Bought a great greenhouse in Lidl today.

[Cligereen]

I've been wanting a greenhouse for years because the growing season here in the midlands of Ireland is so short. Last year I had loads of tomatoes in the garden but they were ALL green So I have been hunting for a cheap greenhouse for the toms, peppers and to start things off earlier in general.

I saw a fab little greenhouse in the local Lidl last evening but when I went to get one this morning they had all gone. Luckily there is another one in a town about 23 miles away (the next town) and I got one there. and it was only €59.99 - probably a lot cheaper in UK.

It was really easy to put up, which is essential for me as the only tool I can use is a hammer! Took about an hour to erect and now I'm set for this year's toms. I can't wait to start sowing stuff tomorrow, so I'm going to browse through the SS Bible tonight to see what I can start off.

Also Aldi here are doing raised bed kits for €15 - that's a good price I reckon but I have enough raised beds made myself with old floorboards, hammer and nails.

Happy day!

[dave45]

Is it made of glass or a thin tubular frame with a sort of semi-opaque plastic tent (1cm mesh embedded)?

I had one of the latter types (but from ebay not lidl). Really great the first year. fell apart 2nd year. Not even the "guy-ropes" lasted. UV-unstable. The 1cm grid holes fell out then it just gave way in the wind ... a disposable greenhouse !

[Cligereen]

Dave, your second description sounds uncannily accurate! I have erected it against a wall and it's sheltered to two sides so hopefully the wind won't take it across the fields! ...and of course, we don't get sun here apart from in summer which is 23-25th June, so hopefully it won't disintegrate too quickly.

Of course, if it does fall to bits then I will recover it with thick plastic sheeting and gaffer tape.

I did have a similar one years ago and that lasted about 5 years, so if this does the same I'll be happy enough. I know I should have got a 'proper' greenhouse it's just that footballs and airsoft pellets would make short work of the glass. Plus of course, the cost was a factor.

Anyway, I'll give it a go, see what happens and relish probably the most expensive tomatoes ever grown!

[Graye]

I didn't want to rain on your parade by commenting on my experiences of one of these but now someone else has done it...

I had one of these in France. I placed it in a sheltered spot, on a concrete base. It was actually great for what I wanted in France, getting some seedlings going. It lasted two summers, although I did have to replace all the guyropes. At the begining of the second winter I was busily putting some garden odds and ends in there to protect them from the rain when I realised there was as much rain falling inside as outside. When I looked up, each and every little plastic grid square was totally devoid of its plastic cover. I had assumed the sunshine had rotted it away but it sounds as if it just happens anyway.

The upside was that the grilles for the shelves fitted perfectly and made a great upper storey in our big cat (actually designed for a largish dog) cage when we travelled back to the UK. The cats had more room than us and were very regal with an upstairs bedroom.

I think the plastic ones are great if you realise they are a short - term solution and so I'm hoping to have saved up for a "proper"one by the time we manage to move.

[dave45]

Well I would have been quite happy with mine if it had been UV-stable. As it is, I feel completely ripped off - its entire purpose it to be in the sun and it is cycnically designed to fail.

[MuddyWitch]

Cligereen, you could try building one of these:

http://www.squidoo.com/plasticbottlegreenhouse

MW

[Cligereen]

Well, bu**ger me! I feel rightly stitched up now - a greenhouse that doesn't like sun - did you ever hear the likes of that in all your born days?

Well I'll just have to give it a go and see what happens.

Muddywitch, I would have a go at the plastic bottle greenhouse except it needs more than a hammer to build it - so that's out then. I'd better start planting fairly quickly so that a few things grow before the roof falls in. Then I can use the frame as a pea and bean support. Ah well...

[dave45]

The tent bit may be rubbish but the tubular staging was fine... I recycled that into my "proper" greenhouse, once I'd built it.

[Cligereen]

Just thought I'd give you an update on the 'great' greenhouse situation. In the 6 weeks since I put it up the plastic has remained stable. No holes yet. Not that it really matters anymore because the greenhouse took off in the wind and landed in a nearby field.

I did go and rescue it though. The plastic was fine. The frame had broken in a few places but nothing that a bit of gaffer tape didn't sort out. I anchored it very well. Tied down with the guylines and also rope tied to large rocks. The frame itself was also weighed down with rocks.

Then we had more high winds. The bottom of the frame remained weighed down with rocks and didn't move, unlike the top half which once again flew like a kite over the hedge and into the same field. The top half of the frame was beyond repair this time, so no greenhouse for me!

So, if anybody has one of these greenhouses with disintegrated plastic, I have a perfect plastic cover if anybody wants it. I don't have a frame though. PM me if anybody can use it and I'll send it on.

Clig.

[Green Aura]

Oh cligereen! I can't stop laughing (sorry)

[Millymollymandy]

I didn't see this thread before cos if I had I would have answered with the following photo, which has been posted on this forum soooooooo many times....... It lasted all of 5 days and the shop refused to give us a refund as they said it had no guarantee (after much arguing by my husband in front of other customers they reluctantly gave us a credit note).

Greenhouse disaster.jpg (213.84 KiB) Viewed 8066 times

[JulieSherris]

Now you see... I have 2 of these in the veggie patch. I actually ordered 2 polytunnel jobbies & the guy sent 2 of these instead - it's ok, in the end he sent me the 2 polytunnels & forgot the invoice for these, so I kept 'em anyway!

So... when I put them up, I did the old trick of building a raised bed the size of the inside of the frame. I then bolted the frame to the bottom timbers, dug down a further 12 inches or so around the outside & buried the cover, but pulled it under the wood boards first.
Then I screwed more wood around the outside of the lot through the covers & into the inner wood boards.
So... a year on & they're still standing
Unilike one of the polytunnel things which went a bit like MMM's green house!!
I've now discovered builder's plastic at a cost of 20 euros for one polytunnel - It's ok for one year & working out the costs compared with 'proper' polytunnel plastic I can afford to change it each year & still get decent crops. UV specs & stuff? Ha! Makes no bloody difference, I still get half-decent crops at a fraction of the cost.
Sometimes I just think that the manufacturers give us so much spin & jargon that we blindly believe everything & watch helpless as our bank balances drop.

Cligereen, the plastic I use now is from discountpackaging.ie based in Clondalkin.
Here: http://www.discountpackaging.ie/PolyTub ... ory_ID=267

[Mal]

I had a mini greenhouse with all the little squares which did the same thing. To me, it was a perfect solution - a greenhouse with an automatic rain water distribution system...

[niknik]

I´ve got a small plastic greenhouse, (think that came from lidl, ....didnt buy it, someone who had and neverused it lent it /gave it to me) no stging or anything, just framework and cover. plastic cover is perishing fast ( not helped by fact the cats wander all over it and do their claws on it!)
This is its 2nd year of use, it may not last till next year tho´, but has been very handy for starting things off, in trays this year, and last year, i used it mainly to cover evrything at first, so the plants could get established, without the cats and dog ravaging them staright away
Next year, ( or when the covergives out , I plan to just get some thick plastic( recycling mayttress covers, or wrapping round pallets of builders materials), join it together and make a new cover! . here´s hoping anyway.......

No idea how much it cost, but has been well worth it for me, as is the right size for my "plots", and easy to move from one to another