What can I use my greenhouse for at this time of year?

[Lamboluke]

Will I have to wait until the spring to make the use of my greenhouse or can it be of much use now?
Novice gardener, only had my house since last November and I've only done basics in the garden such as remove decking and grassed it over.
So having done that I've Realised I'm quite into gardening and enjoy it.
Just wondered if I can use the greenhouse for much at the minute? I have a few chilli plants that I purchased as plants from garden centres just as they needed cropping.
Will they do ok in it over winter? Guessing I'll need some form of heating?

Is there anything I can grow from seed (even if I have to start indoors) now?
Thanks.

[ChrisMath88]

I've planted broad beans today and onions from seed, never done it before see how it goes


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[Bigmallly]

Here you go Luke:

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/stati...seed-guide.jpg

[alldigging]

Moreveg.co.uk has a huge list of stuff you can sow now and some nice seed mix packs with a few different things in. Very nice and fast delivery too.

[Kristen]

I have a few chilli plants that I purchased as plants from garden centres just as they needed cropping.
Will they do ok in it over winter? Guessing I'll need some form of heating?

You'll need quite a lot of heat, and there isn't really enough light. You can over winter chillies on "tick over" and get them going again in the Spring, but I have never managed it (but I haven't time to mollycoddle anything, and I think that a Newbie might struggle). Best bet would be to try to over winter them on a bright windowsill, if you have one that won't cause domestic discord!

Just wondered if I can use the greenhouse for much at the minute?

Do you have soil borders in your greenhouse? or paving? or benches?

Over wintering is tricky:

Lousy light, so stuff doesn't really grow very much (even if you provide heat), so you are mostly just keeping it alive. We grow some "crops" in the soil borders in ours, but they are for the early Spring, not for harvesting during the winter.

Is there anything I can grow from seed (even if I have to start indoors) now?

The most "fun" I have gardening in the winter is using growing lights. I sowed some Cannas about this time of year (Gardeners World had a recommendation that if sowing them now, rather than Spring, they would flower in first year, but that they needed supplemental light). I may have got a bit carried away though! I read the Cannabis growing forums, gleaned lots of useful info, bought a Metal Halide growing lamp, sowed by Cannas in September and they were 4 feet tall and flowering by Christmas

Personally I find that a conservatory (i.e. attached to the house and sharing a wall with the house, even if not heated with central heating) is a much easier growing space for Winter (particularly Late Winter / Early Spring) than a stand alone greenhouse.

[Lamboluke]

Thanks for the replies, links and advice.

I was considering to try grow under lights be it indoors or outdoors so I might have a look into it.
At the minute as I put the greenhouse up really quickly it's just on the grass. Ill be getting hold of some flags next week to lay inside of it. I think it will be fully flagged and I'll be using raised beds/grow bags as of next year.

[Kristen]

I was considering to try grow under lights be it indoors or outdoors

Benefit of indoors is that you have central heating / house insulation as a help. I use Metal Halide, which generates considerable heat, so any "waste heat" from that contributes to the house too (although I wouldn't choose to use electricity, converted to light!, as my primary heating fuel - so its not the best argument when trying to justify the cost to Mrs K )

I'll be using raised beds/grow bags as of next year.

I have lowered-beds in my greenhouse, provides more cropping height to the roof (for things like Tomatoes that are normally height-restricted in a greenhouse).

Personally I much prefer to grow in the greenhouse border than in bags / containers [on a solid floor]. Watering is a lot easier to control - when I use to grow Tomatoes in 12" pots they sometimes needed watering 3 times a day now watering every other day is enough.

I change the soil in my greenhouse annually - but that is overkill [I have other reasons to do it annually] - and if you use grafted e.g. Tomato plants then you could probably get away without changing the soil for several years, maybe forever?!

[Farmer_Gyles]

last winter was extremely wet - i had loads of brassicas in pots to plant out, but the rain just didn't stop so they didn't get planted out - i planted them in morrisons flower buckets and left them in the cold greenhouse - they survived the winter with no attention whatsoever

[Lamboluke]

It's all fun and games is this greenhouse business.
Managed to get the 4 triangular corner sections and a 610x610mm section for £12.00 locally via ebay. Absolutely gobsmacked that I've managed to get a 8x6 greenhouse all in for £32.00. Really chuffed.
Just purchased 2x guardman rainwater gutter kits as i hate the thought of using tap water to constantly water the plants with and soon this will be a less than often occurrence. Sadly due to the gutter layout on my house using this water isn't an option.

I'll have to put some pictures up in the other thread when I can get around to it.

Thanks for all the help so far.

[Kristen]

Sadly due to the gutter layout on my house using this water isn't an option.

Wrong end of the house, for example?

I have a water butt on my house downpipe, and an old hose connected to that trailed all the way to the greenhouse where it is then linked to the water butt there. Greenhouse is lower than house, which helps!, and I've propped the greenhouse waterbutt on on blocks so the house one is a foot or two higher - that means that the house has a decent "buffer" to catch a thunderstorm, which then comes through the gravity hose "rather slowly" until the greenhouse butt is also full

(Greenhouse butt is also gravity-connected to a pair of IBCs, so when it rains heavily I have a fair bit of storage before anything actually overflows)

[Lamboluke]

The guttering at the rear of the house where my greenhouse is only goes to ground at my neighbours side. At the front of the house half the rain fall comes down at my side but there is no room for a water butt.
Need to keep an eye out for some more ebay bargains for water butts.

[Kristen]

At the front of the house half the rain fall comes down at my side but there is no room for a water butt.

If you could route a hose, from the downpipe to a water butt somewhere else, then you could perhaps fit a diverter on the downpipe?

[Lamboluke]

Could be an option. Will consider it, thanks!