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Hi Charles
We have both a tunnel and a greenhouse but have decided to add another enclosed growing space. We are favouring a cedar greenhouse, despite the cost, but all the info suggests growing in containers/pots on a concrete base. We want to make soil beds like we have in the polytunnel. Do you know if this will be workable?
Last year I grew carrots and parsnips free of carrot fly because I grew them in a small polytunnel with mesh doors. We want to increase our indoor capacity to enable us to prevent problems from pests and visiting neighbourhood cats. The polytunnel is wonderful but we thought perhaps a greenhouse with soil beds would be even better. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
FreedHi Freed,
I’m sure Charles will give you his own take on this but if I might offer my own opinion.
I see Greenhouses and Polytunnels thus.
A Polytunnel is nothing more than a giant cloche where as a Greenhouse is the Garden Workshop used primarily for raising seedlings and housing tender plants over winter.
Of course you can grow crops such as Tomatoes etc in the Greenhouse but you don’t have to plant into bare soil to do so.
If I had a Greenhouse I would definitely want a concrete floor. Constructing a Greenhouse on bare soil seems to me to be a very very expensive cloche.
Don.Interesting comments here. Don, I see no reason for wanting a concrete floor, surely there is enough concrete in the world?
That is a problem I have with greenhouses and mine has a concrete foundation for the wall, no way around that unless your garden is incredibly sheltered. Whereas my polytunnel has simple foundation tubes, banged in the ground. I could relocate it quite easily, as we did in 2013 to here.
My cedar greenhouse works well with a soil/compost floor, see January update. Freed, I would go for soil. I think people worry about weeds but mulched, undisturbed soil grows so few, and having non-concrete floor gives extra growing options, and less watering than for containers.
The greenhouse costs far more money, but is warmer and has less pests.Hi Charles,
Whilst I broadly agree with your comments on concrete all of the Greenhouses I have come across have a totally or partial solid floor. The older ones are usually covered with flagstones (these are Victorian Greenhouses) whilst more modern houses use primarily concrete. Some I have seen have wooden flooring.
There are many advantages to covering the bare soil in this way most notably the ease of keeping the area clean, heat retention during the night and the cooling effect during daytime.
As I said putting a beautiful greenhouse structure on top of bare soil is akin to building a very expensive giant cloche and you would, it would, be less expensive and more practical to construct a Polytunnel instead.
I view the greenhouse as the garden workshop, used for raising healthy seedlings, cuttings and protecting vulnerable plants during winter. And of course it could also be used for growing certain tender crops as you would in the polytunnel.
Don.Hi Freed,
I’m not suggesting that you should only use concrete. There are alternatives such as flagstones, bricks, paving slabs, timber, etc., but when talking about organic growing and the environment we also need to be practical.
You need to consider why your doing this and weigh that up against the perceived damage to the environment.
Your building a Greenhouse to raise plants not a structure to park your 4×4.
If we were to go down the road of banning the use of concrete in the garden altogether then how can we justify using polytunnels when you consider the vast amounts of plastic sheeting used in their construction?
I intend to build a Greenhouse this summer. It will be a timber and glass structure with flagstone floor. The foundation for the walls will be concrete. All the materials used in its construction with the possible exception of screws, nails and glue will be sourced from local quarry, forestry and glass manufacturer and when I weigh that against the insignificant amount of concrete I will use I believe I am gardening organically.
Don.Hi All,
I meant to add Happy New Year everyone.
Only a little over 8 weeks to go to the start of the new season.Don.
This is an interesting discussion. If you lay a hardcore base, compact it, and then lay only perimeter flags on a dry mix of 6:1, sand to cement, for the frame to rest or affix to, would this allow the best of all worlds; an undercover space to raise plants and provide shelter OW for tender ones, soil floor for 95% of the interior for growing tomatoes and then winter salads etc., plus use of less foundation materials that can also easily be crumbled away if needed due to the weak mix? I actioned this when I sited my greenhouse and it has worked well for me. It’s probable that you may need a heavier duty foundation for a glass house the size of Charles’s but maybe not. HNY and best for the new season. Tris
Hi Tris,
In my case I want an area primarily for raising seedlings and rooting cuttings etc.
I may well grow Tomatoes and grapes perhaps but I will use planters rather than the soil for this.
Crop rotation being my concern here. I have been growing Tomatoes outdoors now for a number of years but of course I’m limited in the varieties that are suitable for the climate here in Ireland – USDA 8-9.
But my main reasons for building is to give myself a comfortable area to raise seedlings etc., its not a crop raising area per se.
I’m getting tired of having every available suitable windowsill in the house covered with seed trays from March to June each year! I raise all of my plants/crops from seed.
HNY to you also.
Don.Don, I can empathise with the windowsill dilemma, certainly in late winter and early spring with those first sowings! Eventually, an electrical supply to the glass house will keep all those module trays out of the house here.
Great project building your own greenhouse from scratch and means you can really taylor it exactly to your needs. Good luck with it.
I like to grow my toms etc. in the soil, mainly for reasons of health. Of course I can’t be certain, but feel that the plant must pull up nutrients from the soil in a way that it can’t from a pot, and this ‘goodness’ eventually ends up in your body. Something more intuitive than scientific!
Yes, here’s to a great new growing season for all. Tris
Hi Tris,
I agree with you on the nutrient aspect.
To compensate in part at least what I do is I grow in Potato Planter Bags filled with 50/50 Multipurpose Compost and well rotted Horse Manure. I then apply a liquid feed of Comfrey Tea about once every 3-4 weeks.
Watering is one of the key things to get right with Toms, and with mine growing outdoors, when I apply liquid feed is often determined by prevailing weather it being critical to maintain a consistent moister level in the bags.
This works well for me in that I generally get a very good crop of very tasty Toms from about end of July to the end of October.
There are cvrs available which are ideal for Pots, I tried Romello last summer. It only grows to about 45cm tall and wide and I had it in a 30cm pot. I was very surprised by the huge crop this little plant produced and will grow it again alongside my usual varieties this coming summer. Tumbling Tom is another which I grow in Hanging Baskets and they produce well also. I use the same mix and liquid feed in the pots and baskets as I use for the Planter Bags.
Obviously watering and feeding in these containers is even more critical to get right given their constrained size.Don.
Don.
Thanks for the rec. for Romello Don, I’ve made a note for the future. Tumbling Tom was one of my first veg to grow and did ok in a hanging basket. As interest grew I graduated from a couple of hanging baskets to now having an allotment and a few beds at home! Some photos of your green house on completion would be interesting. Charles made a belter when living at Lower Farm.
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