Tips for building mini-greenhouse?

[Merete]

I can't wait for spring, which is months and months away here in Norway, and desperately want to start growing something. Has anyone ever built some kind of mini-greenhouse? I'm thinking about either

a) Making something that can be left in place on our balcony, preferably a fairly low structure, so it won't be (too) visible from the living room, or

b) Putting up something on my miniature allotment - something that will be OK with a bit of snow (the ground is bare and warm-ish now, air temperature around 7 C, but there may be snow later), and that I can work around/in when spring comes for real. Perhaps a quite high raised bed, with  thick clear plastic as a sort of tent on poles, said plastic to be removed when summer comes around?

My husband's not too keen on me taking over the entire living room floor for seed pots, strangely enough, so I'll have to think of something...

[Jesse]

Merete, have you seen my thread on toms and peppers in the edible section? It may be a cheaper option, I looked into buying polythene and the cost of materials and effort to build my own mini greenhouse the WalloWater worked out a similar price and a whole lot easier than trying to build my own. They will protect from snow as well.

[Doris_Pinks]

How about getting an old tent frame and covering that with plastic Merete? Old frame tents are always in our local paper going cheaply. Someone has done this on our site and it seems very effective!  DP

[EvieB]

Mini greenhouse, 5'6 high and about 3' wide, 2'deep.
Ikea have a shelf unit for about 15 quid also you can buy a cover which zips up the front on both sides, makes a great mini-greenhouse. You can also buy litle plastic `feet` so the wood stays dry.  

[wardy]

I've treated myself  to a grow house today.  I have put it up in the kitchen (without bending - not easy).  I now have to paint it or just rub some teak oil on it or such like.  I have some somehwere.  I shall take a photo in a bit and it will have all my seeds in it which means that I'll for once be able to see through my kitchen window.  Oh happy day 

I shan't be keeping it in the kitchen!  It will go out on the yard (I hesitate to call it a patio) 

[Marianne]

LOL Wardy, how big is the construction ?? 

I have no greenhouse but only a very large cold frame which seems to do the trick.

Good luck with the painting job !
 

[wardy]

Right then - here is my new grow house which I got from Two Wests & Elliott near me.  It was easy to put together (even for me).  It's going out on a slabbed area on my yard - not the allotment)   It is the first time I will have had space for my seeds outside and I'm so chuffed.  I can now see out of my kitchen window as its not piled high with seedlings.  I bet I can't stop myself and it will be full again by tomorrow    I've even got my seedlings from the spare rooms and put them into my new grow house.  If we get frost I'll be fetching em back in again just in case.  I can always put some bubble wrap or a blanket over it.  By the way it holds about 12 seed trays.  It wasn't cheap but it feels quite chunky and it is hard wood.  I have wiped all the timber over with finishing oil (Liberon).  I've still to level it up as the doors don't quite sit right.  It's not the frame itself but the uneven slabs laid by a builder    Wot no spirit level.

[GREENWIZARD]

[moonbells]

Right then - here is my new grow house which I got from Two Wests & Elliott near me.  It was easy to put together (even for me).  It's going out on a slabbed area on my yard - not the allotment)   It is the first time I will have had space for my seeds outside and I'm so chuffed.  I can now see out of my kitchen window as its not piled high with seedlings.  I bet I can't stop myself and it will be full again by tomorrow    I've even got my seedlings from the spare rooms and put them into my new grow house.  If we get frost I'll be fetching em back in again just in case.  I can always put some bubble wrap or a blanket over it.  By the way it holds about 12 seed trays.  It wasn't cheap but it feels quite chunky and it is hard wood.  I have wiped all the timber over with finishing oil (Liberon).  I've still to level it up as the doors don't quite sit right.  It's not the frame itself but the uneven slabs laid by a builder    Wot no spirit level.

This is really funny - I have recently got one of these as well - though mine had misplaced holes and the polycarbonate didn't fit right, cos I got it as a second on Ebay! I painted mine a bright orangey colour of fence paint, to brighten up the corner. One thing I would say - put some sealant on the bottom edge of the top sloping panel to stop water accumulating on the wood and rotting it.
During the really cold week it got to -1.7C as against about -4C unprotected.  Enough for the ice on the modules to melt during the day. So it's got a few degrees of frost protection. (I keep a small max/min thermometer inside).
It's currently wide open, with the sweet peas hardening off a bit. Must pop out in a bit and close the doors. I bought a small bolt and attached it to the top edge of the right door so it's more draughtproof.

Mine's not going to the lottie either!

moonbells

[Marianne]

Wardy,
Absolutely beautiful and you can fit so many plants in there!
 

[wardy]

Ta for the tip Moonbells.  I had wondered about the edges collecting water

I've been out and tucked it up for the night 

Marianne

I can get 12 full size seed trays in it.  As it's got no bottom to it I thought I could stand it on a gap in the paving (planting hole) and grow an aubergine or something like that in it as the shelves can be removed

I'll have a look on ebay too Moonbells.   Just got some very good china plates to replace some broken ones this week off ebay (Royal Doulton)  Oooh

[moonbells]

Wardy

ebay for plates - what a good idea - though I shall think it very spooky if yours is Minerva...  I have almost a full set and live in fear of dropping one since it's deleted... never thought of peeking on ebay.

I was wondering what to do with the planthouse after the great exodus of seedlings too.  An aubergine sounds great - as does chillies... mmm ideas...

moonbells

[sandersj89]

I have been using these this year:







I have managed to pick them up on Ebay for £12 each. They are being sold as cosmetic seconds by Haxnixks. They normally retail for about £49 give or take.

So far very pleased with them.

Jerry

[moonbells]

I have been using these this year:

I have managed to pick them up on Ebay for £12 each. They are being sold as cosmetic seconds by Haxnixks. They normally retail for about £49 give or take.

So far very pleased with them.

Jerry

It's Haxnicks that make the Plant House that Wardy and I both have. So you have the matching cold frames
moonbells

[Svea]

they sure look tempting. i have cleared an area on saturday that unfortunately seems to have a slab of concrete underneath - just where i wanted a bed for cucumbers to go - boohoo

maybe a cold frame would be nice - next season though me thinks

svea

[wardy]

Svea  To go in my new growhouse I bought some self-watering plant trays.  I just bought two to see if they're any good. 

The plates I got off ebay are R. Doulton Flirtation.  I was bidding for the milk jug but got beat.  Ttt.

After exodus of veggies from the grow house I might do a cucumber.  I have real trouble with them outdoors and now I have the means to grow them under cover I might give it a go.  I'll still try one or two outside as well.  I did fancy an aubergine but my OH has declared after 25 years of marriage that he doesn't like em!  Just when you think you got to know everything about em that there is to know they drop a bombshell like that 

[moonbells]

Wardy, I had a bit of a disaster earlier. The staging of my plant house collapsed like a pack of cards tipping all my sweet peas out and dumping the pots upside down. I still don't know how the tray of cabbages survived intact but it did (phew). I've lost about five sweet peas to snapped stems but most just fell out and I've been able to replant.

I don't know if yours is better since it's not a second, but the little metal pins for the shelves are only just close enough to balance the top two shelves on them, and if you push or pull them, they slip off the pins... my top one must have been this >< close and fell off sometime yesterday,  the weight collapsing the middle one too.

I have improvised, glueing slices of cork to the shelves at the back to stop them being pushed back too far.

moonbells

[wardy]

Ta for that Moonbells - I'll go out and check me lugs tomorrow    My basil in the growhouse is not doing very well.  The seedlings are still tiny and the vermiculite is going mouldy.  I reckon it's too cold for them so I'll bring them indoors.

Sorry to hear abour all your tipped over plants but I hope you manage to salvage some of them 

[moonbells]

Well, this is a very long term reply!

And a review on the first almost-year of my growhouse.  I don't know if it matters that I got a second off ebay rather than paying full whack, but I'm very glad I *didn't* pay full whack.

The wood of the doors expanded a lot last summer, rendering the house very difficult to close up. The lid was the worst - the wood that neatly fit together to begin with soon swelled so the lid was permanently raised, and trying to 'persuade' it to go down only pulled the fragile construction apart, and I had to get out the wood glue. And this despite painting the whole lot with protective paint!!!

I've now got the whole assembly inside, and am currently glueing the lid back together properly after it fell to bits again.  The wood has warped so badly in the shelves, you can't put a tray on properly. The lid I've had to take off the hinges and re-drill hinge holes to allow for the swelled wood, and the tiny tabs of wood that hold the four struts together are too small even to put normal nails through, so am going to have to find some pins and a very small hammer in order to make sure it stays together.

I'm going to sand the doors a bit, too, so they also close properly.  It's as well it's double-walled polycarbonate and not glass, as glass would have shattered with the warping.

Hopefully it'll be up and running again by tomorrow afternoon, as the wood glue takes 24h to dry properly and is supposed to be stronger than the actual wood. (hopefully!)

verdict: when assembled, makes a nice neat mini greenhouse. It may not stay like it without some remedial work!!!  Hopefully mine'll behave itself this year.

moonbells