finally a thread about the hobby we all love...I was asking myself the same question what happened to all the talk on growing....well for about 3 weeks I closed down my GH...its too hot and didnt need to spend the extra money on watering when there is really no need to...This year the things that has done the best over a longer period of time would be my carnations...they went crazy in the GH...I also started a lot of my veggies in there...although I feel it took a while to grow...I must admit the stems have been thicker than I have ever seen before...and was able to get a really healthy rootball before planting..the tomatos are in the garden now and producing quite a bit of fruit..

Corn took off really early in there...and the one stalk that I was able to harvest....others I plucked too early(first yeaqr with corn) and the others lost to weed wacking oppss...but that one ear was the best I have ever had...so I planted more for my fall garden...

Squash although the plants grew well in the GH...they failed to produce much this year...not a good year for squash...

Most of my perinials I started from seeds...building a butterfly garden...and probally saved myself a ton of money by going with seeds...I have bought some perinals from online suppliers....mostly shrub type stuff...but I used the GH to get them booming...I still have a lot of planting for my butterfly and hummingbird garden...so I will be busy for the next few years...I plan on propagating some shrubs this year...

Since the GH I have never before been so concience of keeping my plants healthy...lois in the past was fried before adulthood lol...

Anyways I am planning my fall and winter GH and I think I am out of room before I put anything in yet lol...I will have citrus plants (orange and lemon) bannana plant dwarf....Parot plants...and cabernet and siberian tomatos along with peperciono....Tomatos started germinating this week yay...anyways I would love to hear about what others have coming up...and their sucess and failures

Its almost GH time again YAY
Steve

I'm also needing to find some suitable plants for inside of my new greenhouse and am wondering what to put in it. The house is 15'x15'it is an older structure that was surplus to requirements in a nearby retirement community.it has retractable celing a heater and a swamp cooler, I have added a complete water and drainage system and with the addition of a few broken panes is ready to go.
I am planing to start and grow some vegetables and would like some flowering plants, also the idea of a banana tree sounds interesting, I am going to scour this site and see what comes up. Thanks. JM

Growing in the greenhouse has proven to be so much different than I thought.
With the heat we have for days on end, I still only water once a day, the floor and walls get most of that.
Helps keep the temp. down.

I did not get the house finished until later in the spring, so I missed the seed starting stage. Mine were done in the house and then later moved out to the greenhouse.
Now once out there those little babies took off and grew like I have never seen before. In fact all my babies made it and I had more plants than I had really needed. Neighbors, family and friends saw a hugh benefit from this.

I have lots of cactus and they all love life in the greenhouse. I lost several last year in drowing when we had rain for a couple of weeks and I had no way of coving them. I only have to water most of them about every 3 to 4 weeks.

Begonia's and ferns have really shown the most growth of all my plants.

I was a little dissapointed in the production of the tomato plants I had in large pots in the greenhouse. I guess the heat may have contributed to the death of the pollen.
I am however gearing up for a wonderful fall garden. Have already planted tomato, cabbage, peppers and lettuce seeds.
All of these have come up and are doing well, so I am looking forward to some vine ripe tomatoes at Christmas. LOL

I have always had so many pot plants and when and if we had a cold spell it took a lot of time caring plants in and out of the garage. Now they have a great home with no moving needed.
Overall the greenhouse was the best gift I ever gave me!

In the summer, because it gets so hot, I leave my gh wide open, rain or shine, 24/7 with a shadecloth over half of it. I wait until fall to clean the panes, as dirty (i use 409 on my polycarbonate panels and it works beautifully. I rinse after cleaning with water), they act like a diffused shade cloth. On the hottest days, like we had here a few weeks ago when the actual temp was in 100's, I put a boxfan in the door blowing in. I found if you blow out, the gh actually gets hotter. The plants in the greenhouse do not seem to suffer with really high temperatures if there is air circulaton.

I start seeds in there and plants I want new seeds from that are really susceptible to insects. The anole and skink patrol keep it pretty much bug free. I also grow tomatoes that I want to be perfect with no yellow splotches & such.

I have learned that no matter what you do, you are going to probably get algae on the top of the soil. Most of the time I just leave it, or take a bamboo skewer and scrape it off. I haven't noticed anything different about plant growth/health with or without the algae. Be aware that if you leave it, it can fool you into thinking the plant has enough water.

This winter I am going to install some lights inside and try to get a real jump on the season.

This is my 2nd summer with my greenhouse and I must tell you it has impacted my life so positively that people have actually commented on it. I used to dread the coming fall and winter because I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder terribly, but last winter I was able to walk out of the cold and wind and into my hot and humid private jungle and sunbathe with the anoles. It really made a difference.

X

Probably because the forum is about green houses and garden structures. Not plants.

What's worked: lemon, lime, orange...I found that the well water we use results in too much salt buildup...leaching the soil with RO water, periodic applications of Fe, epsom salts, and Osmocoat have resulted in healthy looking plants.

What hasn't: I couldn't resuscitate a sick Red Blush grapefruit tree. It was sick when I bought it. It defoliated twice and now it's in the compost pile.

What's worked: bananas. Easy to care for, relatively free of pests. My kids complain that I don't have any edible bananas, and the M basjoo is 10' tall now, so I ordered DC, Dwarf Orinoco, Dwarf Red, and High Color. All four have put out new leaves since their arrival. I'll grow them on in pots through the winter, then plant them in the GH beds in the spring.

What's not worked: I have grown on a series of pseuderanthemum plants from cuttings and they have gradually lost the lustrous deep purple color. Despite adequate fertility, they have turned a sickly green color and have proven themselves susceptible to a type of soft scale. I'm still working with them, but they may also wind up in the compost pile.

I tried a variety of vegetables, with mixed success. I picked up some varieties that are supposed to be happier in the GH, those seeds will get planted soon...those of us using varieties specifically for the GH should post their results on the forum.

SB

I wintered over geraniums, rosemary, silva, mums, marigolds, ornamental peppers and delphedinia. I also brought out seedlings once they had several sets of leaves and put lights over them, on a timer, and they did awesome. I have a beautiful flowering maple that lived under a shelf all winter, blooming it's little heart out. It's now twice the size it was last winter and won't fit under the shelf. It is one of the legit reasons for ordering the 2nd Harbor Freight Greenhouse.

I'm going to try my hand at some jelly bean 'maters for DH this winter.

Cindy

Mylu, I was gonna say the same thing. :) But this post does bring up a good point that maybe isn't addressed elsewhere. Maybe there should be a forum under this one that is "GREENHOUSE GROWING" or "INSIDE THE GREENHOUSE" or something like that. I mean, they have Container Gardening, Growing under Lights, etc. There should be a separate forum specifically for growing in the greenhouse which could cover anything concerning the operation of the greenhouse once you have it built. Just a thought...and I have no idea how you get a new forum listed.

I agree with daisylover. We do need a forum for what we are growing inside those beautiful houses.

It is kind of hard to know what you will need as for as fans and cooling systems, shade cloth etc. until you get in there with plants and start growing.

I have found even with all the help and suggestions I got here, I still was not prepared for the hellish heat we have. It does not take any time for the temp. to climb up around 105 degrees. Thats with a plenty big enough exhaust fan, ceiling fans, 4 box fans, door open, shade cloth and part of the upper back wall off to vent the hot air.

There are lots of my plants that are doing great in this type of heat, but there are just as many that are not. If I had know ahead what to expect I would not have loaded the greenhouse down with everything I own.

It has been trial and error for my plants so I would love to have a forum to discuss this part of greenhouse living.

I'm glad to see people interested in this, kicking this idea around. We could ask for a forum, Growing in the Greenhouse. What do we do until then?

One option is to split off our "green" questions to Growing from Seeds, Bananas, Citrus, Tropicals, Propagation, or whatever other forum seems appropriate. I do go to these forums for specific information. You have to go there to find Millet generously giving out his/her Citrus advice. Very helpful.

But don't you ever wonder, "How do I get the most out of my GH?" I have noticed, like Patris, that the GH environment is a little different...sometimes better, sometimes worse. My bananas outside in containers have performed differently than the bananas in the GH. Same thing with the pseuderanthemum, tetragonia, ficus, vegetables, and others. Getting the most out of the GH, in my mind, means considering questions that cannot be considered in a forum specific to a single genus, planting method, or whatever.

Another option would be to just expand the description of the GH forum to include "growing". Simple. This is not really any further off the topic than lots of posts in lots of other forums. Really, most of the structural, mechanical, and other non-green questions get back to growing plants in the end. And in this way, those in the planning or building stages can start to learn from discussions by those who have been there and done that.

Why not add gardening to the end of the title?

Greenhouses & Garden Structures Gardening

There already is plant discussion. Just wait a few months, it will pick up.

X

I just did a Google on [growing greenhouse vegetables] and found this info:

GROWING VEGETABLES IN YOUR GREENHOUSE

You can grow to maturity many garden vegetables right in the soil Of Your greenhouses The soil should be rich and drain well. Sow the plant as you would in the garden, but plant earlier. Since Shelter System's greenhouses are
easy to move you'll be able to out run diseases and pests by moving your house to new soil each time you plant. Another way to go is to start a crop at one site in early spring e.g. salad plants, then as the season advances leave the crop to mature in the open and move your house to a new site; where you can start, for example, your tomatoes, early. Never grow the same crop in the same spot two years in a row. Heat loving plants like tomatoes and eggplants can be grown in bags of soil mix by planting right in the bags. Watch you don't over water, since there should be no drainage holes in the bags. They also grow vigorously on bales of wheat straw. The idea is to provide a disease free root run. Set bales on polyethene. Apply a liberal amount of nitrogen rich manure. Water until manure enters bales and they are thoroughly wet. This triggers fermentation, heat builds up and carbon dioxide is given off. Both are good for young plants which are placed on mounds of soil on the bales. To determine the right time to plant: test the temperature in the bales every few days during the fermentation; plant when it drops to 100' F.

Check this link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hobby Greenhouse Associaiton