What grows well in greenhouses and polytunnels?

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nuzuki

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What grows well in greenhouses and polytunnels?
« on: May 23, 2012, 17:04 »
Firstly is there any difference between the two? Im basically wondering what would go well in a polytunnel or greenhouse. I have sprouted pretty much everything this year so just want to put the right plants in the right place.

Im mainly interested in what I should do with cucumbers, melons, broccoli, cabbage, sweetcorn, strawberries, asparagus, spinach, onions, chard and aubergines.

I understand peppers and tomatoes do well in greenhouses/polytunnels but am just wondering what else would do well.

As a rule of thumb do I put all the root vegetables outside in deep beds? Also do I put runner beans outside also and never inside?

Ive been growing veg for 2 years now but this year I have so much more growing space available as we moved house. I have in total a 15m by 1m veg box, a 2m by 1m veg box, another 2m by 1m veg box, 6m by 2m polytunnels times 2, a small lean too greenhouse (gets morning sun then shaded after 1 or 2pm) and a larger greenhouse (8ft by 6ft I think). At the old house I had a window sill and 4 of 1m by 1m veg boxes.

Thanks for any advice :)
« Last Edit: May 23, 2012, 17:15 by nuzuki »

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: What grows well in greenhouses and polytunnels?
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2012, 18:04 »
When I've had excess plants, I have tried potatoes, (nice potatoes, no scab but less of them), leeks, (planted late so didn't grow big, but very nice), cauliflowers (tended to get more white fly), cucumbers, melons, chard and perpetual spinach over winter for the chooks.  They did well until we had to put 300 Amberlinks in there as their run was so muddy, and they ate the lot! lol

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shokkyy

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Re: What grows well in greenhouses and polytunnels?
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2012, 23:00 »
I should warn you this is my first full year with a polytunnel, so I really don't know what I'm doing :)

But I read the How to Grow Food in your Polytunnel book and inspired by that I've currently got mange tout, chard, strawberries, radish, spring onion, lettuce, new spuds, kohl rabi, beetroot, carrots, celery, celeriac, tomatoes, aubergines, courgette, sweet and chilli peppers, cucumbers, melons growing in my tunnel. I plan to also try swedes, turnips and a few brassicas in there later in the year.

I'm currently eating lettuce, radish, strawberries and new spuds from the tunnel, much earlier than the stuff I planted outside. I do have a small greenhouse but it's very cold, with glass missing, so whilst the chillis were happy in there in summer it was never much use for extending the season. To me the biggest difference is the space. In my 6X3 metre tunnel I've got four raised beds, each is 8 foot X 4 foot, and that's a good amount of growing space. And the lettuce and radish I've grown in there are absolutely perfect, not a single nibble or hole, and I've never managed that before.

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AlaninCarlisle

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Re: What grows well in greenhouses and polytunnels?
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2012, 14:50 »
The outstanding success in my own first full year of owning a polytunnel is without a doubt strawberries. I potted about fifty runners last year from my outside bed and planted them in the tunnel in November. I've never had such big, juicy fruit as these. We've been picking them daily for nearly two weeks and fruits are still forming. Apart from getting them at least six weeks earlier than the outdoor crop, there's zero slug damage and no competition from the birds

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shokkyy

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Re: What grows well in greenhouses and polytunnels?
« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2012, 18:52 »
The outstanding success in my own first full year of owning a polytunnel is without a doubt strawberries. I potted about fifty runners last year from my outside bed and planted them in the tunnel in November. I've never had such big, juicy fruit as these. We've been picking them daily for nearly two weeks and fruits are still forming. Apart from getting them at least six weeks earlier than the outdoor crop, there's zero slug damage and no competition from the birds

Actually, that's the thing that's doing worst in my tunnel. I just put a few strawberry plants in there as a trial, and although they have fruited early the plants haven't looked at all happy the last week or so. I've pulled some up because the leaves have just gone brown and the plant was clearly dying. I've put it down to the extreme heat, but I'm really not sure if that's what it is. No sign of mould or anything like that. But in this past week I'm really struggling to keep the temp down in there. Even with everything wide open, I'm still getting temps in the 40s. They're planted directly in the beds rather than in pots, and even now the soil still has plenty of moisture once you get past the first few inches, so I don't think it's lack of water.

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AlaninCarlisle

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Re: What grows well in greenhouses and polytunnels?
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2012, 21:36 »
The things that have done worst in my tunnel are the newly planted hanging baskets that were hanging from the cross braces. It looks as if the heat was too much for the begonias in them. Damn, I'll just have to actually now BUY some plants after nurturing seedlings for so long



 

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