Topic: How good are Garden centre plastic greenhouses?

[newspud9]

I dont have a greenhouse and the house doesnt really have any window sills that get sunlight...so ive got a couple of those garden-centre frames with plastic covers.   My idea was to use them for things like tomatoes, chillies, strawberries (before transplanting to allotment), herbs. When the sun shines, as its just started to do, they look like they'll be effective...but the evenings/nights are still pretty cool.  Do others have good experience and what month is best to start using these, or are they just not sturdy enough for when the temperature dips.
Many thanks for all the responses.

[peanuts]

My response is that if you don't have a greenhouse and no good windowsills, then they are definitely better than nothing. We were given a second-hand one about 6 years ago now, and it even survived a massive hailstorm while in our garage, when the falling tiles tore the cover somewhat.  But it got taped up,and it still  soldiers on satisfactorily.
So they aren't sturdy, they can blow over,   but I find ours really useful for about four weeks.  It is at the stage when various seeds have germinated indoors in our propagator and I need somewhere light to put them.  Here in France we don't have windowsills either, and it is always a bit of a problem finding the right spot for our mini greenhouse.  Too much sun and things roast, too much wind and it blows over, too much rain and it comes through the repaired slits!  But it is USEFUL.
One tip - my husband has made an 'over-engineered' base for it, with four castors, and it is firmly fixed to it, so now we can at least move it around easily.  Before that, it was very difficult, and tended to come apart rather easily!
Hope this helps.

[newspud9]

Peanuts....many thanks, and nice idea to put it on wheels..that will come in handy chasing the sun, as where it is only ever gets partial shade

[Gordonmull]

I had one up, only I must admit, for about a month. Up in the cold blowy North I obviously took precautions. This was a Wilkos 4'x3' job which was a very acceptable £36. It's reasonably sturdy in the frame, the polythene is reinforced and nice and thick. It comes with integrated staging.

In it's raw state the defence against being blown over was laughable. 4 guy lines and 4 little tent peg things that would bend as soon as you look at them. Hmm. That will do a lot of good in 80mph winds!

So the frame was weighted down with a 4" slab at each corner, the skirt of the plastic cover was buried in the ground and then had half-bricks placed on top of it. Then I found everything that could possibly be used as a stake that would reach at least 1' into the ground and bound the frame to these with wire also. By the time I was finished I'd have been happy to take my sleeping bag out there and kip out  in a winter howler.

I've now got a glass GH (thank you in-laws!) but I was quite pleased with the polythene one.

[Kea]

I've got a 4 tier one at home which my husband attached to the wall of the house for me, I've had it there for about 5 years...it's going to get a new cover shortly but i use it a lot. I have a wilkinson's one at the allotment 4' x 3' which survived our very windy allotment site. Like Gordonmull I used the guy ropes but also used paving slabs to hold it down and put a little post on two opposite corners and tied it to that (if you just used the paving slabs the top might blow away). I had great success with it...used it without the shelves grew lots of tomatoes (still harvesting in late Oct) and lots of aubergines. However one of the zips broke, i will just do it up with ties as the rest of the cover is fine...i did store the cover in the shed over the worst of winter.

[Lottiman]

I had mine for a couple of years and it was pretty good but the cover ripped up the side or the zip eventually.threw away the cover and now use it as a onion drying rack in the shed.

[BarriedaleNick]

I have tried a few plastic greenhouse type affairs and although they are better then nothing you do have to be carefull.
If you have the small 4 tier type ones they can get unbelievably hot in direct Sun - I lost chili seedlings in one this year - in March. 
Conversely they can get cold at night as the plastic doesn't hold in the heat for long so beware the frost.

Then there are the bigger ones with proper doors - I have got through a few of them and the fabric always disintegrates.  These are the ones with a sort of green grid and you end up with lots of tiny pastic squares everywhere.  They normally last two years in my experience but they are pretty good - I expect they would last a lot longer if you put them away over the winter.  And yes they do like to blow away!!

[cornykev]

I had a 6x4 walk in and the wind battered it in my back garden and I've got a 4 tier but the plastic doesn't last and the replacements are more than I paid for it, so its a storage shelve at the minute.  :-\

[mentallot]

the wilkinsons ones with reinforced plastic look good but (as wioth all) need to be sheltered/well tethered

the one I got from a local super-mega-warehouse is fairly rubbish but doing a job at the moment

Did notice that the reinforced replacement cover wilkinsons are selling is a different size to the mini greenhouse in my local Wilkinsons

[cambourne7]

I posted in bargin area the only thing to be careful of with buying any of the temp greenhouses is that you can anchor them and that you can get replacement covers. I can't get a replacement cover for the one i have so its surrounded by cling film at the moment. I am looking at replacing it for a larger unit but waiting to hear from wilko if they sell the replacement covers.

[sunloving]

Definitely recommend them.
I tie them to the drainpipes or nail wire across them fixed the shed nearby. I keep mine with half a zip open to stop condensation.

Once your seedlings are out each of the four teir ones can hold 2 tomato plants in a fish box or four pots of chilli/aubergine/melon with the middle shelf in. So really very useful.
I catch a lady bird and put it in each one on the top shelves and they often stay in there to graze for a week or so before finding the way out, helping to keep the aphids down. I used the plastic the new sofa came in on mine for a while Stapled into shape.

Over time ive accumulated the metal poles as the plastic bits perish after three or four years and i find that if you put a pole in each space so four per layer rather than the three in the kit on the lower tiers then its much more stable.
Go for it but I always look out for them in oct when the sale is on then you can get the next one for 6 pounds!!
x Sunloving

[Robert_Brenchley]

Make sure they're a common size that you'll always be able to get covers for. I used to use larger ones, but the covers were hard to find, and eventually disapppeared altogether.

[artichoke]

My cover tore and blew away over the years in spite of repairs....I got a lot of use out of the shelves indoors for germinating seedlings....took shelves up to my waterless allotment with the intention to stack water bottles on it......but it collapsed under the weight of them.

Nevertheless, 5 years later, the shelves and supports are propping up netting over peas and asparagus (cannot believe how destructive rabbits are getting, but the shelving and netting are protecting them) and I think I will be using them for some time to come.

As I paid about £12  five years ago, that is not bad value, even if they are now doing different jobs from the original design.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I've had my old ones for quite a while as well. They will rust through eventually, and at this rate they'll probably end up doing duty in a polytunnel when I finally get one up.

[claybasket]

I ve got a walk in plastic green house we only paid about £60 quid, O H tied it to the fencing and shed with the guy ropes it stood the winter and still ok .

[Borlotti]

Good for the money, best against a wall and tied down in wind.  The cats love sleeping on the top or inside when it is raining.  Probably about 5 years before they are used for other things, but last year my seeds did very well, not too good this year, but I blame the cold weather.

[donnythistle]

I bought a 6x4 foot plastic greenhouse this year for up the allotment.  Really worried about it last night as it was so windy here in south wales. I imagined it had blown away alsorts of things going through my mine but never in a million years did i imagine this.  My shed had blown over and flatten my greenhouse.    :(

[cambourne7]

I bought a 6x4 foot plastic greenhouse this year for up the allotment.  Really worried about it last night as it was so windy here in south wales. I imagined it had blown away alsorts of things going through my mine but never in a million years did i imagine this.  My shed had blown over and flatten my greenhouse.    :(

sorry to hear that

[artichoke]

I found mine useful for a couple of years (weighed down with bricks on the base) but the cover eventually shredded in a gale - I repaired it with duck tape - then used it for storing bottles of water on the shelves (no water on that allotment) but they were too heavy and it collapsed - BUT: each shelf, on its 4 short legs, then did very useful duty protecting young peas, with netting stretched over them.

Now, as peas are taller, I have moved them and the netting over to the asparagus, which is being burrowed into by rabbits. The burrowing has stopped, and the shelves are the right height for the asparagus shoots. I think these bits and pieces will remain useful for some time to come, and not bad for about £12.