[argonaut]

OK .. just had a good deal on a 2nd hand EDEN glass glazed greenhouse.
2 roof windows, 1 x louvre window  ,,, 8' x 12'

I can site in in an area that gets sunlight all day ...

My intent is to grow tomatoes, chills, peppers, cucumbers  ... and salad stock when garden is too cold, and probably start of veg plants for the garden.
No intent to grow flowers in it.

Soil is not suitable for growing, but I could dig out enough to put in top soil if needed  - I have put in 50sq m of veg plots in raised beds because of this.


What is the best way to set this up ..



#1 centre flagged area, with earth beds on both sides and end

# 2 centre flagged area with gravel bed down the side & container / pot grow.


It comes with some staging ... are these used above flagged areas ... which I assume does not gain you any more growing area .. just raises it off the floor.

[8doubles]

If the shelving on the staging can be easily removed you can grow tall plants up through it after the seedling are planted out. I have pots under the staging and a ring culture trench the other side.
Give a thought to the positioning of the door if in a windy position. In summer most of the time the door will be open and plants can take a battering.

[japagow]

Ref the digging out and adding top soil bit.

Have you thought of a) grow bags b) making a simple raised bed - it's just four bits of wood and filling it with compost on top of the soil c) there are some water grow systems out there i.e. autopot which add a kind of hydroponic angle to the debate.

These systems conserve water use i.e. you don't have to troll around with a watering can every day and the plants sit in their own pots and feed themselves. Feed comes in the form of a liquid compost added to the water in a 15 litre tank. The plants themselves sit in a good compost vermalite (?) mixture so the roots can grow proper.

Sounds too good to be true.  I am going to invest in one for my own poly tunnel project as watering everyday is not an option.

It never rains in Wales so when the standpipes come out in April you'll be laughing.

[argonaut]

Water is not a problem for me, I have a 5000 gallon underground water tank, I recycle all water from my house roof into this.
If I went for small raised beds, are these stood on concrete, our on subsoil ?
Saw the large reusable greenhouse grow bags in the Marshalls catalogue, they could be an option.
I suppose though there are some plants that want deeper roots

[japagow]

Ref raised beds. I have heard that you can put raised beds 'anywhere' i.e. on concrete or tough old clay soil as a base. They provide an area of focus for veg growing so in this case might save you donkey work.

Envious of your underground tank. What a beauty.

Cannot comment much further on netting but in my travels recently I have seen a p. tunnel with sheet attached to the top of boards as per your original message. So you might be onto something. It looked really smart too.

Good luck.

How will you construct the doors/ frame to the p.tunnel?

[japagow]

Staging can go whereever you can put it that is level and won't mind drips. I got some cheap stuff off the g.centre and it's fine. I can take it to bits and move things about.

[hubballi]

Be careful putting it South facing. I made this mistake and put my lean-to this way and now I can't get my temp down below 35 oC (yes centigrade) and we are only in March.

[mumofstig]

South facing is good for maximum light, specially if you want to grow through the winter just be prepared to put shading up in sunny weather.......admittedly it's unusual to have that problem in March