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Help in making a new greenhouse


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I'm going on a 7 day holiday to Norfolk next week. Is there a way I can make an auto waterer thingy?

Depends what your growing but most plants can be stood in a tray of shallow water for a week, theyll be fine.

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I wouldn't recommend a sprinkler, most cp's prefer to be watered via the tray method, sucking up water from below.

Too much top watering can cause rot problems to the crown of the plant.

Tap water will have to be checked using a tds meter to see if it's suitable, in most cases it isn't hence our love for water butts and a bit of regular rain!.

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Hi all, sorry for being so inactive recently. Anyway I just thought I should say that I have moved all my plants to the greenhouse and will post pictures soon. I have loads more space in the greenhouse and I will soon be having a carnivorous plants spending spree.

update!

I'll get pictures tommorow because its dark now

Edited by Shoultsy11
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Looks much better already, certainly a good place to begin a collection :) certainly seems quite bright in there.

It is at its brightest at the time I took the photo with the sun at a perfect angle. All of my plants look much happier now

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I have an idea. On the side of my greenhouse is a slightly sloped gutter would it be possible to attach a pipe to the end and have it run into my plants drip tray. I am thinking of getting a very big tray to go under them, then the water could come in from both gutters and fill up the water tray. Is this a good thing to do, and how much will it cost?

Edited by Shoultsy11
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You're well on your way there shoultsy and very lucky to have the greenhouse at such a young age!.

I got my first flytrap at around your age and had to grow it on my bedroom windowsill.

There was no internet back then (30 odd years ago) and no one to tell me that my tap water wasn't suitable or that it needed a winter dormancy, so as you can imagine, it died, along with the next and the next etc etc.

I eventually gave up, thinking the plants were just to difficult and needy. As I eventually learned, this is not the case. I guess what I'm trying to say is you are in a very fortunate position with all that ideal room and a world of knowledge at your fingertips. I'm really chuffed for you!.

As for the guttering feeding into your water trays, personally I wouldn't for several reasons.....

If your tray is deep it could swamp the plants for too long, you want them sitting in a couple of inches of water in the summer but not up to the rim of the pot.

Any excess water will over flow and be lost, much better to run your guttering into a barrel / water butt.

In the winter the plants need to remain damp but not sitting in water, you will have no control over this if you lead your guttering rain directly to plant trays.

The only time I would consider setting up like you say would be if I was going on holiday and had no one to care for my plants, there's no guarantee that it will rain though obviously !.

Nice set up anyway lad, your plants do indeed look very happy.

Cheers chris

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You're well on your way there shoultsy and very lucky to have the greenhouse at such a young age!.

I got my first flytrap at around your age and had to grow it on my bedroom windowsill.

There was no internet back then (30 odd years ago) and no one to tell me that my tap water wasn't suitable or that it needed a winter dormancy, so as you can imagine, it died, along with the next and the next etc etc.

I eventually gave up, thinking the plants were just to difficult and needy. As I eventually learned, this is not the case. I guess what I'm trying to say is you are in a very fortunate position with all that ideal room and a world of knowledge at your fingertips. I'm really chuffed for you!.

As for the guttering feeding into your water trays, personally I wouldn't for several reasons.....

If your tray is deep it could swamp the plants for too long, you want them sitting in a couple of inches of water in the summer but not up to the rim of the pot.

Any excess water will over flow and be lost, much better to run your guttering into a barrel / water butt.

In the winter the plants need to remain damp but not sitting in water, you will have no control over this if you lead your guttering rain directly to plant trays.

The only time I would consider setting up like you say would be if I was going on holiday and had no one to care for my plants, there's no guarantee that it will rain though obviously !.

Nice set up anyway lad, your plants do indeed look very happy.

Cheers chris

Yes I am very lucky, the only reason I have this greenhouse is because I managed to persuade my dad to let me keep it for carnivorous plants when he tried to throw it out. In a bit I'll be buying some more plants for it. And the reason I got into carnivorous plants about a year ago was because I was facinated by the carnivorous plants book by Adrian Slack, so I read the book then we bought a tiny little flytrap from B&Q. And that died only about a week ago of a heavy mealy bug infestation.

Edited by Shoultsy11
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Sarras and vft's need very little " special " treatment. Just allow their pots to remain damp but not stood in water, remove any dead or decaying leaves and allow fresh air to circulate.

I know the temptation in the winter months is to shut everything up but botrytis ( damp off/ grey mould) will be most likely your biggest concern, good air circulation is necessary to avoid this, especially in a greenhouse crammed with plants.

Some sarras may still send up new growth or have pitchers that remain right through the winter as too can some vft's, this is nothing to be concerned about.

A lot of vft's will die back until there's nothing visible in the pot, the bulb will remain under the soil and send up new growth as the weather warms up.

You'll have to do some research on your drosera's, some can be grown on indoors through winter and don't need a dormancy period, some are also not as winter hardy as others so maybe list what you have for more advice or search the net for more info.

Nepenthes will need varying amounts of protection if you have any, I only have one and it's already on my bathroom window ledge till next spring.

My cephalotus stay with the sarras unless prolonged deep freezing weather is forecast, in which case they get moved to either my garage or shed for that period.

I only lost 1 plant last winter and they weren't very well protected at all , it was a pretty mild winter though down here in the south.

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What might be a useful tactic is to see if you can get all your Christmas present money combined from aunts, uncles, parents etc, and go for a fan heater. This not only sees off the frost but gives you that essential blow through that Blocky71 was mentioning. My fan heater has just come back from being repaired and even in that short gap of 2 weeks botytris got has got onto a baby Pinguicula hemiepiphytica. Thankfully back up to full gale now. Does make it easier if you have power hooked into your greenhouse though, or it is close enough to the house to run from there. Do make sure it is all waterproofed though! Fan heaters last for years, and can be repaired, and should see you well into your teenage years. David

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What might be a useful tactic is to see if you can get all your Christmas present money combined from aunts, uncles, parents etc, and go for a fan heater. This not only sees off the frost but gives you that essential blow through that Blocky71 was mentioning. My fan heater has just come back from being repaired and even in that short gap of 2 weeks botytris got has got onto a baby Pinguicula hemiepiphytica. Thankfully back up to full gale now. Does make it easier if you have power hooked into your greenhouse though, or it is close enough to the house to run from there. Do make sure it is all waterproofed though! Fan heaters last for years, and can be repaired, and should see you well into your teenage years. David

I'll do that, where can I buy one?

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I had a look quickly on the internet, they seem around £40 - £200 which one shall I get. I suppose like most things I'll get the one roughly in the middle. Sent from my XT1021 using Tapatalk

 Hotboxes or Biogreens have stood me well over the years. Hotboxes have the edge of being repaired in the UK (albeit by 2 different companies) whereas poorly Biogreens might have to return to Germany (?). Be useful to confirm that last point, as my very old Biogreen now trips the house power rcd when i turn it on. I would stay away from those things that look like glorified hair-driers, as I regard them as a false economy. As long as all your plugs, cables, and boxes are water-proofed you should be safe. If you are bringing them in, remember not to keep them too warm!

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that looks like a gardman 8by6 polycarbonate gh to me, and I speak from experience now so please don't assume im being derogative,

tear the entire thing down and get a second hand aluminium and glass gh from trade it/gumtree etc, they average about £50 if collected and are far better (even 25 year old Robinsons) than a brand new out of the box gardman greenhouse.

in fact I know a guy who sells complete ghs 8 by 6 alu glass assembled in your garden for £150 all in, which is slightly cheaper than the £160 gardman sell the replacement glazing packs for.

if you hunt around you can find some real bargains on used greenhouses, I picked up a 10 by 6 toughened elite gh complete with benches louvres and auto vents for £250 a few weeks back, although its being stored for when I move its still around 1k plus to buy new.

and the cps webpage has a job lot of greenhouses 3 in total for sale in the uk £150 each if memory serves me right.

hope that helps in some way

paul

Just been re-reading this post with renewed interest. I had been planning a bog garden for the spring, but given the winds we are currently having, I'm wondering how well it would survive. I'm wondering if I would be better off with a greenhouse, where the plants would be more protected. My mother even offered to help out with the cost! I think she sees a spark of my father ob"m in me! He loved his greenhouse!

 

I'm interested to know where you saw those cheap greenhouses. I couldn't find any for sale section on (what I think is) the cps site. Do you have a link?

 

Also, if I were to buy a 2nd hand greenhouse from (say) eBay or a local paper, any tips as to what to look for?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

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that looks like a gardman 8by6 polycarbonate gh to me, and I speak from experience now so please don't assume im being derogative,

tear the entire thing down and get a second hand aluminium and glass gh from trade it/gumtree etc, they average about £50 if collected and are far better (even 25 year old Robinsons) than a brand new out of the box gardman greenhouse.

in fact I know a guy who sells complete ghs 8 by 6 alu glass assembled in your garden for £150 all in, which is slightly cheaper than the £160 gardman sell the replacement glazing packs for.

if you hunt around you can find some real bargains on used greenhouses, I picked up a 10 by 6 toughened elite gh complete with benches louvres and auto vents for £250 a few weeks back, although its being stored for when I move its still around 1k plus to buy new.

and the cps webpage has a job lot of greenhouses 3 in total for sale in the uk £150 each if memory serves me right.

hope that helps in some way

paul

Just been re-reading this post with renewed interest. I had been planning a bog garden for the spring, but given the winds we are currently having, I'm wondering how well it would survive. I'm wondering if I would be better off with a greenhouse, where the plants would be more protected. My mother even offered to help out with the cost! I think she sees a spark of my father ob"m in me! He loved his greenhouse!

 

I'm interested to know where you saw those cheap greenhouses. I couldn't find any for sale section on (what I think is) the cps site. Do you have a link?

 

Also, if I were to buy a 2nd hand greenhouse from (say) eBay or a local paper, any tips as to what to look for?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

They weren't greenhouses they were greenhouse fan heaters.

Sent from my XT1021 using Tapatalk

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