Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    FenceFurniture's Avatar
    FenceFurniture is offline The prize lies beneath - hidden in full view
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    1017m up in Katoomba, NSW
    Posts
    10,648

    Default Small individual greenhouses for my vege garden this winter - anyone with experience?

    For one reason or another I didn't plant anything in the vege garden last Spring/Summer. I've just put in 400 Coriander seeds which should be ready for pesto making in mid-May - there's 6 litres of frozen lime juice (100 limes) waiting for it .

    With the pandemic situation the way it is I have decided that I should grow what I can in the next few months and quick steam/blanch much of it for freezing. The quality won't be as good as freshly steamed, but I've nothing to lose except some seeds and water. Recently I used some Silverbeet that was grown 3 years ago (steam/blanch/vacpacked/frozen at the time) and even I was surprised at how good it still was in the context of a Gozleme filling (thread here). Very full flavoured!

    At 8x5 metres the garden itself is too big to enclose in plastic, and it would mean that it would never get rained on. Also, the plastic would be too exposed to hail storms, which are reasonably frequent up here. It is wrapped in 25mm Bird wire, so the plastic could sit on it, but would be too much to hold down anyway.

    21. VG Wired from old shed.JPG

    So I'm going have a poke around the internet to see what I can discover, but my initial thoughts are to make small individual tents which might be up to 1m³. Something along the following lines:
    Frame: 20x20mm sticks of Crapiata
    Cover: 200µm clear plastic film. Preferably Polypropylene for its excellent toughness and clarity, but it might have to be something else for availability and cost reasons
    Shape: Sides something like this? Join two of together in the desired width with 5 sticks.
    Capture.JPG

    That one might be 600-800mm wide and up to a metre high depending on what I want to grow in it.

    Hold it down: obviously that will be quite wind-prone, so a screweye in the bottom corners with 2 or 4 tent pegs should do the trick (2 at diagonals might be enough).

    I will need easy access for watering, and easy access for harvesting and other maintenance. I don't want to lift the whole thing off for watering so it would need either a hinged top or front door. A front door would more or less allow for harvesting, but a hinged top could be tricky for that purpose - e.g. getting beans down the bottom. For harvesting it would probably be ok to lift off the whole tent, as it it a longer process anyway. Watering has to be able to be done quickly.

    Actually, just thinking about getting some genuine rain on them, a skillion lid might be better because then I could whip around them all and flip the lids over if it starts raining - nothing like the real deal for water, especially if it's charged up thunderstorm rain!

    Capture.JPG


    So has anyone had experience with this kind of thing?
    Regards, FenceFurniture

    COLT DRILLS GROUP BUY
    Jan-Feb 2019 Click to send me an email

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Ringwood, VIC
    Posts
    575

    Default

    No direct experience of what you want to do, but some years ago I recovered a 'lean to' type green house with a clear plastic called solar weave.
    I see it is still available.
    It must have been 20 years ago, and I still have some scraps around, perfectly sound. No breaking down at all..

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Port Sorell, Tasmania
    Posts
    592

    Default

    Have you considered cloche poly tunnels, can be as big or small as you like.
    Mine was made from 6mm steel rod bent into a hoop and I think it used 2m wide plastic, was about 10m long and 1m wide. The plastic can be pulled down to ground level and seal the plants off on a cold windy day or slid up the steel hoop to allow air flow.
    Can give details on how it was built if you think it may suit your needs.
    You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. ~Oscar Wilde

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    back in Alberta for a while
    Age
    68
    Posts
    12,006

    Default

    Hi Brett

    I don't normally do this, but can I suggest you message my green thumbed friend Meredith at "Produce Companion".

    Meredith's wordpress link is Meredith Kirton – gardening, community, cooking and sustainability

    Meredith's Facebook link is Meredith Kirton - Home | Facebook
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Kingston TAS
    Posts
    42

    Default

    We bought a 30m roll of 16mm poly pipe and my lovely green thumb uses it all over the places, she has it as support for her bird netting and also for small greenhouse runs along garden beds - simple wooden stakes and cable ties do the job.83017794_828383067638657_8870216813342883840_n.jpg

  7. #6
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge SA
    Posts
    3,339

    Default

    Gardening Australia did a segment some time back and used 32mm poly pipe over star droppers, holes were drilled in the poly to allow wires to be fed through to support the poly sheet that went over the top of it. It was made high enough to be able to walk in. You could put bird wire over the top of the poly and cable tie it to the poly pipe to prevent it lifting in the wind etc.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

Similar Threads

  1. A new Vege Garden being built
    By FenceFurniture in forum GARDENING
    Replies: 94
    Last Post: 17th February 2017, 12:40 PM
  2. Winter Driving Experience in 10 Minutes
    By rrich in forum NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH WOODWORK
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 26th July 2015, 12:09 PM
  3. raised vege garden
    By Liz5264 in forum LANDSCAPING, GARDENING, OUTDOORS
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 22nd April 2008, 04:55 PM
  4. Replies: 2
    Last Post: 10th November 2007, 08:42 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •