Our first little greenhouse tomato

I transplanted some volunteer tomato plants that came up after i tilled our garden spot up. Not sure what theyll turn out to be, since it probably cane from a hybrid. I was worried about pollination because theyre inside. Dont really have a clue what we are doing. Just trying some stuff.

Our little greenhouse. It does have a door. I also added some stripping to the outside over every board. All i like being finished is going around the bottom with something.

Our other mater plants

I also have a couple of squash plants i transplanted and i just put a few squash and cucumber seeds in the ground yesterday. We have wanted a little greenhouse for some time now and were pretty excited about it. Planning on setting up a gutter running into a rain barrel to water out of. Its a work in progress.

Dang nice greenhouse! I just started framing up a new one here. I’ll post some pics when I get a little farther along with it.

Mighty fine little project, Looking good! Hope it produces for y’all!

Here is a question for you. How will they get pollinated??

Nice greenhouse.

I have two plants in my greenhouse, both have small green 'maters on them - never had a hothouse before, wondering how things will turn out, if they do.

I really dont know but that one did somehow. We leave the door open all day, close it at night. My SIL hand pollinates some of whats in her greenhouse. It might come to that.

I wonder if putting a fan in there would help with that??

265 gallon water tank(courtesy of 257wbymag) fed off a gutter to water out of. I did fill it up out of our well.

cucumber seeds i put in the ground 5days ago have sprouted

Tomato's are self pollinating. The flowers contain both the male and female "parts" so it can happen with no help, but a little breeze blowing makes certain. Worst case scenario, JW has to shake the plant a little, every couple of days. Those cucumber sprouts will have to be pollinated by bees, or by hand.

That’s a nice setup

Tomatoes are really doing well. Had to do a mulligan on my squash and cucumber plants, i burnt them up with some foliage fertilizer. I guess it was a little hot. Burnt some of my tomatoes too, i cut off the burnt part and they came back. Thats why the ones in the middle are so much shorter. Were keeping it warm in there at night with a thermostat controled little buddy type heater. It dont ever get below 40-45° in there. Its amazing how hot itll get in there on the cold days with the door closed. 50° outside, over 100° inside. We have a bunch of little tomatoes. I figure theyll cost us around $45/each. We will eat them with deer meat and it will be the most expensive meal on earth. Were really enjoying the greenhouse.

$45 each. LOL

What’s the size of your greenhouse, I like it

10ftx12ft

Well, our first little greenhouse tomatos are getting ripe now. This plant turned out to be a cherry tomato. Lots of blooms. All the tomatoes are growing like crazy. Quite a few larger tomatoes on the other plants but theyre a ways off yet

Squash and cucumbers are doing well too. Will have to thin them out soon. Im gona let the cucumbers climb. Theyre growing a little slower with shorter days.

Pepper plants we transplanted lost alot of leaves but are putting on new growth. I believe theyll recover

I planted several different herbs, cilantro, and onions by seed a week or so ago. They are just starting to sprout. Curious to see how this works out.

I bought a thermostat controled little buddy type heater to keep the greenhouse above freezing on the cold nights. Its working out really well.

What did you use for "soil"? Is that gin trash?

Yes. 100%. I wanted to mix in some soil out of our garden, the wife said no

10-4. I'm building some raised beds this winter. I'm tired of fighting nut grass and pigweed. My plan, at least right now is to fill them with gin trash and nothing else.

Getting our first big ripe tomatoes. Already picked a few cherry tomatoes. Stayed gone three days and some of our tomatoes and cucumbers were turning brown around the edges of their leaves. I googled it and came up with 1)lack of water or 2)aphids. I had just noticed some red aphids on one of the cucumbers. My wife was really wanting to not spray in the greenhouse but i had to break down and give them a dose of permethrin. There were dead aphids all over the ground under them this morning. If you notice the little black spots on the tomatoes and the big stem of the plant, thats where i burnt them with some foliar fertilizer several weeks ago. I killed all my cucumbers and squash. Had to replant. Burnt my tomatoes but all but one lived. Had to cut several of them back pretty hard.

How'd they taste?

The cherry tomatoes were very good. I havent picked the big ones yet

Gona eat our first big tomatoes today. Squash is putting on little squashes. Cucumbers are starting to put on runners. They have a little brown on them. Best i can figure it was aphids. I sprayed them a week ago and theyre doing alot better. Tomato plants are nearly as tall as me. Things grow kinda slow in the winter. I guess its the fewer hours of sunlight.

Those tomatoes look great considering it’s the end of December

Yep, and they just cost me $435 each.

That's roughly the same cost as 10 lbs of deer meat.

We ate a fresh salad last night. Romaine lettuce, radishes, carrots, and those two big tomatoes. All stuff i grew. My wife said it was the best salad she had ever ate. Just kept saying it, over and over. I think she was screwing with me. The tomatoes were really good but a little on the mushy side for my liking. I guess i left them on the vine a little too long but i wanted them to turn red. Im having a heck of a time with aphids. I didnt go to the greenhouse for a couple days and there had been an explosion of aphids and my tomato plants were suffering. Had to spray again. Im learning. Things go south quick in a greenhouse.

Or 8 ounces of duck meat

Aphids were bad here this summer. Maybe they're still bad because not enough of them have died off during the extremely mild winter.

Fur, i never really noticed how aphids affect plants. These are turning leaves brown all over certain tomato plants like theyre fertilizer burnt. Happens fast too. Ive got a pretty bad infestation. I guess the eggs the last bunch laid must have hatched the last couple days. Live and learn, i guess. Im not expecting much out of all this. Just trying to learn some stuff and have something to watch grow.

I’ve got to find out where y’all shop to get those killer prices

Well, its all going to crap. My little heater ran out of gas. Got a little to cold in there. I didnt check on it for a couple of days. Went in today and the summer stuff was wilted. Oh well, such is life. I guess its time to clean it out and start over. The biggest lesson i learned so far is: Things go sideways quick in a greenhouse. Have to check on it daily. Constant observation

Im building me one. Question: did u staple the plastic to the wood? Is the water tank high enough to gravity feed? I got posts up an working roof this weekend. Gonna try use some the polycarbonate panels for roof if i can seal it off

I stapled the plastic then i ran batting strips i ripped out of pressure treated 2x4s over everywhere the plastic was stapled to the wood. I bought some woven 12m plastic off ebay. Cost about $200 for enough to cover a 10'x12'. The tank is about two feet off the ground and it does gravity feed real well, as long as its over 1/2 full. I filled it up out of our well the first time, rain has kept it full. I wish i had ran power to mine so i could have an electric heater. 20lb gas bottles only last about two weeks at best with my gas heater. Good luck with it. You will enjoy fooling with it im sure.

Thanks for info.urs is bout exactly what im building .i did some dozer work for local high school on there new ball field. They gave me all the old galvanized posts .most 12ft long. Using them for most frame work . Rest be wood. Other than that mine be just like yours. I got one the water tanks like urs. My brother has two greenhouses. Has been a big help for us that have garden. We start maters an peppers in feb here in north al. Transplant when garden time gets here. We gotten kinda popular around here. Everyone wanting us grow plants for them. Hoping have my finished in couple weeks.i can t wait. Seeing ur pics is a inspiration for me.

Were just learning but its been fun