Greenhouse

we removed the glass from the roof of greenhouse, cleaned it and before we replaced it we painted the roof, so much easier than trying to do it from the outside. We intend to insulate it with bubble wrap. Found this very successful in the past.

At the moment the greenhouse is empty, I moved the remaining plants to my passage at the side of the house for the winter, and so far they're ok (I think).

Can't now get the greenhouse roof off!
The green net did work fairly well, actually. and the lilac next door has grown quite a bit, hope she doesn't cut it back again.
Sounds like bubble wrap is the best idea, but how to fasten it on the metal frame?

Spent a bit of time in the greenhouse this week. I've got some herbs in pots that I put in there for the winter, tarragon & lemon verbena and they are both looking good with new growth - hooray!! A few other bits and pieces that I stuck in pots at the end of the summer are showing some signs of sprouting as well. Have replaced earth where the toms were last year and that is ready to put new plants in. I want to sow my tomato seed earlier than last year as I was a bit late. When do other sow there Tom seeds and what variety do you plant?

I'll try that again "when do others sow their Tom seeds"

Good - this thread has woken up!
I always grow toms but I don't do seed any more, because I end up with 40 plants when I want 10 to fit in the gh.
I get plants when they come in, early - a couple - and then more, but different kinds and with the time spread out, so that I don't get all the toms ripe at once!

I like the big beef ones, but they don't grow quite as well. my daughter likes the little titchy salad ones.
I do cucumbers too, and like the lemon apple ones, they are different!
I put runner beans in a box to start with and plant out later....hoping I can time it right, every year.

The house is full of heuchera cuttings, as I let them all get too wet outside, and had to take the tops and replant them.......the roots rotted. Most of them are growing though.

Bubble wrap is an excellent idea and works very well I have 3 small greenhouses 4'6" x 7.0',6.0'x 6.0' and 8.0' x 6.0' All bubble wrapped.Because of the very high cost of heating none of them are heated.All the tender plants are put in the small gh and also covered with many layers of fleece. I was looking this morning and they have all survived the frosts so far.
I do have two electric propogaters in the spare room because I like to give seeds a good start in life.
My personal peference is for the tomato "Shirley" which I have found to be the best flavoured,other people have other ideas.I always sow the seed on 8-10 March and grow them on on the window sill.When they go out in the cold gh I always have fleece readily available in case of frosf(they will have been well hardened off).Outdoor tomatoes are sown on 26th April
Runner Beans have always been planted on or about the 10th may in individual cells on the sill but not started in the proporgater.My personal preference here is for Prizewinner it has never let me down in 50 years of gardening.I have also selected the longest beans and saved the seed so they will not deterioate over the years they do in fact improve
I do mark up a wall calander every Jan so that nothing is forgotten

yes I wish they would put fewer seeds in a packet and reduce the price. I grow them for my daughter and daughter in law as well so I normally use half the pack one year and the other half the next. I find the germination rate is virtually the same. last year I grew Shirley and Roma - a plum type. I did very well with my cucumbers last year, must remember not to sow quite so many seeds this year!

Oxon70
we used to have greenhouses and we used to cover the inside with the BIG bubble wrap you can buy...you fasten it on with sort the clips..theya re sort of grean round plastic...they have a flat side which you put in the channel of the greenhouse then you turn them about a quarter of a turn..if you go to a garden center or a gardening website im sure they will show a picture...come back if your struggling....good luck...

I use those Biker the're very good. Ronald your allotment looks great, we moved from Essex to Cheshire three years ago so I'm still finding out what will grow here and what won't!

I miss our big 12 x 8 greenhouse...(another of the drawbacks of "downsizing") no room for even a 6 x 4 now...sniff...

If you are short of space, I recommend Tumbling Tom tomatoes (small, but bigger than cherry size), which are very hardy and can be planted out in a hanging basket or pot once there's no danger of frost. I bring on the seedlings on the bathroom windowsill. There's a yellow variety as well as the red.

I have an upside down basket that you put one or two tomato plants in and water/feed from above. It had loads of cherry tomatoes on it over about four months last year, and this year I'm going to put one tomato and one sweet pepper plant in it. It hangs by my back door in the sunshine and looks decorative, too - got it from Wyevale garden centre.

ronald your sowing dates are very precise! Do you not make allowances for the weather conditions and soil temperature each year?

Not really shysal with so many seeds to sow in such a short space of time I do have to work to some sort of schedule.
If the ground is too cold I have some narrow Black polythene sheets which I place to warm up the soil for about 2 weeks before the plants go in.
Early Potatoes do have to be covered most years (because they go in early april) but only on nights when frost is forecast.
I also have a quantity of clotches.
The outdoor Tomato I grow is "Bambino" which are very sweet tasting but if someone on the site has another variety I do like to try a few plants

When I emptied the greenhouse I sprayed it with Jeyes, do I need to do it again - and spray the shelving I just put back, which has been outside? Had a bit of trouble with red spider last year.

We didn't have room for a greenhouse in our last house, but I got very good results with a three-shelf polythene plant shelter. They're no substitute for a proper greenhouse but I raised six different varieties of flowers last year from seed, along with tomatoes, beans and peppers. Now we have moved, I am working on DH for a proper greenhouse. Does polycarbonate have any merits over traditional glass?

Just moved house with a very small garden, but planning to get a greenhouse and grow potatoes, rhubarb & tomatoes in pots outside on the patio. Tumbling Tom has been recommended for the tomatoes I see; any suggestions for potatoes in pots? Anyone tried it? Only been here six months so unsure whether there are perennials in the one bed not srubbed-up! And tips on polycarbonate versus glass!

I have a glass one but I was told that light levels are lower in polycarbonate which would slow growth but I don't know how big a problem this would be. Poly is cheaper.

Thanks for that, Zeph, I'll bear it in mind. eGJ I have grown potatoes in large pots, and in a plastic dustbin, as I wanted to try a few obscure varieties. To be honest, I thought it was an expensive exercise. It takes a lot of compost to keep topping up, and, in my case at least, the yields were not wonderful, but you might get better results. There are lots of interesting varieties in garden centres these days. When we had an allotment, we used to grow Arran Pilot and Pentland Javelin mostly and they were very reliable. It's quite exciting digging them up to see what you've got (but it doesn't take much to get me excited!)

Over the years in greenhouse and now very small garden I've grown several varieties.
Can now only grow in Growbags against sunny garage
wall.
My outright favourite now is 'Sungold' which produces large crop of small,sweet tomatoes which stay orange in colour.Tried'Roma' last year-disappointing.
I get seedlings from swap stall at our local 'Sustainability' gp or from local nursery.
I had a window put in my garage so can bring on seedlings in pots until warmer weather.

we always grow some "tumbling tomatoes" in a hanging basket. They grow really well and not only look good the small tomatoes are really sweet

What about an outdoor tomato with a good flavour? For those of us without a greenhouse

Moneymaker is a good one Jess. Reliable and good flavour.

All mine are grown outside from seedlings.
'Sungold' have wonderful flavour .I love to eat them straight from the plant although they do keep well and go on producing for ages.No need to pinch out the tops.