[Asherweef]

Hello everyone,

I'm just here to ask a somewhat foolish question: when growing in a greenhouse, do you sow seeds in trays and modules etc on both/all levels of your greenhouse staging or just the top? If you do, how does the slightly lower light levels affect growth on the bottom level? It seems that on the pictures I see the bottom is only really used for storage.

I'm new to allotmenteering anyway and have received a greenhouse in the backyard from my partner's parents. I slightly missed the main sowing time and am just playing catchup now with what I can get in. As a result the question will be more about the September season and next year.

Furthermore, will overwintering be possible without a heat source in the greenhouse and if not, what do you use?

Thanks in advance and sorry they're silly questions. 

[New shoot]

They are not silly questions at all    and what a nice pressie to get from your partner's parents

I only grow on the top of the staging, but mine is on the shadier side of my greenhouse and the bottom shelf receives very little light.

Assuming your light levels are better, you could use the bottom shelf for newly sown stuff and move it up top as it comes up.  To be honest, most of the late season stuff like turnips, salads and oriental greens don't need too much warmth to get going and are likely to bolt if they get too much, so you would only have them inside for a very short time.   Same for greens for next spring like chard or kale.

You could plant overwintering garlic and onion sets straight out on the plot in the next few weeks.  That would give you crops to look forward to next year.

You can, however, extend the season for dwarf french beans in an unheated greenhouse by a fair bit, so you could plant a couple of pots of them up.  Its worth seeing if you can pick up a decent sized chilli plant as well.  We have them at work at the moment (garden centre) and although they are a bit pricier than the smaller plants we had earlier, they are loaded with fruits and would give a crop worth far more than the price tag when you compare them with those pricy little bags of chillies in the supermarket.

Once it cools down a bit, an unheated greenhouse will also give you salad leaves well into the autumn 

[Asherweef]

Hi New Shoot - I have got some chillies in there, a couple of peppers and some tomatoes that I had sown on the dining room table a few months ago! Had the GH now for about 6-8 weeks and so they're coming on a lot now. Good advice from you though. Not really worked out the light levels that we get but I think it's probably O.K. but love the idea of seedlings on the bottom and getting a chain system sorted.

Don't suppose you heat yours?

[New shoot]

Don't suppose you heat yours?

No I don't 

I find I can get some extra warmth in there by using a cheapo 4 tier mini greenhouse inside the main house.   I use this for tender stuff transferring from the house to the greenhouse in the spring.

Over winter I only use the greenhouse to protect some of my more tender pot plants like the olive tree and to grow a few salad leaves 

[Asherweef]

Coolio

I'm considering getting a citrus tree eventually and popping it in to overwinter it. May invest in a new cover for my multi-tier shelving though.

[GrannieAnnie]

My staging is in my little greenhouse which is always bubble wrapped and its at the back which has the lowest light levels. 

This year I sowed on both levels, but I found that the stuff on the lower level grew a lot leggier, and where the staging isn't quite straight, the seedlings right at the back died from damping off because when I watered, I couldn't really see the ones at the back, so assumed they needed the same amount of water.

My fault for not being more vigilant though!

However things did much better last year on both levels as the staging was in my bigger greenhouse which is in front of the other one, and much warmer and lighter!

[Growster...]

Interesting post, Asherweef!

Mrs Growster suggested that we don't need any staging at all in the greenhouse during the main growing season, it was only needed only when we were starting trays of seedlings. So we took it out,and filled the space with growing bags, so that now we have twenty tom plants, eight chili plants and six cucumber plants - and nothing else!

The staging now (for the duration), just sits round the back, in full sun, and we have spring onions and basil etc in trays on the top shelf, and they seem to love it!

Come autumn, it'll all go back as before!

[Annen]

Interesting post, Asherweef!

Mrs Growster suggested that we don't need any staging at all in the greenhouse during the main growing season, it was only needed only when we were starting trays of seedlings. So we took it out,and filled the space with growing bags, so that now we have twenty tom plants, eight chili plants and six cucumber plants - and nothing else!

The staging now (for the duration), just sits round the back, in full sun, and we have spring onions and basil etc in trays on the top shelf, and they seem to love it!

Come autumn, it'll all go back as before!

What a good idea, I could do that!  Why didn't I think of that? Well done G and Mrs G!

[Growster...]

I really don't know why we've never thought of doing this before, Anne - except that it was probably because the old staging was securely fixed, whereas now, it's just held in by poly string (to stop it toppling over and crushing a Growster-foot etc..;0)

[cadalot]

I've used the frames from 4 tier grow houses as staging and have adapted the intermediate levels so I can easily remove the shelf and the middle and front bars so that I have the best of both worlds. I also modified one of them to give me a higher unit that goes on the gable end.

I did use two layers of shelving on the upper levels and planted early toms and potatoes in the bottom. Now I have my peppers on the bottom and spring onions and beetroot plus more peppers on the top.

I also did the grow house in the greenhouse early on as suggested by New Shoot when there was risk of frost and lined the bottom 18" with bubble wrap.

If you want to use the grow house frames as staging now it the time to buy in the wilkos half price sale. 

[Asherweef]

Interesting post, Asherweef!

Mrs Growster suggested that we don't need any staging at all in the greenhouse during the main growing season, it was only needed only when we were starting trays of seedlings. So we took it out,and filled the space with growing bags, so that now we have twenty tom plants, eight chili plants and six cucumber plants - and nothing else!

The staging now (for the duration), just sits round the back, in full sun, and we have spring onions and basil etc in trays on the top shelf, and they seem to love it!

Come autumn, it'll all go back as before!

Good idea Growster, we're a little space short but that may work for us next year. My idea of getting some growbags in were somewhat kyboshed as by the time the GH was up and in place I had potted on my plants too far to make it possible.

If you want to use the grow house frames as staging now it the time to buy in the wilkos half price sale.

I already have one - I just need a new cover :~) Will pop in and have a look at the stuff though today as it's my birthday tomorrow.

[Goosegirl]

I echo many things mentioned on here. I have an un-heated 10'x12' greenhouse with lower and upper staging shelves on the left as you go in. The GH is positioned east to west so it receives max sun. I also have a four-tiered grow-house at the western end. If I want to over-winter any plants in pots, I put them in the Grow-house and use the plastic cover plus a fleece cover (from Wilko) if needed and make sure it is stood on a polystyrene base so the cold from the GH base doesn't strike up from the bottom. I also have a max-min thermometer so I can check on the temps in there. When I sow seeds in spring, I either use the insulated grow-house or the lower GH staging depending on what I'm sowing and the current temps, and later remove hardier seedlings like broad beans to the lower staging when they have germinated. I also use net curtains suspended on canes to shade these seedlings because it gives them enough diffused light to grow without their leaves being subjected to sun scorch. I find the upper shelf is too near the GH glass to provide a more even temp so only use it to stash my pots, trays and other stuff. As Growster says, when all is out and planted it does take up valuable space, so a removable one is a good option.