Greenhouse options

[dean_wales]

Hello,

I have an allotment that does well enough but I find I rely heavily on greenhouse space to raise seedlings to a size where they can survive the slugs and birds etc.

So this year I am knocking down the old shanty-town thing (mix of old plastic and double glazed windows) I inherited and putting up a regular 8ft x 6ft aluminium green house.

Thing is I am on a very tight budget and so cannot just go out and buy a new one. I also have two enthusiastic but manic toddlers and a nervous partner so regular glass greenhouses are out. My options seem to be:

- Buy a second hand toughened glass greenhouse.
- Buy a second hand greenhouse frame and re-glaze with polycarbonate.

I would be really grateful if anyone could offer advice on the above - my allotment is on a hill and pretty exposed to the elements.

Dean.

[Kristen]

Both my greenhouses were re-homed off eBay. Worth looking on Freecycle too (as distance is probably your biggest issue with buying a second hand one), and even just walking around near you looking for un-loved ones in peoples gardens - friends of mine blagged one like that for free.

Polycarbonate tends to blow out - wind passing over it makes it bow, and adopt the shape of an aeroplane wing, and then pop out. The usual solution to this is to silicon the panels in (which then makes them a nightmare to remove, but I guess that's not something you are intended, so probably "ok" as a solution)

Dunno about toughened. Other solutions might be a hedge / fence panels around it (won't help much with "up & over" football punts though! Hedge / Fence will also reduce wind which will significantly reduce heating bills and/or reduce heat loss, but your garden might be enclosed anyway so of less significance. Toughened just on the walls and only on sides where kids will career into them (which might save a few bob?)

[Mikey]

It does toddlers good to know some things are off limits, we used to tell our daughter the christmas tree was hot and not to touch. She used to go gingerly up to it and hold her hands out as you would to a fire and say hot.

Still tickle me now.

the bay, gumtr, freads, etc etc are all good places to pick up a second hand one.

[dean_wales]

Thanks Kristen,

Its for an allotment so no balls to contend with just the wind and toddlers banging on the glass!

I drive a bit around the SW, Midlands and Wales for work so can collect eBay purchases in a reasonable area.

That's the third time someone has mentioned the polycarbonate blowing in. I thought it would be the most durable option! The solid clear polycarbonate seems a lot more expensive that the softer twinwall stuff. Hmmmm!

It seems like my only hope is an old toughened glass greenhouse off eBay but there are no 8x6 ones on there at all. All either tiny or massive! Its a bit galling that huge 8x12 ones are nearly the same price as smaller ones - everyone short on space I guess. I might ring the allotment guy to see if they would let me have a slightly larger one than the 8x6 in the rule book.

I cant/dont want a fence around it as light is already a little limited. It wont be heated - only for seedlings and summer tomatoes.

If only I had £500 in my wallet to burn!

Dean.

[dean_wales]

Thanks Mikey,

In all honest the existing greenhouse is their fave place at the allotment due to pea gravel floor and pots etc. Making it out of bounds would be tough!

In fact I think I have got to rule twin wall polycarbonate out because it is not transparent. I often dig a bed and keep and eye on the kids in the greenhouse. If I couldnt see them lord know what they would dig up/eat/break/love to death!

Usual websites not offering many options and I never have any luck on Freecycle.

Might try some neighbourhood snooping though - good idea!

Dean.

[veggiechicken]

Hi Dean and welcome - or Croeso if you're in Wales Could you add your location to your profile please - it helps us when you ask questions!!
I noticed a few GHs for sale on gumtree yesterday. maybe worth a look.

[Mikey]

There are a few in and around Bristol though Dean.

[sparrow100]

If you put polycarbonate in the greenhouse, you can also prevent bowing by bracing the outside. It's not pretty, but a friend of mine has drilled into the frame to attach some tanalised batons across horizontally. It won't 100% stop them popping out, but it should prevent them travelling across the site if they do.

[Bigmallly]

Welcome to the vine Dean, have you considered a cheapo polytunnel.

[Kristen]

Its for an allotment so no balls to contend with just the wind and toddlers banging on the glass!

Ah,OK. As its on allotment then worth checking in case there is a "No glass" policy (some have that so that broken glass from unscrupulous previous tenant is not a hazard to future tenants), also you might have greater risk of yobs chucking stones on allotment [than home garden]?

That's the third time someone has mentioned the polycarbonate blowing in. I thought it would be the most durable option!

It won't break! and you'll be able to find the sheets next door - or in the next county!! and put them back in, its just the fact that they flex with aeroplane-wing effect and that in turn means that the edges are no longer in good contact with the side frames, and that's when they pop out

Its a bit galling that huge 8x12 ones are nearly the same price as smaller ones

Bigger size means more cost for any replacement glass / polycarb you have to buy - but hard to imagine any gardener that doesn't need 2x the space from Day One when the new greenhouse is erected!! The tiny ones are indeed much more popular, and thus lift auction prices on eBay. A greenhouse 8 x 10, and larger is IMO easier to keep cool in summer than a smaller one. Either way, try to get one with plenty of vents - all too often there seems to be only one or two roof vents (whatever the standard manufactures price includes - newbie owners probably don't think to buy more at the outset, and then rarely retro fit them).

slightly larger one than the 8x6 in the rule book.

Ah, Rule Book, yes I can see that that could be an issue. Share one twice the size with another plot holder perhaps? Ideally someone who isn't interested in having any greenhouse space

If only I had £500 in my wallet to burn!

So you aren't considering one of these then?



The Alitek Cliveden - only 20' x 11' but a cool £25,000 !!

[Bill HH]

Don't dismiss polcarbonate entirey, I siliconed mine in and we had some pretty nasty gales, The two panes that popped out were two I had somehow missed with the silicone. Bracing acrsoss the panels could be done quite neatly using maybe 1/2 inch dowells it only has to stop the panel bowing out.

[Bigmallly]

Bracing acrsoss the panels could be done quite neatly using maybe 1/2 inch dowells it only has to stop the panel bowing out.

Or canes.........cheap as chips.

[Snadger]

All the polycarbonate greenhouses on our site have turned into polycarbonate kites!
One guy siliconed the panes in, put wire bracings across them,glaszd the roof with glass to give stability. It was last seen heading along the A1 to Durham in a mangled heap!

Funnily enough, the poly tunnels on the site have fared slightly better with only a few taking to the air.

I have two 8X6 aluminium greenhouses and a large homemade wooden greenhouse which fares much better than the two flimsy ally jobbies.

Greenhouses don't need to be glass to the bottom, 2 foot wide exterior plywood sheets can be added to any height at the bottom instead of glass.

[Bill HH]

All the polycarbonate greenhouses on our site have turned into polycarbonate kites!
One guy siliconed the panes in, put wire bracings across them,glaszd the roof with glass to give stability. It was last seen heading along the A1 to Durham in a mangled heap!

Funnily enough, the poly tunnels on the site have fared slightly better with only a few taking to the air.

I have two 8X6 aluminium greenhouses and a large homemade wooden greenhouse which fares much better than the two flimsy ally jobbies.

Greenhouses don't need to be glass to the bottom, 2 foot wide exterior plywood sheets can be added to any height at the bottom instead of glass.

Lol, must be a windy site, you would think the manufacturers of these things woud be liable as they are cobviously not fit for purpose on exposed sites.
The trouble is not everyone wants a poly tunnel particularly if it is in a garden and not everyone is prepaired to pay for glass, so the polycarbonate route is attractive. Do insurers pay out on flying green houses?

[sammy_roser]

I have a mini greenhouse with polycarbonate and although the side panels have stayed in thanks to the shelving the top one has been in and out a thousand times, didn't help the neighbours cat would jump on the lid Grrrrr!