Starting from scratch

[Guapa1]

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all well. I've just moved out of London to a lovely little place in North Wales, and have always dreamt of growing my own kale and spinach etc.

I've now got a little greenhouse and conservatory and would love to grow my own. I do have a garden, but health problems mean I can't bend or kneel for more than 10 minutes so I'd like to focus on just using the greenhouse and the conservatory for now and will use pots.





As you can see from the picture, the greenhouse is both small and sparse.
Any tips on how to organise it so I can make best use of my space? How much can I realistically put in here? These pictures were taken around 3 o'clock. The conservatory has the sun for pretty much the whole day.

For the conservatory, will using the ledge be alright? I thought about putting some pots under the window outside too.
Logistics aside, I went to the garden centre to look for seeds... who knew there were so many types of tomatoes?
I spoke to one of the assistants and after looking at me with pity, she told me to buy some plants this year and grow from seeds when I know what I'm doing. LOL
Is it really that hard?

Thank you in advance for any help you give.

[veggiechicken]

Hello and welcome from Sunshiny South Wales Its sunshiny in North Wales too!
If you put some potting benches in your greenhouse You can grow bush toms on them and not worry about bending.
Aldi are selling table height wooden troughs this week which might suit you for your kale and spinach.

[cariann88]

Hello and welcome

[Baldy]

Welcome along - this forum is a pretty wonderful place full of lovely people (with the odd exception like me )
You could certainly use the ledge in the conservatory - but if you have problems with bending / kneeling etc why not look at getting some shelving units or even a cheap table to use for your pots - depends on size of conservatory and aesthetics of course.
You can fit a surprising amount in even a little greenhouse - again I'd advise getting something to bring the pots up to you rather than you having to bend down to them. Greenhouse 'staging' comes in lots of shapes / sizes and prices. I tend to buy the 'blow away' plastic greenhouses at the end of the growing season for a few pounds largely to make use of the shelving they have inside.
Finally - growing from seeds is fun - its one of the things I like best about this addiction I have. Toms aren't the easiest perhaps, but they aren't the hardest either. Why not buy a cheap packet of gardeners delight and some compost and see how you get on? Cover the seed tray or pots with some polythene and see if they seeds germinate. once they do take the plastic off. When they get a bit bigger and have a few decent leaves move them on to a bigger pot.
If they don't grow you've lost a few pounds. If they do it might be the start of something great for you.
Whatever - good luck with it. (and I hear North Wales is often shinier then South )

[Twynyrodyn]

Last year my plot wasn't ready and I bought some plants and friends and neighbours donated spare seedlings. I ended up with a greenhouse full of tomatoes and even grew butternut squash, beans and melons in the greenhouse. This year I bought lots of seeds but I have also planted any free seeds which came with magazines. It's trial and error but lots of fun. I used to buy veggie boxes and veggie recipe boxes from Riverford and the Welsh Food Company. Although starting off costs money, I still think it costs less than the boxes.

[Bigmallly]

Hello Guapa & welcome to the Jungle. As is mentioned, tables will help a lot if you have difficulties bending. You could also think about using hanging baskets, you can make watering hanging baskets a lot easier using these for a couple of quid:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ADJUSTABLE-...D48AWX5TBN8R6A

[Guapa1]

Thank you all so much for the replies, I feel very welcome indeed.

Hello and welcome from Sunshiny South Wales Its sunshiny in North Wales too!
If you put some potting benches in your greenhouse You can grow bush toms on them and not worry about bending.
Aldi are selling table height wooden troughs this week which might suit you for your kale and spinach.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've had a look on their site and the troughs look good. I'll measure up tomorrow to see how much space it'll take. Lidl will also have a offer on from next week; 2 hanging baskets for £2.99 and 2 window boxes for the same price too.

Welcome along - this forum is a pretty wonderful place full of lovely people (with the odd exception like me )
You could certainly use the ledge in the conservatory - but if you have problems with bending / kneeling etc why not look at getting some shelving units or even a cheap table to use for your pots - depends on size of conservatory and aesthetics of course.
You can fit a surprising amount in even a little greenhouse - again I'd advise getting something to bring the pots up to you rather than you having to bend down to them. Greenhouse 'staging' comes in lots of shapes / sizes and prices. I tend to buy the 'blow away' plastic greenhouses at the end of the growing season for a few pounds largely to make use of the shelving they have inside.
Finally - growing from seeds is fun - its one of the things I like best about this addiction I have. Toms aren't the easiest perhaps, but they aren't the hardest either. Why not buy a cheap packet of gardeners delight and some compost and see how you get on? Cover the seed tray or pots with some polythene and see if they seeds germinate. once they do take the plastic off. When they get a bit bigger and have a few decent leaves move them on to a bigger pot.
If they don't grow you've lost a few pounds. If they do it might be the start of something great for you.
Whatever - good luck with it. (and I hear North Wales is often shinier then South )

Baldy. Someone who writes such a helpful post is definitely lovely, (but you're secret's safe with me!) Funny enough, there's a rickety old computer desk in the conservatory I was going to Freecycle, but I'll use it to grow things on. I did balk at the prices when I started looking at shelving and decided to try and find something similar in the charity shops around here. I like the idea of using plastic ones for their shelving. Thank you for the suggestion. Do you mean things like this?

Last year my plot wasn't ready and I bought some plants and friends and neighbours donated spare seedlings. I ended up with a greenhouse full of tomatoes and even grew butternut squash, beans and melons in the greenhouse. This year I bought lots of seeds but I have also planted any free seeds which came with magazines. It's trial and error but lots of fun. I used to buy veggie boxes and veggie recipe boxes from Riverford and the Welsh Food Company. Although starting off costs money, I still think it costs less than the boxes.

Aw, that sounds lush! I'm buying vegetable boxes at the moment and would love not to someday. As I said before, I was a bit shocked at the price of shelving etc, but as you say it'll pay for itself in the end.

[Guapa1]

Thanks BigMallly, Lidl's is going to have an offer on, so I"ll take advantage of that.

[happyhumph]

Hi and welcome. Lots of good advice here already for you. As the others have said, it's a case of bringing the plants up to you. Gardening equipment can look expensive when you start out, but it doesn't always have to be. Plants don't care if they're on a rickety old table or plush new staging that's cost hundreds. I have big pots in my gh I was given for free because they have cracked rims and are no longer ornamental. I'm also growing in bird and cattle feed buckets!

Feel free to ask away and browse around - lots of friendly people happy to share advice.

[Baldy]

guap1 - that's the sort of thing - I picked up a couple at late autumn in Wilikinsons (wilkos) for (I think) £3 each - essentially I'll expect to get a year out of them outside - then when they 'blow away' and rip up - Ill have the innards for shelving.
My set up is very much low/no spend so I've got pallets cut in half as 'legs' and random offcuts as the shelving - I even use the wire mesh of disposable BBQs as the 'tops' to frames I've built ( might not be ok in your conservatory of course) - and gradually over the last 3 years or so I've found or been given things on freecycle and the like that have improved things. I've even got aluminium staging in my GH at home (cos next door neighbor gave up his GH and donated to me)

[Guapa1]

Hi Everyone, I hope you're all well.

Well I bought some seeds and have propogated them. To identify what they are, I used lollipop sticks, but they now have mould on them.

What have I done wong? Is it best to throw them out and start again?



Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Baldy]

Mould on the lollipo sticks is probably to be expected - though there is maybe a bit of a lack of germination and the compost does look quite wet. What were you growing? Lettuce?

[Chestnut]

Hello and welcome!

One other good place to look for large pots and tables/staging is your local council recycling depot.
Many of them now run 'shops' where they sell useable stuff which others no longer want - might be worth a look if you're passing ;-)

[Guapa1]

@Baldy, I've only just seen your reply! It was lettuce, tomatoes broccoli, kale and spinach.

I had to do a lot of travelling and health problems so only the lettuce germinated. I think I over-watered them too. I've cheated and bought some plants from my garden centre.

I'm going to try again though. According to the packs I still have enough time to start some kale and spinach.
I also finally got someone to put my trough up!
I'm reading conflicting answers about putting a liner in though. Here's a couple of pictures. It's like a Vegtrug which uses a liner. If so, can I get away from a raised bed liner?

Lastly, should I also then putting broken bits and bobs in the bottom as well? I intend to grow carrots down the middle and parsnips down the middle.

Thanks in advance.

[nickdub]

Trough looks OK - I'd get some 1/2 " or bigger holes drilled near the base for drainage and give it a coat of ranch/fence paint on the inside to stop it rotting quickly - plastic liner would be good - no need for anything expensive, a couple of black bin bags split down the sides would do (don't forget to poke corresponding drainage holes through them once in place - plants don't like stagnant water around their roots. If anyone has a wood fire around your area, pick up some pieces of charcoal if you can and chuck that in the bottom, it helps to filter any chemicals etc out of the growing medium.

If you want taller crop roots like parsnips, you could take some large plastic pots and cut the bottoms out - then stand them on top of your trough and fill with soil for growing through.

Good luck and don't forget to chat with local gardeners - they'll be best at advising you on what grows well round your area.