Recently bought a new home and it has a disused greenhouse. I have pulled weeds out and loosened soil on the left hand side. Small pebbles on the right hand side.
Complete beginner to greenhouses and growing so wondering what’s a good place to start that is suitable for beginners? Also gladly take any advice offered!
by StoveWeasley
25 Comments
I would do some work on the infrastructure before planting anything. Check seals between panels, roof, floor boards, doors, air exchange/exhaust.
Edit: I would power wash the glass and walls before starting
I’m too blinded with jealousy to help. This is going to be amazing once you get it fixed up! Congratulations!
Ireland is mild but can dip into freezing sometimes. There are plugins you can put on your electrical outlets which control the flow of electricity to only be on at a set temperature, usually freezing to just above freezing. If you plug in a space heater to this, then your greenhouse should be able to stay above freezing and this would greatly increase the types of plants you could grow. Frost sensitive things like tomatoes or peppers are technically perennials.
I’m assuming this greenhouse is south facing? in direct sunlight, it’s going to get HOT. Plants can tolerate heat provided they are well watered, but you might also want to check if you have (and install if you don’t) heat sensitive vents. There are these brackets you can install on windows that push the window open automatically when it’s warm and lets the window close with gravity when the temp cools again.
Honesty, temperature control is goi to be your biggest concern. People don’t realize how greenhouses can swing very quickly from HOT to COLD based on outside temp and if the sun is shining.
Edit: I’m a gardener with an upcoming relocation to Ireland so I’m actually very interested in how this works out for you. 🙂
Depends entirely on what you like or dream of.
For now the easiest things to grow without doing too much is going to be brassicas like kale etc. they handle cold better. Start indoors then transplant during a warmer spell.
For
Depending on how the sun falls you could try tomatoes and peppers during the growing season on the left with other veggies on the right.
I think these are the easiest.
If I had this I’d use it for my tropicals.
herbs and salad greens are #1. It doesn’t appear heated so nightshades are out. Brassicas like broccoli, Gai lan, bock choi.
Alright, I live in Holland so my climate is very similar.
You have a good and fun choice to make, ornamentals or food and perenials or anuals. As it is up to the house, you have even less chances of frost in there then a singled out glasshouse what opens up even more possibilites. Before that, you need to know one thing for sure though. Will it drop below or to 0C in there? If it does, that is fine but it limits you just a bit. If it is entirely safe from frost you can keep pots with many soft plants there over winter that need tropical weather.
Easiest things to start are things like peppers, and herbs. Tomatoes are also a lot easier in a greenhouse then outside. I would start in pots if you have no experience at all, but if you add some compost and fertilizer the soil works just fine. Cumcumbers are massive climbers so you need something to help them do that, asside from that complication they are easy as well.
This would likely be great for dwarf citrus, figs etc. Many tropical and especially subtropical plants would thrive in there. Even quite some houseplants like most palms, ficusses and quite some cacti would not mind that place. If you have any specific thoughts or questions feel free to ask.
Wow! That is fabulous! Being connected to the house like that will help to keep it warm in the winter! Plant what you like to eat!
I am jealous!!
If your area has an issue with invasive plants out competing natives, you should consider making this a habitat for native species. You can then collect seeds if possible and spread them throughout your local ecosystem to promote insect life which will only continue to carry up the food chain supporting more and more animals.
I would install benches over the pits and set pots on them.
It is a personal choice. I would go with mandarins and maybe a fig tree.
You can go into collecting cactus. Just google ariocarpus and asrophytum.
Idea is to make a space a part of living space. With something interesting, low maintenance and permanent. But for that you have to keep it above freezing in winter. Fig trees can go beyond freezing easy but they have specific scent in closed space. Not for every person.
Annual vegetables is an option. But for that you better make raised bad for not bending all the time.
But for me – subtropical oasis has more value in this small footprint.
I would grow bananas, lemongrass, papaya, hot chili peppers,… name it all lol. Anything I could not find in the grocery.
https://preview.redd.it/sg76gfbxtu7c1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=658ed4ee7980a0f4a2c1ad25bd1d6e1d08c58e86
I planted its stalk from the grocery store so this is a year after. BC, Canada.
If you can handle the fact he’s British, I love Charles Dowding’s YouTube videos. You might get some good ideas in there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmCivpvtUuY
I recommend planting something you love eating. If it grows well but you don’t particularly like it, it hasn’t been so helpful. Congratulations on the new home!
Root vegetables are a good choice
Check out RED Gardens, on youtube. Ireland based greenhouse and high tunnel growing. You’ll definitely learn something from them!
Since you are in Ireland I’d guess the best crops to grow would be any cool season crops like cabbage or cucumbers. However I do suggest you clean the entire place up first.
Power wash those walls and floors, scrub down and clean the windows, check for any other major repairs, I’d see if everything is still sealed, look at the ventilation, make any modern adjustments, etc.
I’d also just get new soil and compost to replace what’s already in your growing beds. Or at the very least get 50% more and just mix it with the old soil just to bring back some nutrients.
Start with tomatoes. Dead easy to grow and take care off and very practical. Depending on how deep those beds are you could make some raised bed frames to increase the dept of the beds. Strawberries in hanging baskets from the wall would be a good use of space.
If I would have something close to this ,then I would plant mostly melons or tomatoes. This is maybe a bit „exotic“ but you could plant some Accas/pineapple guavas . They would thrive with these conditions and you would definitely have something that you can’t buy in a store.
Simple answer: summer vegetables. Short time commitment, high return on investment. Get some gardening experience then reevaluate.
I filled up a space like that with thousands of hybrd orchids, l collected orchids from all over the world.
Are you sure it’s 9a? I think Ireland it’s 7a. This may be important for your decision if true.
I am no gardening expert but
> I have pulled weeds out and loosened soil on the left hand side
I think you’ll want to recondition/replenish the soil by [adding a compost layer to it](https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/recharge-old-soil/8884.html), especially if it hasn’t been used in ages.
You got some great responses already, the only thing I would add is the first year I would probably stick to growing from seed or cheaper plants and to put in a min/max thermometer. This will give you the best idea of what can safely be grown in there without any extras. If you want to grow something outside of what your greenhouse provides you will have a great starting point of what extras you might need.
This is awesome! I would focus on cleaning this out from top to bottom and maybe even remove some of the soil. Then go at it! Just remember that you are going to need to ventilate it in the summer. Use it for getting a start on tender plants in the winter and then I’d suggest you grow what you like to eat. Tomatoes would be great in here in the summer. Chilies would thrive. Maybe some squash and rotate into lettuce in the cooler months. If you want to do something more permanent get a grapevine started!
Check out some of the Gardeners World reruns. Monty has an amazing collection of greenhouses.