Topic: Greenhouse management

[derbex]

How do you run your greenhouse? This started on the 'tomato tips' thread, when I asked Tim why he grew his plants in bags, but I thought it might be better here.

We inherited our greenhouse when we moved in, and it already had soil beds. From what I have read it's supposed to be easier to manage plants in beds and I have just followed the line of least resistence so far.

As we are both working during the week -and to allow us to go away now and then- I have installed automatic vent openers and use a seep hose attached to the water butt in the summer. Just put it back yesterday and need to mulch the hose today.

Ours is just the common or garden aluminium variety -probably 10' X 6'. I think it is a bit lower than yours probably 5' at the eaves and 7' or so in the middle, that's one reason for growing plants in the ground -it takes them longer to hit the roof.

I take your point about disease, I had decided to dig at least one of the beds out this year (but I said that last year). This is our 3rd season with it and so far no soil borne diseases, touch wood. I do try to practice rotation -but we tend to grow too many tomatoes for it to be really successfull.

I think the things I have most problem with are shading and humidity, do you use shading paint? I have been trying dust sheets hung outside to shade the cucumbers -the idea being that you can remove them on cloudy days- but I think I might as well paint that side all over.

Jeremy

[tim]

OK - size makes a big difference, but you asked what I did.
Soil - easier?  Yes.
And in 10x6, not much option in spacing.
As to shading - I like to have an easily adjustable system, because light is the key to growing. So, as said before, even on a 30' house, I use a roll of netting. Roll it over - & back! However, if you can't be there often, as we can, maybe a washy coat of white will give the best compromise. Don't know. = Tim

[derbex]

Doesn't the netting get in the way of the vents?

[tim]

No - on both the 7'x7' & the big one, it just rides up on them. There's a non-slip pin at each end.
But on the big one,  mostly, I find that it breaks the sun enough if it's just below the vents (below). You could put it across the open hole -  it wouldn't matter if the vent didn't close tight in this weather. = Tim

[Kerry]

hi  :) noticed this thread with interest as I can never decide how much to shade out, I use the bio coolglass, (paint on) mainly as the lady I bought the greenhouse from gave me her leftovers!
When I was browsing gardening catalogues (as I do, often!) I found a product called nixol, which says it is weather sensitive. Have you heard of this or tried it?  Would be interested to know whether it's worth the money. Apparently its white when rainy and see through when dry- sounds too good to be true?! It was in the two wests catalogue. It was also paint on.

By the way Tim, great looking greenhouse! One day, one day....
Cheers all. :)

[tim]

Don't know about the 'clever stuff'.
Greenhouse? £200. 30  years ago!!
 = Tim

[ina]

Our greenhouse sounds like the one Derbex described, maybe a bit smaller. The best thing we did last winter was build a frame for the tomatoes so they have more space to climb without hitting the low part of the roof on the sides. It used to be such a hassle finding ways to tie them up and several times we'd find the tomatoes had fallen over, on top of the peppers on the other side.

We built like a soccer goal, the first upright pole right next to the door and the other one straight across in the back, the crossbar runs just under the roof. Each plant gets it's own bamboo stick in the ground near the side of the greenhouse and the top tied to the cross bar up high, almost in the middle. Before the plants would go straight up till they hit the low part of the roof and grow up along it, now, tied to the poles, they are mostly free of the windows and still reach the apex of the roof so the air can circulate much better. We can still walk underneath it (just) and the plants grow much tidier, making it easier to take care of them. The whole thing looks like a slanted rack.
I wonder if you can understand all this hahaha. Pretty hard to discribe.
 
For us it's no trouble to remove the bamboo poles (the soccer goal can stay where it is) in order to dig the soil up in the late fall and prepare it again in early spring since we take all the windows out every winter and store them. So, we never bump into windows with the long poles. The old timers here know the reason of why we remove the windows but I'll tell again. When the canals that surround our lottie complex freeze over, the vandals come across and they cannot resist breaking every window in sight. The railroad embankment on the side provides just the right size stones for it.

[ina]

Maybe the pictures shows what I tried to describe before about my tomato pole system.





They are on the way.

[tim]

Even simpler?

And are those 'Ferline', Ina? = Tim

[derbex]

I have used fleece (not strong enough) and dust sheet to shade in the way shown in your picture Tim; unfortunately it still gets too hot in there, I think all those ground level vents make the difference. I tend to leave the door open, it has one of those plastic strip curtains hanging over it to deter birds.

Everyone's tomatos are looking good, although I sowed mine in good time I think I should have potted them up once more before putting them in the borders.

Jeremy

P.S. little daughter got 'Balconi Yellow' in her lunch box this morning, from the window sill, first time this year.

[tim]

I know the problem - even our big one overheats. On many 'houses, you can just take out a couple of panes . Worth doing - you need all the ventilation you can get. = Tim

[derbex]

That's pretty obvious, a fine example of the KISS rule -shame I didn't think of it.

I'll have to have a look at my greenhouse -I have a nasty feeling that the panes of glass support each other, they certainly do on the roof. It might be possible to provide the support another way though.

I had thought of putting in louvred panes, but it looked horribly expensive.

Jeremy.

P.S. Ina your greenhouse does look pretty much the same as ours.

[ina]

Even simpler?

And are those 'Ferline', Ina? = Tim

What is that your poles are leaning on Tim and what did you fasted it to? Actually, the system is pretty much the same isn't it?
Yesssssss, only ferlines for us since last year, pretty good blight resistant and a wonderful tomato.

Btw. The slats you see in front of the greenhouse windows (best seen on the close up of the tomatoes) are to keep the windows in during gales. No matter how many clips we put on them, several times, we lost windows on the north side due to underpresure when the wind blows really hard from the west side and actually sucked the windows out. We just cut some thin wooden slats to size to fit inside the profile of the frame (where the clips go) to keep the windows in place. Never had any get sucked out again.

[tim]

1/4" polypropylene rope, Ina. Yes, same effect. Attached to a screw eye at each end of the 'house.

Jeremy, yes - I know that our small 'house wasn't  rigid till the last roof pane went in. But it's survived having at least 4 side ones smashed over the years. = Tim