Newbie with way too much to learn about greenhouses!

[Kagsie]

Hi there, new here and totally uneducated in living off the land. Recently moved and adopted a very unloved 100 feet green house. It needs more work that I can bare to admit but I'm determined! Inside we have many many weeds but I found the mother load! One grape vine that's probab twelve feet high and covers around a quarter of the green house. One mature cherry tree currently laden with green cherries, one what I think is a plum tree laden in unripened but growing before my eyes fruit. There are four other trees that I think are seedings that currently have fruit but not as much. Two of the cherry trees are trained along wires.
So I'm keen to harvest this bounty I've found but I have zero knowledge. If I can add photos I will. My main concern is feeding? Do I need to feed mature indoor fruit trees? Do I need to prune or thin fruit? Some of the fruit on the cherry i noticed are drying up. Very small fruits are turning pink and withering? Is this normal or do I need to do any of the above. Really excited about turning this unloved space into my haven.

[Nannysally99]

Welcome to the Vine, when the sun goes in, someone with great knowledge will be along to help you

[Bigmallly]

Hello Kagsie & welcome to the Jungle although it looks like you have one of your own. Fruit trees don't tend to be fed although you could give them a water if you have had a dry spell. Some woodash around the base of fruit trees will also help. The greenhouse is brilliant & could be used in different ways, you could clear it out & recover it & use it as a traditional greenhouse, you could cover it with scaffold netting and have a hooooge walk in fruit/Brassica Cage (that would be my choice), you could split it into sections and have part under cover, part under netting and part open that you could grow Beans/Squashes up...........anyway, too much info at the mo. Have a browse through some of the threads & hopefully you'll get some inspiration to put your own mark on things............Good luck & don't rush it.

[Baldy]

Welcome to the Vine, when the sun goes in, someone with great knowledge will be along to help you

Or BM

That's a lot of space - you need to pause and think. The trees sound good. What do you like eating? Little point in growing things you don't like. Traditionally you'd be looking at tomatoes, chillies, peppers, cucumbers.. Your GH is big though so you can also consider melons, grapes,... If you really decide to go for it you could look at heating systems and have a micro-climate to die for... Chap on our plot is successfully growing an orange plant from seed. He's made his poytunnel from plastic sheeting and bropwn parcel tape - we are in Devon I guess but anything is possible. Not coffee though... (probably)

Good luck
Balders

[Kagsie]

Hello Kagsie & welcome to the Jungle although it looks like you have one of your own. Fruit trees don't tend to be fed although you could give them a water if you have had a dry spell. Some woodash around the base of fruit trees will also help. The greenhouse is brilliant & could be used in different ways, you could clear it out & recover it & use it as a traditional greenhouse, you could cover it with scaffold netting and have a hooooge walk in fruit/Brassica Cage (that would be my choice), you could split it into sections and have part under cover, part under netting and part open that you could grow Beans/Squashes up...........anyway, too much info at the mo. Have a browse through some of the threads & hopefully you'll get some inspiration to put your own mark on things............Good luck & don't rush it.

Hi Bigmally,
Yes it's quite a task but I'm eager to make it work. I shall look into a Brassica cage? Never heard of one but that's what googles for! Thanks again.

[Bigmallly]

Hi Bigmally,
Yes it's quite a task but I'm eager to make it work. I shall look into a Brassica cage? Never heard of one but that's what googles for! Thanks again.

Also known as a "Walk In Wonderwall".

[Kagsie]

Or BM

That's a lot of space - you need to pause and think. The trees sound good. What do you like eating? Little point in growing things you don't like. Traditionally you'd be looking at tomatoes, chillies, peppers, cucumbers.. Your GH is big though so you can also consider melons, grapes,... If you really decide to go for it you could look at heating systems and have a micro-climate to die for... Chap on our plot is successfully growing an orange plant from seed. He's made his poytunnel from plastic sheeting and bropwn parcel tape - we are in Devon I guess but anything is possible. Not coffee though... (probably)

Good luck
Balders

Hi Baldy, really I like all veg and fruit. Discovered a rather badly located honey bee hive in my eves too so soon be getting those relocated further towards the green house in a new hive. As to food I am keen to try everything. I've got tomatoes on the go and ofcourse just these fruit trees at the moment. I'm really concerned with this cherry though as the lower blanches seem to have wilting cherries. So they are shrivelling very small and slightly pink. I noticed more today! Can't get the water on so maybe it's dehydration. Full on sprinkler set in there and I can't find the stop tap that feeds it. Very depressing. We are on a half mile of old railway so tracking it is proving a nightmare!

[Guest]

Don't despair about your fruit trees. There is what is referred to as 'June drop' where trees will dump immature fruit which the tree can't support for whatever reason. Hopefully in a few weeks you will see some of the others start to swell.

I love your gh by the way. I am also very jealous of all these things you are finding. Personally I would try to restore as much as possible depending on what is salvageable/ reusable/ finacially viable and what other space there is. White wash the wall and then mentally break it down into 4 or 5 sections. One part for potting growing on, fruit section, tom and cue section, cage section if you run out glass etc. Looks like great fun can't wait to see your progress piccies (hint, hint )

[Kagsie]

A photo of the cherries

[Guest]

I think they are fine. The green one in the middle has swelled past the point of the others. It is the trees way of regulated what it can support.

[vixylix]

welcome kagsie! I can't help you I'm afraid... just wanted to say how jealous I am of your greenhouse - its amazing!

[devonuk]

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The three pinkish ones are dead and should be removed.

Your trees likely have restricted root systems because they were under glass in their formative years and therefore used to having all their food and water provided to them artificially. That means they could do with some help - watering, if you can find that stopcock, and some feed would do no harm - either general balanced feed, or - for those with lots of fruit - tomato feed. And think about thinning the fruit, esp the plums, if there is lots of it: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=340

[Shooter]

Wow how lucky can you get

[veggiechicken]

We may never know as the OP hasn't been back since 6th June