Category: Greenhouses

It’s that time of year again when Christmas is fast approaching and we’re pulling our hair out and racking our brains for the ideal gift.  Why not consider a Polytunnel or glasshouse where Polydome can offer you the perfect solution.  We have a wide range of glasshouses and Polytunnels with sizes and prices to suit depending on whether your site is sheltered or exposed.  A garden structure is not just for Christmas but can be utilized all year round both for growing plants and vegetables and protecting delicate ones from extreme conditions as well as being able to get the Spring growing season off to an earlier start than growing outside.  We also do a wide range of accessories like Fleece and Heaters for frost protection, Heatmats and Soil Warming Cables to get the growing season started as well as Ground Cover, Staging and Irrigation.  For the garden enthusiast a Voucher from Polydome for a Polytunnel, Glasshouse or accessory might be the solution followed by a visit to our display area which features 24 Glasshouses and Polytunnels along with a wide range of accessories.  We invite you to call our sales team on 057 912 0424 or visit our website www.polydome.ie.

We currently have 5 Polytunnels on show at our premises in Crinkill which are representative of the different sizes and types we can supply.  Our Polytunnels are available as a kit for self assembly or we provide a construction service where desired.  In February 2015 we will be celebrating 30 years in business manufacturing Polytunnels and in that time have supplied and constructed them all over Ireland including most offshore islands and further afield such as Romania.

Hyacinths don’t normally flower at Christmas, but with some cheating they can be made to if planted in September.  Your greenhouse can protect growing plants and their emerging flowers from frost, wind and rain, and give enough heat to speed up their flowering.

Hyacinths won’t flower for Christmas unless they are given a heat treatment.  These ‘prepared’ bulbs are what to buy.  After use they can be planted in the garden to flower normally in later years, but won’t flower early again without another heat treatment.

To avoid staining indoor furniture, use a pot or container that has a suitable saucer or is non-porous and without drainage holes.  Use potting compost, or the coarser bulb fibre if the container has no drainage holes.  Put a layer of moistened compost or fibre in the bottom of the container and stand the bulbs upright on it, not quite touching each other or the sides.  Plants look better in threes or fives than in even numbers.  Top up with more fibre or compost to about finger width below the container edge: the tops of the bulbs should be exposed. 

Keep them moist in a cold, dark, frost-free place (such as in a black plastic bag in a cellar) for a few weeks until the shoots are about four centimetres high, and then move them to a shady spot in the greenhouse to green up for a week.  Aim to have the plants at this stage by the start of December.  Move them to a sunny spot in the house until the flower buds appear, and then to their flowering position.  Hyacinths can be pushed on a bit faster in the warmth of the greenhouse, but only in these last stages.  Keep them moist but not wet and feed them occasionally.

We will be exhibiting at the Tullamore Show on Sunday.  Our stand is x495 and x496.  We will have a 5.5m x 6m Polydome Tunnel up – super strong and very spacious.  Come and visit.

Normally anyone who mentions the C-word at this time of year risks being lynched, especially if they mention the number of shopping days left!  But if you want to grow new potatoes for then you need to start in July or August.

Dig up new potatoes of an early variety, or use left-over seed potatoes from spring that you kept in a cool place.  You can sometimes buy ‘second-crop’ seed potatoes too.  Set them in twelve-inch (30cm) pots half-filled with compost (recycled potting compost is fine) and cover the tubers with about 4” (10cm) of compost.  Put one to three potatoes in each pot: fewer seeds give fewer but bigger spuds.  You can also use plastic sacks or grow-bags but pots are easier to move around.

Place the pots outdoors for slower growth or in your greenhouse to speed it up.  Plant seed potatoes at different times or move some into your greenhouse earlier to spread maturity and ensure some potatoes are just right for C-day.  Move all pots into your greenhouse before the first frost.

Keep the compost just moist, and add more compost as the shoots grow upwards until the pots are nearly full.  Avoid wetting the leaves when watering to reduce the risk of blight.

As C-day approaches gently move aside the compost to see how the potatoes are filling.  If they are too big too soon, dig them up and re-bury them immediately to stop growth and prevent the skins curing.  They will only need a gentle wash and scrub before cooking.  If they are too small, leave them growing on longer.  If the tops have died down just leave them undisturbed until the Big Day comes.  Happy… (Oops, I nearly said the C-word!)

May is traditionally the month when gardeners plant out the flower and vegetable crops they have started in the greenhouse.  Cabbage plants, courgettes, tender annual flowers and many more are planted outdoors, making way for the tomatoes and other heat-loving crops that will grow inside it for the summer.

On average most parts of the country will be free of frost after either the third week or the full moon of May, whichever is later.  Some years and some places are warmer than others.  But you can’t just move soft, quick-growing plants straight from the warmth of a tunnel or glasshouse to the rigours of an Irish garden in May without first getting them acclimatised to the great outdoors.

You prepare the plants by giving them cooler, drier conditions for a week or two before the move.  Their growth slows down and they become tougher and better able to cope with outdoor wind and weather.  On good days move the plants to a sheltered spot outside for a few hours: on bad days leave them inside the greenhouse but give them more ventilation.  Lift seed-trays by the middles of their long sides and not the corners, or the corners may break off.  Seed trays and pots can be grouped together on old tea-trays or oven shelves for convenience when carrying them in and out. 

Water the plants only enough to prevent them wilting.  When they are planted out they will be used to cold breezes and water stress, and will grow away better.  But after planting water them well until they resume growth, and keep something handy to put over them if you get one of those unseasonal late frosts.