🪴The Greenhouse Corner 🪴

[TheRealHousewife]

Hello Fellow Gardeners

Im in the process of getting a much longed for greenhouse to grow home produce and flowers. As a complete novice (apart from some veg crops grown in the garden) I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread to share knowledge, ideas & successes with like minded gardeners.

I've started seedlings off for cauliflower, cucumber, red peppers, chilli, zinnia,
cosmos, delphinium, lupin, dahlia, tomato, lettuce, carrots & brussel sprouts.
I get ridiculously excited when they start to sprout and I'll admit I treat them
like my babies. Currently they are lounging on various windowsills around my
home. I’ve already had a mishap when I dropped a seedling tray that had 4 (yet to sprout) seed varieties in. I scooped it all up and put it back in the tray, fingers crossed they take 😬

Im also going to plant spuds and I’m going to try my hand at courgettes but
waiting on seeds.

Anyone want to join me? What are you growing? Any advice for a total novice?

Thank you @MereDintofPandiculation . When is the best time to start seeds off to get fruit the same year. I planted my seeds as instructed on the pack but I don’t think they had enough warmth early on.

I dont grow bell peppers because I struggle to get a long enough growth season, so clearly April is too late. Chillis I sow at the same time as tomatoes, probably late March.

Checking in again! I've spent the weekend planting out my bedding plants so the greenhouse is looking a bit sparse now. I've still got quite a few trays of nicotiana and echinacea left but they're far too small to put outside. Timing is something I've struggled with this year. The plug plants I bought were about a month further on than my seeds, which seemed to suffer from being in an unheated greenhouse that is partially in shade. My seedlings and young plants seem very weedy by comparison to the plugs.

@MereDintofPandiculation thank you. Hopefully I’ll be more organised next season 😬

@FGSWhatNow Its been a mixed few months. We’ve not really had consistent spring like weather and at times it’s been well below 10 degrees. Do you put your tomato plants outside or keep them in the greenhouse? Other years I’ve had them out as didn’t have a gh. This year OH says to put them in it 🤷‍♀️ He says his granddad always grew toms in the greenhouse 😬. I was looking at my courgette seedlings I’ve grown from seed. The stems are thick but they are leggy. On reading about this it suggests it’s caused by growing indoors or with insufficient light. I’ll carry on with them and see what happens. They look healthy but very tall! Every day is a learning day!

Hi @TheRealHousewife , yes the toms are in the greenhouse. My Dad always kept his inside and so I'm always surprised when I see them outside My greehouse gets the sun until about midday then is shaded by some large trees until about 5pm, so it's probably why my seedlings are leggy. Then again I read that too much light can cause the same thing!?! So confusing...

Toms in greenhouse is worth it because it delays the onset of blight.

@FGSWhatNow I’ve never known too much light causing legginess. It’s usually too much warmth for the light available.

@FGSWhatNow Yes I find it all a bit confusing and I live in hope that with a bit of experience I’ll get more confident and knowledgeable 😬

@MereDintofPandiculation whats blight 😨 So keeping toms in GH removes the risk? Crumbs so much to learn. Re leggings:- I’ve had my seedlings on a heat mat indoors … hmmm … that’s why they are leggy 💡 Is it worth persevering with them? They look healthy, just very tall.

@FGSWhatNow Sadly I think I’m losing my one large Chilli plant. On reflection it’s in a room that doesn’t get a lot of sun but does get light. I had to move everything as my dog kept chewing the soil and eating the seedlings. I’ve moved it somewhere warmer in the hope I can save it! Has this happened to anyone else? Come Friday it will be in the green house, fingers crossed it’s not too late!

I’ve never known too much light causing legginess. It’s usually too much warmth for the light available. Ah that makes sense, thanks.

Good luck with the chilli plant, OP. I've only ever grown a couple of them so I'm not that experienced with looking after them!

Every day is a learning day with this growing malarkey @FGSWhatNow 😬. I’ll keep nurturing and watch & wait.

@TheRealHousewife Blight is spread by airborne spores and need moisture, so wet leaves after rain is great for it. Being in the greenhouse shelters from the air borne spores a bit, and generally means the leaves don’t stay wet even if splashed when watering. So it doesn’t stop blight, but means it tends not to take hold till later in the season when you’ve already had a crop, and the remaining tomatoes are ripening and can be removed. It’s a fungal disease which causes the leaves and stems to go brown and wilt. It was potato blight which devastated the Irish potato crop and caused famine in the 19th century.

Yes, persist with your leggy seedlings. They’ll be fine. Give them more light and slowly reduce heat. Plants are really good at responding to the conditions they find themselves in.

Every day is a learning day with this growing malarkey Doesn’t stop, I’m afraid. The more you know, the more you realise there is still to know. Important thing is to pay attention to your plants, consider their reactions and why they may be doing that. I don’t necessarily mean give them more attention, just give them attention in a mindful manner.

just give them attention in a mindful manner I wonder if that’s why gardening has such a good effect on mental health, all that mindfulness

@MereDintofPandiculation thank you so much for your detailed and very helpful replies! Yes I do believe that being attentive in a mindful matter really does help mental well being. I’m at my most happiest when pottering about 🪴👍. Thank you again!