Greenhouses

[Stocky]

I am looking for a Greenhouse and have seen the strong Rhino greenhouses from Greenhouse Direct.

 

www.greenhousesdirect.co.uk/blob/pages/offers/offers8ft.html

 

Is there a similar style with strength and cost in France or would it be worth buying in the UK and transporting across when I move?

[Ron Avery]

[quote]I am looking for a Greenhouse and have seen the strong Rhino greenhouses from Greenhouse Direct.

Unless you are moving to Pas de Calais or the Channel coast, why would you need a greenhouse?   Seeds sown straight in the ground germinate so quickly when the soil temperature warms up and they soon catch up with "under glass" seedlings, few French have a greenhouse except for overwintering of delicate plants or expensive flowers.  Also if you plant direct in the ground you don't have the risk of your seedlings being frazzled or stopped when transplanted.

In summer in most of France, your plants (and you) will be frazzled within minutes of being put in a glass house or will need watering every few minutes.

[Iceni]

Well there are loads of garden centres and small holders who grow for profit around here (Lot) and they all use polytunnels. Our farmer has a very dilapidated one in which his mother grows tomatoes and quite a few gardens have the small green plastic ones as do we. Glass is 'no go' as it is far too hot and would need perpetual shading. A green plastic tunnel costs just over 100 € and is probably bigger than my very expensive wooden Halls one was in the UK. They have roll-up windows with mesh to keep the 'cooties' out and in the very windy weather of the last couple of days I was happily playing in mine while John was very cold outside. Starting plants off early has its advantages and you can go from 6 or so trusses on your tomatoes to 10 or 12. All the tender crops such as peppers and aubergine do really well and you can also start off your sweet corn as we lost our first crop last year due to cold weather. I have peas (second crop) in there at the moment, lettuce, fenugreek, rocket, raddish. Our second crop of broad beans will be started off in there as the moulot have invaded the beds again and they eat the seeds faster than we can plant them.

I grow my own courgette seedlings and I will have one early in the tunnel to give me early courgettes. I grow round courgettes as I prefer them and also get a much heavier crop.

So in answer, unless you are up North, don't bother with a greenhouse but do think of a plastic tunnel if you want an early crop or have mulot problems and don't want to use poison. The markets are normally full of small plants for the veggie plot and in this area are already selling tomatoes as well as outdoor stuff such as seedling onions, cabbages, leeks (yes leeks last Saturday) and beetroot. So if you only want one to start off your seedlings, don't bother, it is cheaper to buy them but no where near as much fun