24-10-2005, 11:20 PM
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greenhouse flooring and moss
In message ,
writes
Hello,
I bought my first greenhouse this year and simply put weed matting
down to stop the grass growing through the floor,and it worked well
until now. First the grass started to grown through at the edges and
now some is managing to grow through the mat!
Is it growing though, or is it growing on top and rooting through (stuff
soon starts to grow on top if there is detritus/compost etc. collecting.
- I've had membrane down in places for couple of years and not noticed
grass coming up through it.
My other problem is that due to a faulty watering timer, the plants
were given too much water, which drained onto the floor and made it an
ideal environment for moss to grow.
Probably inevitable in GH, not really a great problem.
I have decided to put gravel on the floor, hoping that this will
prevent grass growing through if thick enough (how thick do you
recommend?) I bought a few heavy bags from my local DIY store and was
amazed how much I needed. I would advise anyone doing the same to
think about ordering a large bag that gets delivered onto your drive,
as I think this would be cheaper than getting several bags as I did.
Does anyone have experience of how the costs compare?
For any significant quantity the bulk bags are cheaper, but there is the
disadvantage of extra manhandling compare to moving bags. A bulk bag of
gravel is in the region of GBP30 delivered, weight is nominal 1 tonne
Was the gravel a good thing?
In the longer term no. Dirt, detritus, compost will collect in it (can't
be swept up) and stuff will be growing in it by the end of the first
season I imagine anyway.
What flooring do you use?
In our previous house we had two Gh, one had a solid floor as it was
used for plants in pots, propagation, etc., the other had soil beds with
centre paved path which was just used for growing things in really. For
a general use GH some sort of solid paved or concrete surface really is
the best option.
I know some
people pave. I know other people actual plant into the floor, but I am
using my greenhouse for pots and grow bags, so gravelling everything
seemed the easy option.
Easy now.....
I thought gravel would allow easy drainage of
excess water too.
What should I do about the moss? Will covering it gravel be enough or
will it colonise over the gravel?
The moss is no big deal AFAICS. I would aim to have solid surface floor
at some point - cheap slabs laid on screeded sharp sand base is
probably now the easiest option. Until then I'd not bother with gravel.
Lift the membrane up if it getting colonised, clean it of bit, and
replace it.
--
Chris French
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