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April 21st, 2007

Gardening news just in

mini greenhouse

Today was a day for attending to the woeful state of the garden, which has been allowed to fall into rack, ruin and disrepair because because we have been busy with getting cats and doing all the travelling we could manage in the six weeks before getting cats.

I assembled a mini greenhouse. The above illustration is meant to give you a taste of the sort of complexities involved. It was not easy I tell you. I do not know how these things are designed and made, but it seems to me that there are no testing stages between a mini greenhouse design leaving the drawing board and the boxes being shipped off in bulk to Argos. They do not make them with the intention that you should actually be able to put them together.

We also went to the garden centre to buy some plants. I bought a melon seedling. It is very unlikely that we will successfully harvest very many melons given that everything we will grow will be in plastic pots in a mini greenhouse, but for 99 pence it is worth a try. Failure brings no shame, but success will mean I am the talk of the gardeners of Basildon. Such a prize is worth striving towards.

Oddly enough Katie on the Wibsite assembled a mini greenhouse today too. I’ll ask you the same question I asked her, which is as follows: Can the sun’s rays penetrate through the plastic cover of a mini greenhouse, or do I have to take the cover off every day? It is a seethough plastic, but quite thick as seethough plastic goes. If you can advise on this or anything else I would be grateful.

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7 Responses to “Gardening news just in”


  1. Karin says:

    We have one of those. I assembled it myself. ‘Twas easy.

    The clear plastic cover can be left on at this time of year, but it could get too hot once summer is here. Just remember to unzip the flap every morning so things don’t bake on warm days and shut it every night till threat of frost has past and your plants have become fully acclimatised to outdoor life.

    April 22nd, 2007 at 7:06 am
  2. ferijen says:

    I’ve got one of those too (and I’d recommend linkabord (google it) for making a raised bed which you can get away without doing any preparation for).

    Unzip it in the morning, let the sun get in, and then zip it up before it gets cool (so it retains some heat in it). Otherwise it gets very hot in there. Don’t forget to water it!

    April 22nd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
  3. Darren says:

    Mmm, we’ve had two of those and the plastic has been ripped both times. Once by falling slate from our roof (fortunate that it hit the mini-greenhouse and not my head). The second time by a cat climbing on it (the greenhouse, not my head).

    I hope your plastic lasts well, I shall pray for it.

    April 22nd, 2007 at 5:29 pm
  4. Chris Clark says:

    In order for photosynthesis to take place ultraviloet light needs to get through. So you need ultraviolet trabsmissive plastic.

    In order to find out if it is lie in the sun with the aforementioned cover on you. If the area under the cover is as brown as the rest then it is ultraviolet transmissive.

    Please post photographs of the result.

    April 22nd, 2007 at 7:10 pm
  5. Penny says:

    Just to be a dissenting voice:

    No, no, no, no, noooo, no, yes. You do leave the plastic on and open it up during the day.

    April 22nd, 2007 at 8:33 pm
  6. Michael Winsor says:

    I loved Chris Clark’s suggestion, partly because my first thought about the plastic was whether it would transmit UV rays. But mainly, I like it because it gives a wonderful image of a resolute tester (you) lying under plastic in the sun. Makes me hot just to think about it, and I live in Dallas, TX, where WE know HOT.

    April 23rd, 2007 at 2:57 am
  7. Karin says:

    Well, whatever kind of plastic it is, plants do thrive under it, so long as you don’t let them dry out. Rest assured photosynthesis has been observed to occur as normal.

    April 23rd, 2007 at 7:46 am