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cheap greenhouses

Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:38 am
by Mr and Mrs luvpie
http://www.norfolk-greenhouses.co.uk/sh ... gref=175~0

has anybody seen/used these types of greenhouses before? we are considering getting one for the allotment.

They basically use a roll of plastic sheeting rather than glass or semi-rigid perspex, they this version is a reasonable price but Im not sure about the quality of the product, what do you guys think?

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 12:09 pm
by The Waxbill
I was actually thinking of making one similar myself out of timber and plastic sheeting.

Ger.

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:53 pm
by Super.Niki
It's not exactly the same but I've just brought one of these:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... NHOUSE.htm

Mainly because I can't afford a real green house, my back garden doesn't have the room and I'm in rented accomodation so this is small and transportable and I don't need permission from the land lady

I could keep you updated on how things go in it if you want?

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:19 am
by kiwirach
Super.Niki wrote:It's not exactly the same but I've just brought one of these:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... NHOUSE.htm

Mainly because I can't afford a real green house, my back garden doesn't have the room and I'm in rented accomodation so this is small and transportable and I don't need permission from the land lady

I could keep you updated on how things go in it if you want?
i brought one of these yesterday also......again, mainly because i cant afford anything more expensive at the moment, and i figured £20 was ok to waste if it only lasts a few years and does the job its surposed to do, and hopefully by then i can afford something bigger and more permanent.
i'll be putting mine up on my allotment, and hopefully securing it to my pallet compost bin for a bit of extra stability. i have also brought some growbags to lay across the bottom, as others have suggested this helps to hold them as well.

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:50 pm
by barefootlinzi
hmm, the argos one is out of stock everywhere and the half price offer seems to end tomorrow:(

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 5:11 pm
by moocher
i hope the quality is better than the smaller versions ,i bought two last spring none made it through to winter.

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:01 pm
by kiwirach
moocher wrote:i hope the quality is better than the smaller versions ,i bought two last spring none made it through to winter.
it seemed to have good reviews(always taken with a pinch of salt), and i figured £20 was ok to spend to try the whole greenhouse thing out...can i cope with overseeing that and the plot, etc....so i'm not to worried if it only lasts 1-2yrs......its a learning curve!.

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:27 pm
by Sky
We made ours out of old sash window frames, some friends gave us completely free. We just had to buy the transparent corrogated plastic sheets for the roof and door.
It looks fantastic and we've had peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers galore this season.

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:28 pm
by Enormous Sage
Those do seem to work well with Tomatoes - my other half has one.

You do have to bring them in for the winter though, or after the first windy storm you have to go round to the neighbours house, knock on the door and ask "can we have our greenhouse back please?" :oops:

Make sure they're well tied down...

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:00 pm
by anarchistinslippers
That Argos thing looks fab. I'd get one myself if I had the space, but alas not.

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st ... s|12382807

Got one of these a few weeks back, seems to be okay (it survived those howling winds last night) They appear to have shaved £2-3 off it since I got it. Poo!

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:04 pm
by Super.Niki
that looks like a mini version of the argos one which is doing fab at the moment... although no seedlings... but they ahve been in less than a week so can give them time!! I have got some cress groing indoors now though! :)

My greenhouse is North-east facing though at the moment do you think this will get enough light?

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:03 am
by dave45
I got one of the plastic tent greenhouses last year (ebay is a good source) - one of the seams is slightly ripped, but the zip door has survived and it does the job. I doubt it will last more than a couple of years, before it ends up in landfill. Strangely the bits that have proved useless are the guy-rope string bits... even in our lousy summer they seem to have UV-degraded within week... all 4 are broken... yet the tent-greenhouse is still standing.

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:22 am
by Mrs Moustoir
I've got the remains of two of these mini plastic greenhouses now. The plastic outers have degraded and ripped into shreds but I still use the frame/shelves in the big greenhouse for my many trays of seedlings.

They were handy whilst we were replacing the glass in the big one but I wouldn't buy another as they just don't last. Might last longer if you pack them away for the winter (which I didn't).

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:48 pm
by ajs88
ive got a small cheap one, my strawberry and coriander seedlings died in it, but my tomato and spinach excelled

its been ok, i put some bricks on the bottom shelf to weigh it down, the covers been ok, except for when it snowed the top warped with the weight of it.

Re: cheap greenhouses

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:04 am
by JulieSherris
Mrs L - that link doesn't work anymore, so maybe their site is down...
We are actually looking at getting 2 of these though...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Large-Polytunnel- ... dZViewItem

Andy says he can use some timber to make the frame stronger & will secure the covers by digging them in & then weighting them down with scaffold boards on the inside, so I can have raised beds in there too.
I'm hoping they will last a while - I was looking at polytunnels, but the difference in prices... well!
2 of these babies would give me nearly the same ground area as the one tunnel I wanted & so it also means that I can keep certain plants away from each other as well. Fingers crossed!