Greenhouse Staging

Hi,

For greenhouse staging you can used open slats or a solid surface.

Wondered which folk prefered and why ? and if the plants grew better ?

Have tended to use open slats to aid air circulation, but the downside is anything under the staging gets wet with the watering unless a sub polythene cover is used etc.

 

I haven't got a greenhouse but I do have some cold frames on stands, I suppose it's a similar thing.
In the cold frames, because they are up off the ground I have slats (i.e. lengths of wood I cut to fit)
For times when I have small pots in there I try to cover the slats because it's better for the small pots but for larger pots it doesn't seem to matter because they are wider than the gaps between the slats.

Under the cold frames there's concrete so I suppose it depends what is under your greenhouse staging.

For ventilation I leave the lids of the cold frames propped open so in your greenhouse I suppose you could leave the windows open. I don't know if gaps between the slats would make much difference with ventilation.

 

I dont like slats, for the reason Michael suggests, they are a pain when using small pots.
For the summer a bench with some kind of gravel in water proof trays is good I find.
But my greenhouse doesn't have much in it during the summer apart from cacti which enjoy the dry atmosphere.

 

I balked at the cost of greenhouse specific staging, thought we gardeners were being taken a loan of being a hobby not an essential if you get my meaning. I bought these which were really cheap in comparison about 8 years ago.

I bought 2x 8ft and they are still absolutely fine. I drilled holes in the plastic tops to aid drainage. They are quite light, fold down so do not take up much space when not required as like JWK I remove the tables from the greenhouse in late spring so I can use the soil beds to grow Tomatoes Cucumbers etc. They may not look vastly professional but they do the job and are strong so can take lots of hefty pots.I sit the legs on planks of wood to stop the legs sinking into the soil too much, these work for me. I use folding shelving for small pots.

 

Oh, I guess I like slats. I use shelving 12" x 18" grids. I attached hooks up about 3 feet and to the side walls of the greenhouses and hung these along the edges. Then I have pipes for legs which I have hacked out a groove at the top of the pipe to fit the wires at the front of the grid and support the shelf. I also have these on 2x3 wooden L's and T's I made. Those wooden supports are on the floor.

This gives me two full layers all round to hold the plants until it is time to plant them outside. When planting is done, I remove the legs from the upper level and let them swing/collapse down to the side walls. The bottom racks stay as they raise the plant base to enable capillary watering for plants that will be staying in the greenhouse.

Of course, right now, only hardy perennials that are in pots are out there right now as it is too expensive to heat the greenhouse when it is 14f -10c outside!

 

Pic of my "version"

 

That is so tidy Lori.

 

@john558 I wish I could take credit for the idea but someone on here posted a picture of their collapsible wooden staging and since my carpenter skills are nil and none, I went with metal bits.

 

I feel a competition coming on, 1st prize for the tidiest greenhouse and 2nd prize for the most untidiest greenhouse.
I 'd be happy with 2nd prize.

 

Do you think I might win 1st prize?

 

Narr, I can see a few pots are not quite straight, got a feeling you will be coming 4th.

 

Good idea @hailbopp ! I was trying to figure out how to find a higher surface than the floor near a window in my dining room. Suddenly remembered I had a folding bench that had never even been used and it worked out perfectly as it is the same width (6') of the window. Bonus is I can still easily get between it and the dining table.


Obviously it won't hold as much as your table but I only need it until Mid April. Took me longer to find where I had stored it than to set it up and sit the plants on it!

 

Might be a bit much for some with the balance being £90 for all the 2"x 1", but I am glad to have made the outlay for the future of my plants.
The reason for slats is good drainage off the staging and aeration around all the plants.
I have now got the left hand staging to extend out so as to allow more room to mix compost and pot up plants.

 

I’ll fight you for that @pete come late summer my greenhouse could be used to film Tarzan, oh yea jungle effect no bother!