unheated greenhouse

[corrine]

Hi all
I'm new to the site, so hope I am posting this in the right place !
I got the Grow Your Own bug last year and after getting some great produce at home, I have taken on an allotment, which I have cleared for planting this year. I inherited on the site an unheated greenhouse. Can anyone tell me what it would be best to grow in there, especially as I may not be able to get there everyday to ventilate it in the summer ? Thankyou

[Jaxom]

Hi Corrine. Welcome to the grapevine. I moved your post to undercover operations as you were asking what it would be best to grow in your new greenhouse. I built a green house this year and currently I am growing cut and come again salad leaves and radish as well as starting off my onion seeds for later in the year. I also have some "Long Toms" with carrots growing in them. I sow a pot of carrots each month in the greenhouse until the weather changes and it becomes warm enough to start sowing out of doors, under cloches.
Next month [Feb] sowing seed will pick up a pace or two. I will go and have a look at my books and get back to you.
Good luck
Jax

[nick the grief]

Hi Corrine,

If I were you I'd fit some auto vents, they are a God send, and maybe a Louvre vent in the end as this will help with the air flow. Also, you could give it a good clean out with some soapy water or the like and then you could insulate it with buble wrap, that will make it not so cold. Then follow the advice you'll find elsewhere on the Vine.

I've got some early carrots in my cold house as you don't need much protection to get them going and we like carrots.

Keep looking and you get loads of ideas. ... oh, welcome to the vine

[Clarea1]

Nick,

what do you grow your carrots in, i.e general purpose compost? I have the eraly nantes seeds and i'd like to start some off asap in my unheated greenhouse. I would appreciate your advice

[Jaxom]

I made my Carrot mix from 33% Garden soil, 33% bought multi purpose Compost 23% Sharp sand and 10% vermiculite.
I sowed the seed in "Long toms" which are terracotta pots 9" wide and 12" deep.

[nick the grief]

Nick,

what do you grow your carrots in, i.e general purpose compost? I have the eraly nantes seeds and i'd like to start some off asap in my unheated greenhouse. I would appreciate your advice

Hi Clarea,

These ones are just sown in the G/house border. Mind you the soil is pretty good. I empty all the bits of compost that I don't use on it plus some of the old John Innes compost that I get when I take my late chrysanths out of their pots.

If I grow in tubs like previous years I make a mix of half Soil and Sharp sand and then mix this 50:50 with multi purpose. You could just use M/P & sand but the soil acts as a buffer & holds the water & nutrients better.

Hope this helped

ntg

[Clarea1]

Well Nick, I have planted my carrots. I seived all the soil, sand etc so it was nice and fine - I read that carrots like it like that. How long do they take to till harvest approx?

[nick the grief]

Depend if you want them for the table or you eat them whilst potting up like me 10-12 weeks and they should be munchable.

[sewer rat]

Insulating unheated greenhouses

If someone asked you where most of the heat was lost from a greenhouse, I'm sure most of us would answer the roof area - well, we'd all be wrong ! Most heat is lost through the sides close to the ground so a roll of three feet bubble wrap worked all the way round at ground level will save a lot of heat. This could be left in situ all year round as it does not interfere with growth.
Rat

[andrewo]

Toms and mixed salad

I had the same problem with getting to my allotment a few years back and as the seasons started cold back in 2004 (I keep a diary), I decided to try out a packet of mixed salad leaves in February (I sowed them thin and covered with fleece), by late Feb they were seedlings and in mid March I was eating it as baby salad leaves, and in April, eating it as full salad. My greenhouse was on an exposed site but the small bed, which I only raised by 6" really did well in those early months.

I then moved to tomatoes, same problem again of not being able to get there, so I collected pop bottles, pierced the screwtops with a bradawl, filled them with a mix of water and potash feed and sunk them into the ground by each tom. This worked well and meant that I didn't have to go down every day in the height of summer.

A fig can also do well in a greenhouse or a grape vine. Remember to plant the roots outside and feed into the greenhouse.

Oh, and it goes without saying, get an auto-vent - so simple but so handy.

Andrewo

[nick the grief]

Good Idea Andrew.

I've just aqquired some 5 gallon tubs that had distilled water in and was going to get some of these dripper taps from HDRA. I thought of puting one inside the wigwam for the runner beans to do just the same thing.

I leave the bubble wrap up in my greenhouse all through the year as it helps diffuse some of the light and stops the leaves getting scorched. Another way of stoping heat loss would be to put some sheets of polystyrene along the bottom row of glass. I did think about using some of the stuff that you put behine radiators as this has a shiny side and would reflect the light around as well - this might be an idea for a cold frame as white paint doesnt stay white for long.

[michael01]

HI Nick

What are the dripper taps you get from HDRA, and where did u pick up the 5 gallon drums.
Thank Mike,,,

[nick the grief]

Hi Mike,

This is what they look like

http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...roducts_id=667

The drums I got from a friend and they are used for Didtilled water for their battery fork lift. If I didn't have them they were going in a skip!

[andrewo]

Excellent and cheap

These taps are excellent and cheap, god I love HDRA. I wonder if you could create a syphon system, similar to water butts by running a small piece of thin hose between the bottles in the event you are away for a few weeks. You could link up a number of bottles using a gravity system.

Andrewo

[nick the grief]

I hadn't thought of that andrew, mind you they say thet release about 1 litre per day I think so a 5 gallon drum works out to 25 days should be enough I guess. I'm using it as a sfety net in case I cant get up the lotty one day