Greenhouse for my allotment advice please??

wellused

Lucky me I've been offered a greenhouse for use on my allotment plot, I'm new to allotmenteering and have never had a greenhouse before apart from small plastic ones. I intend to lays paving slabs to erect the greenhouse on and then grow tomatoes in buckets. I would be grateful for any advice or thoughts on the subject of allotment greenhouses?

Yorkie1

Are you on a well-protected site, or is it open access &/or prone to vandalism? That may help you to decide between glass and polycarbonate versions.

Are there any restrictions in your tenancy agreement about the siting, size or erection of sheds / greenhouses? Do you need to seek permission first?

Most people find the bigger the better - minimum size is often 6' x 8' rather than 4' x 6' - but this will depend on the size of your budget and plot.

Is the site exposed - how windy does it get? The greenhouse will need to be fixed down, not just standing on slabs.

Is there water nearby? If growing in pots, you will probably need to water twice a day in hot seasons (if we get any, that is!).

dogstarheaven

plus, you'll have to visit twice a day to open and close your vents/door when the weather's warming up. that's the problem i would be facing if i had one on m lotti and as a non-car driver, it'll be a bit of a pain going down twice daily esp. when you have work to go to. but it would be nice to have one tho' as it'll save me from transferring my trays of seedlings in the spring.

grannyjo

make sure the flags are level before you erect the greenhouse. Use a spirit level. If you don't the door won't fit properyl, or the panes of glass because the frame would be a bit skew wiff. (that word doesn't look right). but the squares will not be squares if your base is not level. As to visiting your greenhouse twice a day, a real enthusiast would do this. If you leave the window or door open a bit, then it will not give as much protection from too much heat or cold, but it will help your tomatoes along.I did have an automatic window vent that opened the window if the temperature rose, but my better half and I could not work out how to fit it, so it got thrown away eventually, but they are available . ( they do not need electricity) I have a greenhouse in my garden, but many a day, I don't go in. Its great for growing seedlings, tomatoes, and protecting some plants in winter. - enjoy it. If its polycarbonate, this is lighter so you would have to find a way of pegging it down. If glass it could well be heavy enough. I was advised to drill holes in my base and screw it in, but in the end I did a sand and cement mix which has served for 20 years or so.
Our water tap is quite a way from the greenhouse, so I find a couple of water butts with downspouts from the geenhouse gutters very useful- enjoy-jo

dogstarheaven

grannyjo wrote: »

As to visiting your greenhouse twice a day, a real enthusiast would do this. If you leave the window or door open a bit, then it will not give as much protection from too much heat or cold, but it will help your tomatoes along.I did have an automatic window vent that opened the window if the temperature rose, but my better half and I could not work out how to fit it, so it got thrown away eventually, but they are available . ( they do not need electricity) I have a greenhouse in my garden, but many a day, I don't go in. Its great for growing seedlings, tomatoes

thanks for your tips grannyjo, but i thought that in the height of summer when the sun is at its strongest, you would have to allow ventilation but that would of course, dry the seedlings out too, but to allow them to go without watering on a daily basis, they would only suffer (to stress them would cause more problems). i have a plastic walk-in g/h at home and although this is really bad for getting overheated, it is still manageable to grow successfully, but only on opening and closing your vents/door, twice a day.

wellused

It's a glass pane greenhouse I believe I don't know the exact size because I haven't seen it yet, I will ask for permission before I do anything as I have been offered a shed too although it needs a new floor and roof. The site doesn't suffer too much from vandalism as it has a steel gate and is surrounded by brambles to at least 10ft thick, I don't work and only live 5 minutes away so opening and closing doors shouldn't be too much of a problem for me. The site slopes a little so getting the slabs level will be a priority and I was thinking of drilling and screwing the base down to them to prevent the greenhouse from walking off anywhere. Not much else that I can do with the way the weather is at the moment and the wetness of the ground apart from making plans for the coming season, I know that we shouldn't wish our lives away but roll on the spring. Happy New Year everyone!:)

dogstarheaven

wellused wrote: »

It's a glass pane greenhouse I believe I don't know the exact size because I haven't seen it yet, I will ask for permission before I do anything as I have been offered a shed too although it needs a new floor and roof. The site doesn't suffer too much from vandalism as it has a steel gate and is surrounded by brambles to at least 10ft thick, I don't work and only live 5 minutes away so opening and closing doors shouldn't be too much of a problem for me. The site slopes a little so getting the slabs level will be a priority and I was thinking of drilling and screwing the base down to them to prevent the greenhouse from walking off anywhere. Not much else that I can do with the way the weather is at the moment and the wetness of the ground apart from making plans for the coming season, I know that we shouldn't wish our lives away but roll on the spring. Happy New Year everyone!:)

wish you all the luck with your plot and all the gifts you're getting (i am jealous of you getting a g/h tho'!)

Thought you might like to to know if you want to save money, you can go to Freecycle/Freegle for your nearest local group and look out for wood for replacing your roof and felt (felt is expensive as just had half of my roof repaired). I got some fence panels and a trellis off some kind person and that's helped enormously with buidling a lean-to shack against the shed (handy for sheltering in whilst watching the rain pouring down, or birds feeding...). My lotti is also on a slope but managed to site the shed at the bottom where its level. Also, there are usually slabs from these groups that ppl are usually chucking out and they're handy for the base of your shed to be sited on. Hope you have strong, muscly friends who can help you!