Other undercover growing?

Does anybody else have another building of any kind that they use along thier polytunnel?

I only ask because the heating of a polytunnel is rather difficult and there would be a lot of wasted energy.

I have a small lean to greenhouse against the side of the house, with power points. I am also building a propogator out of my old snake tank which is in the greenhouse. The plan is to use the greenhouse to get seeds of to a flying start before moving the seedlings to the tunnel.

I will post some pictures after the weekend.

Chopper.

 

Chopper.

Whilst I have a small greenhouse, I tend to start seeds off inside the house, where they get the benefit of central heating and a heated propagator on top of that. I am currently growing them in a lightbox - which has a high light level as well. But the light level on a windowsill is just about good enough. I would think that it would be pretty cold in a greenhouse for a while yet.

I do heat my greenhouse, but only to keep it frost free, it would be very expensive to do much more. But, of course, the heat is already in the house - so there is no extra cost.

 

Hey Chopper,

The mushroom polytunnels I used to work in had a double skin with insulation in between & they were heated by LPG.

I wonder if you could do similar using bubble wrap as insulation.

 

Ah, now you're asking

We have a large unheated conservatory attached to the house. Its position means that it is less cold than the glasshouses I have. (In fact I am pretty sure it has not frozen this year, and my Max/Min thermometer in the Greenhouse went down to -6C)

My glasshouses are 32' x 10' (for cropping) and 12' x 10' (for plant rearing). They cost me about £400 and £200 respectively, off eBay - had to dismantle and haul-home.

I put old pallets on the stone slab floor to protect it a bit (always get into trouble with Mrs K anyway, so I just aim to pressure-wash the whole thing when plant-raising-season is done - which is actually driven by how irate Mrs K looks!)

I have two of those flilmsy little 3-shelf grow-houses that I put in the Conservatory. I zip them up at night, and put a light bulb in them (for warmth on cold nights).

If the night is cold enough I can just carry the plants into the utility corridor, which is right beside the conservatory, but that is only necessary at the earliest weeks of the growing season

Its all rather an "industrial" area anyway, but the Master Plan (when we are "in the money" ) will make it all very smart, and then I shall be completely sunk!

I use two cheap & cheerful windowsill propagators (they don't have thermostats), and I have extra little seed trays for them - so as soon as things have germinated I can move them off the propagator when I have more to grow. (Cut a cardboard box in half, put that room-side of the propagator and line with tinfoil to reflect light behind the seedlings to stop them getting leggy)

I have pot carriers - they came from a nursery that closed down that I cleared. They make a huge difference to the ease with which 20 x 3" or 9cm pots can be carried.

The key temperature is 10C - plants that you are raising for greenhouse (Toms, Cues, Peppers, Aubergines, Melons) as well as tender things for outside (Courgettes, Squash and perhaps even Runners, although they make take colder) should be kept above that temperature. Cues / Courgettes / etc. hate the cold. Tomatoes will stall below that - and take a long time to get going again.

I grow in the conservatory long after the plants could have gone into the greenhouse. My Tomatoes and Cucumbers are generally 4' tall or more when they get planted out. Because the conservatory is warmer [than greenhouse] this gives them a flying start, and I don't actually move them to greenhouse until mid May (probably no frost in May, often none in April either), and even if there is the frosts are light and the nights are short, so greenhouse has little time to cool down enough to fall below 10C)

And don't forget light quality. Extra bubble wrap will keep them warm, but at a cost of some light loss. So too does my Grow-house, but I aim to take things out on nice days (into the conservator "proper") and put them back at night.

Timing is key I reckon. I have good records from previous seasons of what I sowed, and when, and when it was potted on & planted out, and when the first/ last harvest were. Also whether we had too much, or to little. I use that to adjust timings and amounts, but what I have now is pretty much what we do each year.

Well, apart from the occasional Walking Stick Cabbage!

 

Finally got round to finishing my improvised propogator and getting some pictures of it too.

This tank used to be home to my Boa Constrictor. Sadly he died and the tank was standing empty. I managedto shoehorn it into the lean to greenhouse with the help of Mrs Chopper. The top of the tank is all mesh for ventilation. It has two sliding doors at the front. Measures approximately 3ft long, 4ft high and 15 inches deep. I made some supports out of 4x2 wood to go under the front of the tank. Due to the lean to roof I couldn't quite get the whole tank on the staging.

I used some left over baton to make a rack inside the tank. Done it so that I can take it all out later. Sowed a few Broad beans in loo rolls, put them in the tank along with tomato seedlings and some flower seedlings, which we had germinated on the windowsill in the house.

I bought a very small coldframe parafin heater. Got that filled and lit. Pinned a small thermometer onto the rack and BINGO! Job done. Now I just have to wait and see if it works.



Anybody any idea if I have wasted my time or not?

Chopper.

 

Looks good to me Chopper. I wonder if a piece of polystyrene to sover the vents at the top on really cold nights might be a useful insurance? (I can't decide if air is better than insulation though).

See how the thermometer compares to the temperature in the greenhouse perhaps - you need a minimum of 10C for Toms and Cues, and I doubt the greenhouse will fall to below 5C from 1st March onwards, so if you can get about a +5C gain in the "propagator" I reckon you will be fine.

You've got more stuff started than I have ... how you're not getting itching green fingers and jumping the gun?!!

 

To be quite honest Kristen, it is all an experiment for me. If the seeds sown do nothing because it is too early or too cold, it has cost me a couple of quid. I will still have the propogator and heater to use for a bit later on.

I have placed some clear perspex over the vent in the top of the tank, leaving a two inch gap at one side. There is also the vent at the side of the tank so there will hopefully be enough ventilation.

In the next few days I am going to light my new parafin greenhouse heater and see what difference that makes to the greenhouse. Like I said, most of what I am doing is experimental for me. I listen carefully to what you and other more experienced gardeners than me are saying. Then try to make use of what resources I have in applying what I am learning. I am having a great time learning and hopefully making some progress. Also keeping notes on what I am doing and when.

Thanks for your comments.

Chopper.

 

I wonder if it might fare better if placed nside your tunnel Chopper it might give it a more stable temperature environment to work in.

Steve...

 

Good point Steve (my conservatory doesn't have anything like the same MIN temperatures as my greenhouse, but its a substantial building) ... if electricity is needed I guess that near the house will be easier, but for paraffin / gas it can be pretty much anywhere. Looks heavy to move though!

" I listen carefully to what you and other more experienced gardeners than me are saying"

I'm only voicing opinions. Quite happy for you to take whatever decisions you like, I don't mind either way (although hearing back what worked / didn't would be of interest)

One thing to consider:

Plants started too early may not germinate (that one is easily fixed :thumb: just re-sow)

Plants started too early may be leggy, or weak. They may not "fail" until it is too late to sow a replacement. Or they may succeed (particularly if they are indoors) and then make such large plants before it is time for them to go out that they either fail, have such tight rootballs that they don't achieve their potential, or they have to be evicted them! My Tomato and Cucumber plants are usually 4' tall (in the conservatory) by the time they get planted into the greenhouse - that would be a bit OTT on a windowsill!

My advice would be: if you sow at the earliest date on the packet, or earlier :eek: then do half-then and half-later so you will have some that are more-sure to succeed. Next year you can adapt according to how it went. You may find there is no difference for some things (in which case better to wait), or you get lucky in some years ... e.g. plenty of people start Runner Beans off early, knowing full well that every other year, or so, they get killed by the frost - but in the other years they get an extra-early crop. Those folk usually grow a second-sowing (enough for a full row), and throw/give half away if the first batch are still alive by the time they are planted out

 

A couple of years ago, Kristen posted a spreadsheet of when he sowed/planted, how many plants he needed etc etc. Great idea!

Last year I made my own which helped enormously, this year I have made a complete database in which I will be able to track productivity and make reports which will be able to show diffences between early/later sowings amongst other things.

So DO keep some records of what your sowing if you can, its never too late to start and worth the ten mins a day to note what you have done, your memory will be a little fuzzy next year.

Steve...

 

You can get tomato rings to take advantage of the stems throwing out more roots.

http://www.thegardensuperstore.co.uk/acatalog/Tomato_Culture_Pots.html

Only £7.20 :DOH: for a bit of plastic tube.

 

Morrisons have their flowers delived to their store in Bucket..then sell the empty buckets..8 for a pound...cut bottom off you have the same thing...

Steve...

 

Half a crown each, now thats more like it