New Greenhouse

[Garden Manager]

Just ordered my first proper greenhouse, measuring 5' x 6' (ish)

Being new to greenhouses I am looking for some advice on kitting one out. There are al sorts of equipment and gadgets available (just been looking in a catalogue - its a a minefield!).

I know its very subjective and individual, but i'd like some reccomendations on a sort of 'starter kit', the recomended must haves for a greenhouse beginner.

I want to (obviously) propagate in there, grow tomatoes in the summer and overwinter half hardies in just frost free conditions.

Any suggestions please?

[Garden Manager]

[Wicker]

Good for you, Richard, sorry I won't try to answer as others are more expert than I.  We only have a "window" one but it serves it's purpose just trhe same.  Certain you will spend many happy hours in there - it can be a retreat.

[Kerry]

congratulations Richard, you'll soon be addicted!
what kind of site and base will you have for it? does it have vents? roof or side? having used a paraffin heater and now having electricity i would highly recommend an electric heater if you're wanting to keep frost free. plus if you have electric in there you can run a system for propagation.
some kind of staging is necessary, dependent on what you want to grow, mine is homemade and is all removable. the only things i have purchased from catalogues are the fixing clips for insulation and some brackets and bolts, upon which i put my own shelves from old skirting board.
access to water is also a consideration-will you have a tap? -oh so many questions!

[tim]

All that - & if you don't have at least 2 opening (preferably auto) vents, & assuming you have power, try a fan? This can be your heater in reverse. = Tim

[Jesse]

Richard depending on the location of your greenhouse you may want to consider some sort of shading for it. When I had one in full sun during good summers it got too hot and the sun scorched the leaves. You needn't buy anything expensive, we simply threw thin hessian over the roof and weighted it down with small planks of old scrap wood (a bit like table cloth weights but bigger). One summer I grew squash/pumpkin up and over the roof which provided excellent and much needed shading. We only had one vent and the door but during summer we removed one triangular piece of glass at the back of the greenhouse to improve ventilation. Make sure your staging is easily removed from the greenhouse, there will come a time during the growing season where your greenhouse is just not big enough.

[Hugh_Jones]

I should buy enough bubble polythene to line it for the winter - you`ll save more than the cost of this in heating bills over one season, particularly if you plan to use it for February/March (or earlier) sowings of half hardies, tomatoes etc., or rooting early cuttings.

[derbex]

If you work (and your life is as disorganised as ours) then auto-vents are a godsend in the summer, as is some sort of automatic watering system. It also means that you can go on holiday.

Our watering system runs off a water butt which is quite limiting as it means you're restricted to low preasure (I'm contemplating a header tank), and have a limited resevoir -we get a week to 10 days off it, although our greenhouse is larger.

All the above are good ideas too  ;D

Jeremy

[Garden Manager]

Thanks to all for replies. Good advice there.

Green house will be sited in a good sunny position on an old concrete patio area (so no direct soil access. It gets sun for most of the year and yes will need shading in the summer.

The GH comes with one vent as standard, but I have also ordered a louvre (spelling?) for added ventilation. The vent wiil have automatic opening (I could easily forget to do it myself  ;D).

I plan to have some sort of near permanent staging down one side, leaving the other clear floor to ceiling for my tomatoes. I already have some suitable shelving (mini greenhouse frames) to act as temporary shelving when the tomatoes arent there. I shall also try to fit in some sort of potting bench, so i can work in there as well.

no direct water supply but there is an outside tap not far from where the GH is going. I am also keen to set up a rainwater collection system (water butt), so that i can save as much water as i can. This in addition to at least one butt connected to the house downpipes.

Power might be a bit tricky. I am hoping to have a supply set up professionaly, which will allow me to use electric heating and propagators in the GH. I dont like the idea of parafin/other heating.

[rdak]

on the subject of greenhouses, I am currently rescuing an old greenhouse in my garden- it's quite small, I reckon about 4 ft x 6 ft and in a sorry state- wood quite rotten and some gaps between the glass panes. I have had a real chore trying to remove the shading paint on the glass- any tips? Vinegar has proved quite useful, but it is still smearing. I don't want to use the greenhouse to grow anything too exotic, so don't need a high temp in summer- was wondering whether a good way to shade it is to plant something on the outside. The sun would only be strong in one direction, so thought sunflowers might do the trick?

Also, want to heat it slightly in winter- would a parafin burner do the trick? Don't know anything about them- how long do they last and are they safe to be left unattended?

[Mrs Ava]

LOVE my greenhouse!  Power has been a godsend meaning proper thermostatically controlled heat without all the condensation that parafin heaters produce.  Latest improvement, water in the greenhouse, what a time saver!  Didn't realise how much time I spent walking up and down the garden with watering cans or dragging the hose all around the garden.

All home made staging, but all strong and sound and easy to brush or hose clean.  I have gravel on the floor as the greenhouse was sited on earth which had been home to a monster conifer that we had cut down.  They were unable to remove the stump....well they probably could have but would have charged us a fortune to do so, so Ava shipped in some gravel to cover the stump, which was already down to ground level.

I don't have automatic anythings, but then being chief homemaker, I am around and would never forget to see to my plants!

Ross - I used a parafin heater for years and years and they never let me down or did anything scary, but they did create lots of condensation and from time to time I did end up with lots of mouldy cuttings.  I finally gave up on them when Ava mentioned I could have leccy in the greenhouse, at the same time as my wick withered away and needed replacing!  

So to finish, a mini bar, and kettle are essential!  ;D ;)

[jo2]

Richard if its in your own garden consider an automatic watering system, I've set up a Hozelock one for ours and its really rather good, goes round the garden watering stuff then in the greenhouse -it does mean you can grow stuff in summer and actually go on holiday without pestering neighbours into doing the job!
Likewise the autovent has been excellent as its amazing just how hot a greenhouse can go in the space of an hour unattended.
A cheap essential I think are those little plug things that fit into the glazing channels that mean you can fit a liner to the inside of the greenhouse such as bubble wrap in winter and fleece to shade the roof in the height of summer. You can also use them to fit twine to give your plants support,.
Rainwater collection is a good one even with auto watering as they gather rather a lot of water and I'd rather not have a huge soggy patch round the greenhouse when I can use that water else where.

[tim]

I might, more correctly, have put shading ahead of ventilation - because there's always a door. But it raises a useful (?) question -

What is the best form of shading, given that hot sun comes at a time when you can get maximum light, of which you cannot get enough.  So what gives the best light with acceptable shade?

Richard - if you do get auto vents, remember to adjust their range of operation as the season changes, or you can get nasty chills at night!  And, right or wrong, I believe in having a (or more!) vent low down, to give circulation & to help low crops like lettuce. = Tim

[Garden Manager]

I definetly want power in the GH so I can heat it electricaly.- dont want to be bothered with parafin.

When you say homemade staging, i take it you mean built completely from scratch? Clearly cheaper than buying purpose made stuff, but i am not very good at that sort of thing. Whats the best type of the manufactured staging to have as an alternative?

Tim, I am having low level ventilation. I an having a low level vent (or louvre) as well as high level in the roof.

I do know that shading should be on the outside, not the inside. On the inside it only increases the 'greenhouse' effect and makes the 'house hotter.

Boy is there a lot to consider. I shall have to do some more research in addition to your wonderfull advice. Many Thanks

[john_miller]

I don't know how much flexibility you have in orienting your greenhouse but if you have some you may want to consider what is more important to you. Greenhouses with the ridge running East-West will absorb more light (as the light will hit the glass closer to 90⁰ over a greater surface area and less will be reflected). This will give your plants more light in the winter, when levels can be limiting, and consequently heat up more in both winter and summer. Good summer shading will become more important in that situation.
North-South oriented greenhouses will stay cooler in the summer but will stay cooler in the winter too as the light will hit the glass at a more oblique angle and over a smaller area. This will result in a greater winter heating bill.
One local vegetable grower built a lean-to greenhouse without a heating system (East-West running ridge) but placed closed, black coloured barrels filled with water under his benches. These absorbed heat during the day and radiated it at night. I don't tremember exactly how hot the house stayed overnight but he was harvesting Basil into December even though we can get to -15C at night in December! While not replacing a fossil fuel source they, or something similar, can provide some supplementation. Unfortunately the following year a spring deluge caused the vertical wall to collapse and the greenhouse was not rebuilt.

[Garden Manager]

orientation of the house is another thing i have to decide on.

The main (long) axis of the garden is northwest/southeast and sloping, with the house at the lowest, southerly end. The green house is to go almost next to the house on part of the patio.  it  is therefore going to be difficult to orientate the gh properly. I was thinking perhaps it would be best to orientate it in line with the main axis, to try and maximise the light and heat.  Opinions?

[john_miller]

If you mean that you are going to orient the greenhouse with it's ridge running northwest-southeast then this will minimise winter light and heat as the sun will strike the end wall directly for the briefest time during the early morning, basically immediately after sunrise, then the greenhouse structure itself will be providing a lot of shade throughout the rest of the day and the light will be striking the glass at a very oblique angle for most of the day. Most importantly the light will be striking the glass at an oblique angle when the sun is at it's highest point on a winters day.
However, you must obviously orient the greenhouse in whatever direction is required to keep it out of the shade of your house as much as possible.

[Garden Manager]

Thats the most important thiing, john, to keep it out of the shade of the house itself.

Trouble is, suiitable areas for the GH are at a premuim, the area i have in mind is one the flattest area of the garden (the garden is predominantly sloping), and is already laid to concrete so no hard standing to construct.

The main issue is would it be better to orientate with the ridge along the main axis of the garden (NW/SE) or at 90 degrees to it? (ie NE/SW). The house is a semidetatched one and in a suburban area, if this helps.

Thanks for your help

[john_miller]

I would go SW/NE if those are your options. You will get the maximum early temperature lift as the long side/most surface area will catch the sun. Not only will this dry out plant leaves more quickly (important for disease control) but, as plants do most of their growing in the hours around sunrise, this will also promote faster growth in the warmer temperatures.
This is assuming that you intend growing plants throughout the winter (which starts in late December, not today- I had to turn on my kitchen light at 9 a.m. today because of the dense cloud cover and rain). If you only intend growing later in the year then trying to get the most shading effect will be paramount. In between reflection and shading the best greenhouses only allow 80% of available light to reach the plant (and that is at the height of the day)- this is why so much attention needs to be paid to crafting your greenhouse to what your requirememnts are.

[tim]

Talking of shade - (& neighbours??) - this is noon yesterday!!
Note that only half the vents have started to open. And it was hot

Oh, well - we had over 40 years clear before 'they' came. = Tim

[Garden Manager]

John,  as i said in an earlier post, I only intend on overwintering half hardy plants in winter, I dont plan to actualy grow things out there in winter.  I will though want to grow things from seed from late winter/early spring onwards.

AS I want to maximise light I shall defintely consider the NE/SW orientation.

Heres a picture of the proposed site to explain things (I hope!):



Greenhouse will go in the corner of the paved area roughly where the mini GH and table is. Picture taken in JUNE this year. Photo taken facing North east