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Greenhouse or not?

SuperheroSuperhero Posts: 53
in Fruit & veg
I wrote a long post last night on my phone and saved it to drafts and I can't find it, so here we go again :)

Long story short: Is a greenhouse worth it for growing veg (and the odd fruit)? What is the benefit of one? Is it just so that I can sow things earlier for planting out later on anyway? I've got an allotment now so the greenhouse wouldn't be heated or have electricity, so I do wonder if it's worth it at all. On the other hand I have noticed that I can get a greenhouse for the same price, actually cheaper esp. re. size, than a shed (don't have one yet either) so I am wondering if it would be smarter to get a little greenhouse, make it save with some extra truss rods maybe, and screen hallf of it of for use as storage (like a shed).

What do you think? Or am I much better off sowing seeds out into little propagators at home and just get a little shed for storage?

I am in the south and apparently our allotment has a microclimate here where we can plan crops a month before everyone else.
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  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,705
    If you look on freecycle, you often find greenhouses " buyer dismantles " free of charge.
    Devon.
  • SuperheroSuperhero Posts: 53
    Hostafan1 said:
    If you look on freecycle, you often find greenhouses " buyer dismantles " free of charge.
    Yes, that's my plan b :) Although I've never dismantled and assembled one! 
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,705
    Superhero said:
    Hostafan1 said:
    If you look on freecycle, you often find greenhouses " buyer dismantles " free of charge.
    Yes, that's my plan b :) Although I've never dismantled and assembled one! 
    Take lots of photos , take notes, even mark bits with masking tape and write numbers on it. It's not too hard , honest. I dismantled a 12 x 8 greenhouse.
    Devon.
  • SuperheroSuperhero Posts: 53
    Hostafan1 said:
    Superhero said:
    Hostafan1 said:
    If you look on freecycle, you often find greenhouses " buyer dismantles " free of charge.
    Yes, that's my plan b :) Although I've never dismantled and assembled one! 
    Take lots of photos , take notes, even mark bits with masking tape and write numbers on it. It's not too hard , honest. I dismantled a 12 x 8 greenhouse.
    That's a really good idea, thanks! So... do you think a greenhouse is worth it?
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 33,705
    If you don't use it as a greenhouse, it's still useful for storage
    Devon.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 20,939
    I love my greenhouse. I sow seeds in it and plant tomatoes in it. I grow outdoor tomatoes too but the indoor ones never get blight and fruit for longer. I think that making a shed/GH is a good idea. You can sit in it too for tea breaks on cooler days.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 9,040
    Work out the biggest greenhouse you can fit then make a bigger one fit, you always wish you'd bought a bigger one. My climate is different to yours but I wouldn't be without one for tomatoes and cucumbers. I get an earlier crop of strawberries every year and alpine strawberries all winter. They're also great for over-wintering plants even if your just keeping things out of the rain. Herbs and lavenders etc all benefit from a protected winter around here. One of mine is full of alpines if the winter gets very wet. There's always something you can do with a greenhouse that is better than a bare patch of ground where it would have sat.
    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • LynLyn Posts: 21,340
    I wouldn’t be without my gh’s 3 glass ones and 5 or 6 plastic ones for hardening off, you can’t take plants from propagator to planting, what will you do with them in between.
     When you start to prick out seedlings you’ll find you have hundreds of little plants to house somewhere. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • SuperheroSuperhero Posts: 53
    Lyn said:
    I wouldn’t be without my gh’s 3 glass ones and 5 or 6 plastic ones for hardening off, you can’t take plants from propagator to planting, what will you do with them in between.
     When you start to prick out seedlings you’ll find you have hundreds of little plants to house somewhere. 
    That's a good point, the hardening off period. I guess a small "greenhouse" type thing or a coldframe could work if it's not too many. I am just wondering how useful an unheated greenhouse is when it comes to propagating.
  • LynLyn Posts: 21,340
    Depends when you start.  I’ve never used a propagator, lights or heated mats, I sow indoors, on a spare table, when the are big enough for pricking out they go into the GH, that’s usually around April,  I do cuttings through the year, they stay out there until the flooding yer and are then planted out. 

    It really depends on if you wish to sow your own seeds, (or how many) or buy small plants, if you buy, then a sheltered spot in the garden usually does, or a cold frame. 

    Its difficult to advise anyone without knowing their exact requirements, if you only want 6 cabbage plants, then it’s best to buy them, on the other hand, you may want 100 plants to feed all your and other people’s families or freeze some. 

    Mine are always full with something, at the moment there’s fuchsias,  agapanthus grown from seeds, strawberry plants, and other tender plants in there. Also all the penstemon, viola/pansy seedlings,  lavender cuttings I did in the summer.
     In the summer it will be tomatoes, maybe some spring green, salad stuff, my fig tree is in there, and I’m trying to grow loofahs next year. 
    No, I definitely wouldn’t be without them.  I find it very relaxing sitting out there pricking out seedlings, or taking cuttings. Just me and the birds.🙂😇
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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