I've been gifted a greenhouse by a neighbour - what are the must grows?

[dick27]

I'm excited for tomatoes, cucumber and aubergine. And I'd flipping love to have a go at grapes. What else should I be looking at? And what do I need to know about greenhouse gardening?

Tomatoes and more tomatoes nothing like picking a warm sun heated tomato and eating it straight away

Chilli's and tomatoes

Use it to start off things - including flowers - that can be planted on in the garden so they get a head start: sweetcorn, peas and beans, pumpkins and other squashes, cherry tomatoes. And use it over winter to propagate shrubs.

In my greenhouse, I grow all that you said plus honeydew melons, bell peppers, and chillies. I grow new potatoes in the winter, and salad crops right through November, and I move potted tender herbs like basil and parsley in their in the autumn.

Im getting one in the autumn and planning to use it initially to grow annuals from seed, and maybe a few peppers and cherry tomatoes.

I think I have a fear of starting off with too much and either not being able to keep on top of it, or ending up with some kind of infestation.

Yep! And you can grow interesting varieties including heritage varieties, for fantastic flavours and textures. Never again will you want Dutch water bombs!

Tomatoes and growing tender annuals, beans, courgettes ready to plant out after frost has passed.

Also to protect geraniums over winter and dahlia tubers.

It’s the end of summer now so you can’t start things like peppers or chillies, cucumbers or melons. Depending on what part of the UK you are, you mayyyy get away with cherry tomatoes. Also
most flowers will also need to be sown early spring. Some things will be ok to be sown at any time such as salad leaves. Just google what is best for your area. For example in the south west it’s a fair bit warmer than it is up north. I believe in Cornwall they don’t even get frosts but where I am we very much do!

You won’t be able to grow peppers or tomatoes in the autumn unless your greenhouse is heated and you have grow lights

I didn’t mean I was going to start them straight away. Poorly phrased on my part.

We are buying the greenhouse in the autumn because that’s when it’s cheapest, then in the spring I will start using it 🙂

Sun gold tomatoes are lovely seeds not the cheapest but worth it

How did I forget peppers? Thanks all. Interesting no one has mentioned grapes. Are they tricky?

Only need to buy once, then save seeds for following years. I never buy tomato seeds.

Not with Sungold, you will get a small black tomato and a large orange one from the seeds saved.

OP Peppers are quite hard in the UK, I'd recommend either sticking to Chillis or growing varieties that give you small sweet peppers rather than large. Same goes for Aubergines, grow smaller varieties.

Also, grapes can be grow outside of the greenhouse in most places in the UK, no need to put them inside. The further north of course the harder it is but you've not mentioned your location so it is likely that you could grow them anyway.

We have grapes and they do really well (we’re in Yorkshire). They’re on their second year and we had lots of bunches last year.

We had a grape vine outdoors at home, it was not tricky to grow (but being outdoors it didn’t grow more than tiny inedible grapes).

Upthread someone mentioned starting plants in the greenhouse - I wouldn’t personally do sweetcorn or pumpkin as they need a lot of space when you plant out.

Courgettes are good to start in a greenhouse and can move outside when it doesn’t get too cold at night.

I'm in the North. Good to read they can grow well up here.

will you have electricity and water nearby? Power in a greenhouse is a gamechanger for propagation and getting things started early with a bit of heat and light.

A grape vine will probably take over the whole greenhouse. I think that might be why not many people grow them

Sadly no to electricity

How big is the greenhouse? That's going to make a huge difference. Also, are you having a concrete base, or will there be beds you can plant directly into?
In the first year, it's perfectly normal to plant far too much and barely be able to get in the door (I definitely did this!).
My friend has a grape vine in his polycrub (Western Isles, so no chance it would survive outside) and it has taken over the whole structure. If they are happy, they can get very, very big. I'm sure you could restrict the size with pruning though.
If you have room, I would recommend a fig tree in a pot. The pot will control its size, and figs are so much nicer fresh from the tree.

It's not a massive greenhouse - 6ft and a bit by 6ft ish I think. It's on a concrete base. Hahaha too planting too much and not being able to get in! I'm very fixated on a grape vine. I'll definitely be having a go and if it gets massive I'll prune. I wouldn't have thought I'd have room a fig tree. I'm not a huge fruit fan and have never ever tried a fresh fig, despite my fondness for fig rolls.