Any cheap coldframes anywhere?

elsien

I'm after one of these rather than a plastic mini greenhouse which I already have, as it'll be less obtrusive in my miniscule garden. It'll be put away in the summer, so glass isn't very practical. Has anyone seen anything going cheap anywhere?

Or alternatively, how easy would it be to make one for someone with 2 left thumbs and no patience?

MUMMYTO2BOYS

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cold-Frame-Aluminium-Coldframe-Greenhouse/dp/B0011BPPYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=garden&qid=1252780498&sr=8-1

Cheap but poor reviews.......

elsien

Yes I saw that one, but I was hoping for even cheaper - got a new boiler to pay for!

glasgowdan

Keep an eye out for aldi/lidl. I saw some for £15 and only bought one (doh!). It's been ok for a few months s far but I imagine the rubber hinge will perish after a winter outdoors

foxgloves

You might not like this idea as you say you've got 2 left thumbs, but I read somewhere recently (I can't for the life of me remember where) that someone had made a cold frame entirely out of plastic bottles. I can see that the basic frame would not perhaps be too difficult to wire together, but couldn't think how they must have done the lid. Interesting (& more to the point, free!) idea, though.

alanobrien

The easiest DIY coldframe is a pile of bricks or similar with some plastic (big clear plastic bag) stretched over the top and weighed down with more bricks. Plastic bottles although a nice idea tend to suffer from embrittlement and UV degradation over time.

TravellingAbuela

I remember my grandad having a cold frame similar to that alanobrien. Built from bricks but it had a big sheet of glass over the top! In these days of health and safety gone mad I think that would be frowned on but neither me, nor my brother, ever fell onto it!! Perhaps the glass could be replaced by a sheet of perspex?

culpepper

Mine is made from old shelves wonkily screwed together into a rectangle (back is a bit higher than front) and an old pvc greenhouse cover that had ripped too badly to be stuck together.
You could probably find someone with an old cover on freecycle. It manages to help the brassica seedlings along every year. It did have half a(panelled) glazed door as the lid till something fell on one of the panes.
You could use one of those rigid paddling pools/sand pits as the base if you can find one,someone might have one on freecycle.

DFW74

Hi, made mine for £15, out of a plank of wood from Wickes (which they will cut to your request) and lid is a hard plastic sheet (picked up for nowt). The wood is treated so should last a few years, I just painted the cut ends with a preservative.

Was the nursery early on in the year and now cucumber house.

I can't post pics on here, but pm me and I can let you have pics and plans if you like. It was really simple to make and put together and will easily take apart for storage.

tripod2000

These are DFW74's cold frame plans!

LJM

my uncle got 2 old glass doors from the tip and uses these