Raising seedlings in a mini-greenhouse?

bluemoon_3

I'd love to make my garden look beautiful this year, and grow some veggies for us to eat!

Last year, I grew some lovely tomatoes - my first! - and the seedlings came from a neighbour.

This year, I'd like to start a lot more plants from seed on my own - for money saving reasons, since I'd never be able to afford to fill up my 'threadbare' garden with ready-grown plants. However, my windowsill space is limited and I don't have a greenhouse.

I'm considering buying one of those plastic greenhouses with the pvc covers, like this. Does anyone have any experience of these? Can they be used to start-off from seed? I have concerns that they wouldn't protect the young seedlings enough.

Any thoughts?

ETA: BTW, that link isn't a recommendation. It was simply the first place I came to with a picture to show what I meant.

Pink.

Hi bluemoon,

I've never used one but there was one of these mini green houses mentoned here on the I wanna board a day or two ago for £8.99.

Pink

russ_c

I start my seed indoors and put them out in the mini greenhouse after pricking out . I keep it next to the house wall so it is a little more protected and just throw an old blanket over it at night to protect from frost.

spalding

I tend to start mine off inside on widowsills and they move out into the greenhouse thing when they have got a bit about them

meadowcat

Got one of these last year. £29 is quite dear for it - I paid about £12 or £15 for mine.At £8.99 it would certainly be a good buy. I grew things from seed in mine last year.

Only thing is they are so light that they blow over very easily so you need to weight it down with something or keep it in a sheltered place.

moggins

Brilliant things, you won't regret it. You must remember to open the front during a hot day though or all your nice seedlings will wither and die. I made this mistake last year

What I'm looking at now though is the full size greenhouse in Poundstretcher for 30 quid, (sorry, still haven't found where my pound sign has got too). I'm just trying to work out if I have room for it. You wouldn't believe my garden is 110 foot long

franney

I have one, got it last year and i agree with everything that's been said so far, but wanted to add...
Be careful as the snails get inside it and hide under the seed trays during the day and come out and eat your seedlings at night!

Curry_Queen

I've read the feedback on Amazon for one of these mini-greenhouses and people are reporting that the covering had split around the zips and near the framework. Has anyone else found this to be a problem or is it just Amazon selling a duff product?

I'd really like a proper greenhouse, and have managed to find a cheap source, but will have to do the groundwork to put it on first so one of these mini ones would be a great idea temporarily for starting off seedling trays if they work ok.

BTW, what's the best way to prepare a site for a greenhouse? I know it would need something level and stable to stand on, but what about the rest of the floor area?

Alfietinker

Curry_Queen wrote:

I've read the feedback on Amazon for one of these mini-greenhouses and people are reporting that the covering had split around the zips and near the framework. Has anyone else found this to be a problem or is it just Amazon selling a duff product?

We were given one of these plastic min-greenhouses as a Christmas present and I must admit the zip split at the seams - I think I tugged the zip too hard. It is very handy for me as although I've got a proper greenhouse too, I don't have enough plants to overwinter to justify insulating the whole house. So I can put my plants in the mini-house, (next to a house wall) and cover that with bubble wrap instead.

Then, in the summer it makes great staging in the glass house.

Curry_Queen wrote:

BTW, what's the best way to prepare a site for a greenhouse? I know it would need something level and stable to stand on, but what about the rest of the floor area?

We got ours for £50 - fully dismantled and ready to collect. They are regularly in the papers and shop windows free, so take a look if you haven't got yours already.

Ours had a 'base' - 4 strips of metal that you bolt the greenhouse onto. If you don't have a base then I think you need to make a base of bricks. Anyway, we dug 8 inch footings, (a bit OTT TBH) filled with concrete, and cemented our 'base' onto this. Make sure it's square and level!!!!. The aluminium structure then simply bolted on, then the glass is secured with wire clips. Take your time, work logically and you'll be fine.

For the inside, I didn't want a border so we laid slabs onto sand. This enables water to drain away. If you want a border, then make sure you have a hard standing for your staging too.

BTW, sight the greenhouse so the long side is facing south for maximum light.

I'm sure there are plenty of other methods, but this worked for us.

Oh. If you can, try and provide some kind of wind break against the prevailing wind - a windy night saw our glass blown inside out!!!! (and we're down south!!)

bluemoon_3

Thanks for the feedback.

I think I'll definitely go ahead and order one of these for this year. Now I just have to measure up the space I have for it and decide what size I want!

pol

I had one of these a couple of years ago. you do have to be careful of the plastic splitting at the zip. I lost a lot of small plants one night in April when we had a sudden sharp frost, but if you are careful, they are great.

Have you thought about a cold frame for when they are bigger? Could be easily made from an old deep drawer or similar, cover the bottom with grit and put glass/plastic over the top. Easy to move if necessary too.

pol