticky stuff :( Cheers...freddy.

 

Oh, one thing. Do toms prefer humid or dry ?

 

"Is this what they call `ring culture`"

I think the original Ring Culture was to have [bottomless] pots full of J.I. No 3 sat on a bed of gravel that was watered liberally, and feed was the only thing given via the pots.

I think the new method of putting [bottomless] pots on top of grow bags is to actually make the pot part of the normal compost, rather than just the "feeding root" compost, but I could be wrong

I used to do the old fashioned Ring Culture back n the '70s and I never thought the results I got were that good and I formed the impression that the feeding roots struggled between feeds as they dried out.

Either way, you can plant in the pots only 75% full, and then top-up when roots start to from on the stem of the Tom plant

" I think it would have driven me crackers trying to keep the strings in place"

One problem with strings is the amount of weight they, and the structure they are tied to, must support once the plant is full of fruit. Tying the Tom plant to a cane helps spread the weight to the cane.