collapsable green house

Anyone ever try a collapsable green house ??
Sounds good...live in Massachusetts and when could I put
seeds in to germinate ?...no room in my home to start plants..want them
for the outside garden...

Not sure what a collapsable greenhouse is like. I have some very small "greenhouses" I bought from Lowes last year. Basically five shelves covered with a vinyl tent. I could use these to winter-sow seeds if I was prepared to water the seeds every once in a while - but I couldn't use these to germinate most annuals or tender perennials. I mostly use them to harden off plants I have started inside. You know, you could always try a few seeds and see what happens.

Winter sowing seeds is dead easy if you want a lot of perennials. You can also wintersow Batchelor Buttons and poppies. Check out the winter sowing forum for lots of advice.

Hi--I agree with Seandor. I don't put any of my WS seeds into a greenhouse (collapsible or not) because they are so self-sufficient outdoors in their own containers. But I do have a couple of collapsible plastic seedhouses that I use to harden off seedlings in the Spring that I have grown indoors under lights.

I have an approx 10'X10' collapsable greenhouse. I set it up last spring, maybe March, and put out my seeds, in those trays with dome covers. For me it worked out really well, from there, I transplanted into bigger pots or straight into the garden. I have tried for several years with the milk jugs outside, and I've never had anything germinate that way. I wouldn't consider what I planted in the jiffy pellets in the domed trays winter sowing, though. But I did get very good germination rates.

Deb

The vinyl greenhouses like Seandor describes are very popular here. People start them in April right against the south side of the house and because we get so much sun (vs. cloudyness) they work quite well. Jugs filled with water and the ambient heat of the house keeps it warm at night. They do bring the seedlings in if there is a real cold snap though. I wouldn't think it would be safe to use a heater in them.

I have a couple of those that are just the shelves covered with a heavy clear plastic, but never had too much success with them either, and after a season, the cover is usually ripped alongside the zipper. I've got several of the shelving units I've thrown out the covers from.

My big walk in greenhouse works great in the early spring. I don't think the vinyl covering could handle the snow, so I took it down for the winter. It folds up flat, but has some springy kind of rods in it, and it pretty much pops into place. There are a couple of rods that fit in to slots to help support the roof so it doesn't sag in the middle. I've got an old piece of kitchen counter top that I set on old saw horses that I had in it, so I had a big work surface, and I had two of those sets of shelves that the plastic cover got ripped on, that I used to hold my flats of jiffy pellets.

Like I said, not winter sowing, but, I can't start flats of seeds inside, because, if the cats don't knock everything down, the dogs will. I have found I can't have any kind of plant, or anything in dirt inside. The dogs take great joy in making a mess, and flats of freshly planted seeds can make a huge mess.

Deb