Hello,

This year I have my first greenhouse. At the moment I'm growing marigolds, pansies, lobelia,etc. My question is can I also at the same time grow fruit and vegetables? Are there any diseases that can go from flowers to the veg and vice versa or must I have a separate house for each. I would really apppreciate some help.

Can anyone suggest a good book on greenhouse growing please.

On Thu, 3 Apr 2014 14:09:05 +0200, kerrygirl
wrote:


Hello,

This year I have my first greenhouse. At the moment I'm growing
marigolds, pansies, lobelia,etc. My question is can I also at the same
time grow fruit and vegetables? Are there any diseases that can go from
flowers to the veg and vice versa or must I have a separate house for
each. I would really apppreciate some help.

Can anyone suggest a good book on greenhouse growing please.

It's been my lifelong desire to have a greenhouse and I've never had a
garden big enough, so I really envy you and wish you good luck.
The flowers you mention will soon, hopefully, be able to go outside so
you can start with the other things you want to grow.
Are you going to grow tomatoes? there is something called "Companion
planting". I know that African marigolds attract whitefly, which can
infest tomatoes. If you plant the marigolds near the tomato plants,
the whitefly will prefer the marigolds and you can remove the those
and replace with fresh ones, thus getting rid of the pests.
Tell us what fruit and veg you want to grow.

Pam in Bristol

On 03/04/2014 13:09, kerrygirl wrote:

Hello,

This year I have my first greenhouse. At the moment I'm growing
marigolds, pansies, lobelia,etc. My question is can I also at the same
time grow fruit and vegetables? Are there any diseases that can go from
flowers to the veg and vice versa or must I have a separate house for
each. I would really apppreciate some help.

Not enough to be worth worrying about. Insect pests that suck sap are
not fussy whether they eat ornamentals or vegetables. You can use more
aggressive chemicals on ornamentals since you won't be eating them.

Can anyone suggest a good book on greenhouse growing please.

http://shop.rhsshop.co.uk/rhs/Greenhouse%20Books

But what I suggest you do is visit a local library and borrow a few
until you find one that you like at about the right level.

Meantime just plant whatever you fancy growing and enjoy. Cannas are fun
to grow if you have a way to keep them frost free over winter.

If you are not bothered by toxic plants then daturas (fabulous flower
perfume evil smelling plant) and castor oil plants are worth growing for
their flowers and exotic foliage respectively.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

The main problem with both flowers and veg tends to be pests rather than diseases, and the pests make no distinction between plants on the basis of whether humans eat them or not.

Some pests are less prevalent in greenhouses - eg slugs, caterpillars, woodpigeons

Others are more of a problem - red spider mite, whitefly

No need for a separate house for each - indeed google "companion planting" and you will see there is an extensive practice of growing flowers among vegetables in order to attract the pests off the veg on to the flowers, or to deter them altogether.

On 03/04/2014 13:09, kerrygirl wrote:
Hello,

This year I have my first greenhouse. At the moment I'm growing
marigolds, pansies, lobelia,etc. My question is can I also at the same
time grow fruit and vegetables? Are there any diseases that can go from
flowers to the veg and vice versa or must I have a separate house for
each. I would really apppreciate some help.

Can anyone suggest a good book on greenhouse growing please.

It would help if you told us the size of the greenhouse.
In a 20 ft house I have a bench running up the south side and will be
growing tomatoes, peppers cucumbers and possibly strawberries in the
soil on the north side, though it's not such a good idea to mix tomatoes
and cucumbers they require different atmospheres
David @ a damp side of Swansea Bay

In article , nospamigg1937
@yahoo.co.uk says...


Are you going to grow tomatoes? there is something called "Companion
planting". I know that African marigolds attract whitefly, which can
infest tomatoes. If you plant the marigolds near the tomato plants,
the whitefly will prefer the marigolds and you can remove the those
and replace with fresh ones, thus getting rid of the pests.

You have that back to front. The French marigolds act as a natural
insect repellent.

http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/rotenone/related.html

Janet