greenhouse growing medium
 

Hi all,
I recently bought a polytunnel/greenhouse and erected the structure in
my backyard.
My question relates to how to grow vegetables in it.
The most obvious solutions would be in either the ground or individual
pots.
Now, the ground is not the best, so I would be building a raised bed
inside the greenhouse and filling it with potting mix, compost and
manure.

What I'd mostly be growing would be tomatoes, eggplants, leafy
vegetables, and a variety of herbs.

What would be the medium recommended?

I've looked around and can't seem to find a definite answer, and all
the videos I watch seem to have vegetables growing in greenhouses on
individual pots, and not the ground ..
At least in smaller green houses, anyway.

The greenhouse I have measures (in meters) 2.1(l) x 3.5(w) x 2(h)

greenhouse growing medium
 

Ivan wrote in

ups.com:

What I'd mostly be growing would be tomatoes, eggplants,
leafy vegetables, and a variety of herbs.
What would be the medium recommended?

find a copy of Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening, or
look up the Square Foot Gardening website. he describes an
excellent mixture for raised beds.
lee

greenhouse growing medium
 

On Tue, 4 Dec 2007 17:25:43 -0800 (PST), Ivan wrote:
pots.
Now, the ground is not the best, so I would be building a raised bed
inside the greenhouse and filling it with potting mix, compost and
manure.

Sounds like a good choice -- plants usually grow best in bigger containers
than most pots.


The potting soil I've used most in greenhouses is equal parts good topsoil,
chopped sphagnum or coir and sharp (builder's) sand, all steamed. Add
lime as needed to correct
the pH. Just about anything grows pretty well in it. Amend as needed
to meet your growing conditions when you've got more experience.

greenhouse growing medium
 

"Kay Lancaster" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 4 Dec 2007 17:25:43 -0800 (PST), Ivan wrote:
pots.
Now, the ground is not the best, so I would be building a raised bed
inside the greenhouse and filling it with potting mix, compost and
manure.

Sounds like a good choice -- plants usually grow best in bigger containers
than most pots.


The potting soil I've used most in greenhouses is equal parts good
topsoil,
chopped sphagnum or coir and sharp (builder's) sand, all steamed. Add
lime as needed to correct
the pH. Just about anything grows pretty well in it. Amend as needed
to meet your growing conditions when you've got more experience.



Steamed? Why and how? What if he needs an quantity we might describe as
"five bath tubs full"?

greenhouse growing medium
 

Steamed? Why and how? What if he needs an quantity we might describe as
"five bath tubs full"?

Steamed to reduce pathogens and eliminate weed seed. Could be solarized at
home.

And we steamed the material by putting a pipe fitted for a low pressure
steam connection into a spreader plate cut to fit the bottom of a metal
trash can. Insert steam pipe, fill with mixture (we used a manual cement
mixer to mix soil), cover the can with a metal two-piece collar that
was cut to fit around the pipe, and steam to an internal temperature of
160oF. Cooled for at least a week before using.

And yes, it was a large research university.

greenhouse growing medium
 

"Kay Lancaster" wrote in message
...

Steamed? Why and how? What if he needs an quantity we might describe as
"five bath tubs full"?

Steamed to reduce pathogens and eliminate weed seed. Could be solarized
at
home.

And we steamed the material by putting a pipe fitted for a low pressure
steam connection into a spreader plate cut to fit the bottom of a metal
trash can. Insert steam pipe, fill with mixture (we used a manual cement
mixer to mix soil), cover the can with a metal two-piece collar that
was cut to fit around the pipe, and steam to an internal temperature of
160oF. Cooled for at least a week before using.

And yes, it was a large research university.


Since the vast majority of us don't have steam connections handy, we can
discount this method. And since solarization is capable of killing the
beneficial microorganisms as well as the evil ones, it makes more sense to
use a potting medium that's relatively clean to begin with. There are lots
of recipes. The OP is advised to use a protective mask while mixing stuff
like perlite & vermiculite. That will be mentioned on the packages, but who
reads packages these days?


http://www.backyardgardener.com/soil/soil10.html

http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/suff...n/vegcontn.htm