My first attempt at growing vegatables in a small greenhouse, 8x10,
was a complete disaster. Nothing to show for it at all last year.

With a new year coming up I would like to start with a clean slate and
do it right. Can someone direct me to a book or a website that has
reliable information about greenhouse growing techniques? TIA.

In article
,
Special Agent Melvin Purvis wrote:

My first attempt at growing vegatables in a small greenhouse, 8x10,
was a complete disaster. Nothing to show for it at all last year.

With a new year coming up I would like to start with a clean slate and
do it right. Can someone direct me to a book or a website that has
reliable information about greenhouse growing techniques? TIA.

What happened?
--
Peace! Om

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." -- Dalai Lama

[quote='Omelet[_4_];825718']In article
,
Special Agent Melvin Purvis wrote:

My first attempt at growing vegatables in a small greenhouse, 8x10,
was a complete disaster. Nothing to show for it at all last year.

With a new year coming up I would like to start with a clean slate and
do it right. Can someone direct me to a book or a website that has
reliable information about greenhouse growing techniques? TIA.

The Greenhouse Expert by Dr DG Hessayon is very clear and idiot-proof (no insult intended) and cheap.

"Special Agent Melvin Purvis" wrote in message
...
My first attempt at growing vegatables in a small greenhouse, 8x10,
was a complete disaster. Nothing to show for it at all last year.

With a new year coming up I would like to start with a clean slate and
do it right. Can someone direct me to a book or a website that has
reliable information about greenhouse growing techniques? TIA.


http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/strucs/ is an excellent source of
information on greenhouses and growing veggies in them. I had no luck
growing veggies in my GH either. Can you tell us what went wrong? Insects?
Funguses?

On Dec 31, 3:53�am, "Hedda Lettis" wrote:
"Special Agent Melvin Purvis" wrote in ...

My first attempt at growing vegatables in a small greenhouse, 8x10,
was a complete disaster. �Nothing to show for it at all last year.

With a new year coming up I would like to start with a clean slate and
do it right. �Can someone direct me to a book or a website that has
reliable information about greenhouse growing techniques? �TIA.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/strucs/is an excellent source of
information on greenhouses and growing veggies in them. �I had no luck
growing veggies in my GH either. �Can you tell us what went wrong? Insects?
Funguses?

The greenhouse is located in a coastal area in Northern California,
near the Oregon border. Cold nights and cool days are typical through
the summer. The atmosphere is usually humid.

In an effort to maintain warmth in the greenhouse I closed the vents
at night. When I opened the vents in the morning the windows would be
covered with condensation. To provide a heat sink I filled ten five-
gallon sealed containers with water where they would warm in the sun
and then release heat at night.

I thought that the sunlight beating on the pots might be overheating
the roots, so I constructed a plastic shade which kept the pots in
shadow. Insects were not a problem as the place was infested with
ravenous black spiders.

I was trying to grow tomatoes and planted several varieties in five-
gallon pots filled with sterile garden soil "optomised for
vegetables". The plants were spindly and did not set fruit.

In article
,
Special Agent Melvin Purvis wrote:

On Dec 31, 3:53?am, "Hedda Lettis" wrote:
"Special Agent Melvin Purvis" wrote in

m...

My first attempt at growing vegatables in a small greenhouse, 8x10,
was a complete disaster. ?Nothing to show for it at all last year.

With a new year coming up I would like to start with a clean slate and
do it right. ?Can someone direct me to a book or a website that has
reliable information about greenhouse growing techniques? ?TIA.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/strucs/is an excellent source of
information on greenhouses and growing veggies in them. ?I had no luck
growing veggies in my GH either. ?Can you tell us what went wrong? Insects?
Funguses?

The greenhouse is located in a coastal area in Northern California,
near the Oregon border. Cold nights and cool days are typical through
the summer. The atmosphere is usually humid.

In an effort to maintain warmth in the greenhouse I closed the vents
at night. When I opened the vents in the morning the windows would be
covered with condensation. To provide a heat sink I filled ten five-
gallon sealed containers with water where they would warm in the sun
and then release heat at night.

I thought that the sunlight beating on the pots might be overheating
the roots, so I constructed a plastic shade which kept the pots in
shadow. Insects were not a problem as the place was infested with
ravenous black spiders.

I was trying to grow tomatoes and planted several varieties in five-
gallon pots filled with sterile garden soil "optomised for
vegetables". The plants were spindly and did not set fruit.

Tomatoes do not do well in any kind of shade.
You also may have had a soil problem?
--
Peace! Om

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." -- Dalai Lama

"Special Agent Melvin Purvis" wrote in message
...
My first attempt at growing vegatables in a small greenhouse, 8x10,
was a complete disaster. Nothing to show for it at all last year.

With a new year coming up I would like to start with a clean slate and
do it right. Can someone direct me to a book or a website that has
reliable information about greenhouse growing techniques? TIA.


The SA caught my eye so I had to answer.
read these:

http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p1828.htm

http://msucares.com/crops/comhort/greenhouse.html

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/ghtomato.html

http://ag.arizona.edu/hydroponictomatoes/overview.htm


Recommend you research Hydroponics, Its been growing GH
tomatoes/cukes( and many others) for years. The current state of
Hydroponics have given us many interesting innovations & practical
information
for many plants. So while the tricks and tips given here are valid,
they are so old school. ie. A 100 watt bulb is a great heat source for a
small area, say a dog house, but it is worthless on a green house of any
size except in the immediate 2-3 feet. If you are keeping the top of the
plant(s) warm with a light (& @ a safe distance to keep from cooking the
leaves) and knowing heat rises.... what is keeping the roots warm?

look at something simple like an ebb and flow or NFT system with a reservoir
that you can use an aquarium heater to maintain proper and constant root
temps, then you can cut down on trying to heat a large leaky (by design)
structure by heating the roots, not the air.

Example Pics:
http://images.google.com/images?sour...num=4&ct=title

BTW Agent Purvis, You are hereby remanded to remedial Basic Agent report
writing class . Gather and document specific facts using the basic
interrogratives on your next GH adventure, what were the ambient/ soil
temps? Humidity? The type, quantity and schedule of nutrients?

Factual information will help you improve GH production.

Supervisory Special Agent Gunner

On Dec 31, 9:01�am, Omelet wrote:
In article
,
�Special Agent Melvin Purvis wrote:





On Dec 31, 3:53?am, "Hedda Lettis" wrote:
"Special Agent Melvin Purvis" wrote in

m...

My first attempt at growing vegatables in a small greenhouse, 8x10,
was a complete disaster. ?Nothing to show for it at all last year.

With a new year coming up I would like to start with a clean slate and
do it right. ?Can someone direct me to a book or a website that has
reliable information about greenhouse growing techniques? ?TIA.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/strucs/isan excellent source of
information on greenhouses and growing veggies in them. ?I had no luck
growing veggies in my GH either. ?Can you tell us what went wrong? Insects?
Funguses?

The greenhouse is located in a coastal area in Northern California,
near the Oregon border. �Cold nights and cool days are typical through
the summer. �The atmosphere is usually humid.

In an effort to maintain warmth in the greenhouse I closed the vents
at night. �When I opened the vents in the morning the windows would be
covered with condensation. �To provide a heat sink I filled ten five-
gallon sealed containers with water where they would warm in the sun
and then release heat at night.

I thought that the sunlight beating on the pots might be overheating
the roots, so I constructed a plastic shade which kept the pots in
shadow. �Insects were not a problem as the place was infested with
ravenous black spiders.

I was trying to grow tomatoes and planted several varieties in five-
gallon pots filled with sterile garden soil "optomised for
vegetables". �The plants were spindly and did not set fruit.

Tomatoes do not do well in any kind of shade.
You also may have had a soil problem?
--
Peace! Om

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." -- Dalai Lama- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Dear Ms. Lettis,

The POTS were shaded, not the plants.

The soil was designated for vegetable growth and even had a picture of
a tomato on the bags. You couldn't put that on there if it wasn't for
tomatoes, you see. It's the law.

On Dec 22 2008, 7:18�am, Janet Conroy Janet.Conroy.
wrote:
'Omelet[_4_ Wrote:

The Greenhouse Expert by Dr DG Hessayon is very clear and idiot-proof
(no insult intended) and cheap.

--
Janet Conroy


Thank you, Janet. My copy of "The Greenhouse Expert" arrived today
and I set to work to read it. It is a colorful book, written clearly,
and has a whole section on tomatoes.

Now that I know how do do this growing thing right I can approach the
new season with confidence. I will name the first tomato plant
"Janet" in your honor.