A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Greenhouses

Quick queston for all you knowledgable greenhouse people. Okay, I really want a greenhouse but don't have a hope in you know what of getting the actual glass kind that I want. :rolleyes: So, I've been checking out the steel framed, plastic covered ones. Now I think I found a pretty good deal on a 6x4 one, but my question is, if the bottom is not enclosed, will frost still be a problem? The plastic comes right down and fits snug one all sides around the bottom, but there is no floor to it. You know what I mean? So, any input would be helpful, whether I should go for it, or keep saving and trying to convince my husband that it would add to the retail value of our house!! Hope someone can help me!!!

Frost will still be a problem....I know it is with mine. Unless you plan on heating it all year round, you wont be able to use it in the winter. You can extend your growing season by weeks....and you could try and put down a "floor" of plywood .... that helps too.

Good luck...I sure hope you get this greenhouse....you'd LOVE it!!

flower,
Thank you! I figured that it would be useless in the winter, way toooooooo cold here, but I was thinking early spring when it is still too cold at night but beautiful during the day. I think I'm going to go for the plastic one and just keep trying for the glass one. EVENTUALLY he HAS to cave. Right? And the plastic one is better than none. So, thanks again! I'm sure I'll have more greenhouse questions once I get one, hope you're up for them!

Sherri,
Do a FORUM SEARCH< with greenhouses,
you'll probably come up with a ton of conversations about them.
It's good way to read up on a subject.
and learn a little bit more about the
"crew" we have here..
We all get to drueling when we hear that word.

I know NIKKAL put her OWN UP< ALL BY HERSELF<
she's got it in pictures and stuff she did and shouldn't of done, and things we shouldn't do either!!!!

Happy reading...
Weezie

I have had one of these for a couple of years,and i manage to overwinter,margurite and fuchsia cuttings in it with no problems,just make sure you keep compost on the dry side,that way pots are less liable to freeze.

Heuchera,
Can I ask what climate you have?
Or do you have a growing zone there??

We get awefully cold winters here,
(today it was -6*'s when we got up)
I think where Sherri is, in Canada,
is even colder than my area...(I don't know her zone)
I know my compost freezes and I
can't thaw it until spring!!!
(I compost alot, 3 wooden homemade bins,
1 double barrel compost tumbler, and 2 plastic
bins, and large piles in the back (I meant the back 40 of my yard, no piles in my back!!! )

Could you discribe how you do it???
Or what you keep the compost in???
I would be very curious to know!!!

Weezie

I have had a look at a frost zone chart and i think my area is is equivalent to your zone 5.
We get frost from october to may,but i agree,don,t think it gets quite as cold here as canada,compost i refered to is what the cuttings are planted in.
don,t emember my compost heap ever freezing solid.
Had rats nesting in it in winter before now,so it must stay fairly warm.

The very first winter I was here, that happened with those nasty, nasty, nasty critters, I'm shuttering thinking of them. It was such a warm winter, and I found chew holes in my plastic bin.
*I thought chipmunks had done that* but later some neighbors had told me they saw them and one time I was in my side bed and found one dead, I think one of the neighborhood kitties got it.
Scared the as I am always in my own little world back there and as I'm walking I saw it.
I never want to see one of those again!!!!
And I realized it had been in there, so I only used that compost to prepare some soil way in the back yard that I'd like to do someday, but still haven't, I'm sure it's rendered down and nothing nasty will be in it!!! I still have to figure out what I want to do with that area...That's a someday project!!

Weezie

How do you over winter your cuttings in the compost? Do they have roots??? Little ones??

Weezie

O ther than gardening i,m also a great lover of animals and nature,but when it comes to rats i do the same as you ,shudder,cringe.
I., sure they must have a purpose here,like all other animals do,just haven,t yet figured out what it is.
I take cuttings in august,place them in 3inch pots of multi purpose compost and they root within a couple of weeks,come the spring i,ll put them into larger pots outside to grow on.

Yuck rats!! I hate those little buggers. Haven't seen any yet but I set my composter up with chicken wire along the bottom and what not, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I never see one. They really are a nuicence in some parts of the city though, I know a couple people who simply stopped composting because of them! :p Anyways, I'm a zone 4 here(-32C today!!! )so I wouldn't be able to use it (greenhouse) during winter, but I'm pretty excited anyways. It'll make it so nice to work with seedlings, etc. in the spring! Weezie, thanks for the idea, I'm going to check that out next. I'm drawing out the backyard and trying to figure out where would be the best place to plant it. So much planning to do! I'm so excited!