how to sterilise green house

Discussion in 'Greenhouse Growing' started by chitting kaz, Dec 21, 2012.

  1. chitting kaz

    chitting kaz Total Gardener

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    what does everyone recommend to sterilise the green house and soil in my green house, i dont know if anyone will recall but i had blight this last summer and due to illness i still havent cleared or cleaned the green house ....:oopss:

    so
    1) i need to remove dead plants and burn
    2) i need to wash all pots and equipment in Jeyes
    3) clean algae from windows and wash .... Jeyes ???


    SO LASTLY
    4) i have soil in the green house how do i sterilise this ?

    oh and random thought can a steam cleaner be used on poly carbonate sheets ?:scratch:


    any advice would be welcome x
     
  2. joolz68

    joolz68 Total Gardener

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    Mines all flags kaz so i just used jeyes for greenhouse but my plants pots are outside still :) im really lazy..clean them as i need them :heehee: x
     
  3. ARMANDII

    ARMANDII Low Flying Administrator Staff Member

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    Well, I spray with Jeyes Fluid in Spring after cleaning and brushing out the Green House before I move in any plants. I don't have soil borders in the Green House as to me it's more trouble than it's worth.:snork:
     
  4. clueless1

    clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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    You can get those smoke thingies but I'm not sure how effective they are (never used them, and very inexperienced at greenhouse growing in general).

    You know the ones, like a cone, you light the top, shut them in and leave them until they've finished.
     
  5. Kristen

    Kristen Under gardener

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    I replace the "soil" in my greenhouse every year.

    I use the compost heap - which is only half-rotted so to speak - and well rotted manure (about half-and-half). At the end of the year the stuff that comes out is lovely :) and nothing like as heavy to work as soil would be.

    Crops won't like growing year-after-year in the greenhouse soil, so the soil will need replacing at some point, I just choose to do it annually as it finishes off my composting process :)

    Blight won't survive in the soil (as far as I know), the only risk is potato tubers that have been overlooked and sprout next year. Pull them up the moment you see them sprout.

    I use Jeyes to wash-down the glass etc.
     
  6. chitting kaz

    chitting kaz Total Gardener

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    i take off the top 6/8 inches and replace every year soil/compost is 2 foot deep

    fresh compost for all pots
    i am sure that i read blight will over winter in soil ?:scratch: never had blight in green house before
     
  7. Hannah's Rose Garden

    Hannah's Rose Garden Total Gardener

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    This is the way my mum taught me.( a novice):
    In the spring
    Move out overwintering plants
    Take all pots dibbers etc in to house and wash
    Remove fleece etc.
    Use jeyes and clean frame and glass and staging and potting tablestarting at top
    Get soap and water and clean the outside
    Put all the cleaned bits back in and get your potting compost and ur ready to go :)
    She grows veg in those big potatoe bags as even sifting a bed for rouge potatoes would be a nightmare and she is such a wonderful clean freak in the garden she would want to replace soil every year to proyect her plants.
     
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    • Spruce

      Spruce Glad to be back .....

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      I have used the one in a tin , works too well , as when I put all the plants back in the next day ie fushia other bits and pieces it made all the leaves burnt or drop off, the cedar wood had really absorbed the sulphur its smelt awful for about 4 weeks .
      At least I learnt a lesson not to re-stock and leave for a week at least but it did sort out the spider mite and white fly.

      Past two years I have used a splash of bleach into a bucket of warm water and give all the glass a good scrub with a sponge really does get the algie off quickly .

      Mine is paved and use huge pots so much easier than having border soil in a small greenhouse , but in the past I did use Jeyes Fluid to drench the soil are we still allowed to do this ?.

      Spruce
       
    • pete

      pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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      I 've not actually bothered with any deep cleaning of the greenhouse for years, (some might say it shows:biggrin:), but if you move plants out and then back again you seem to me to be defeating the object, as most pests and diseases are on the growing plants and not the greenhouse itself.
      If its a total clear out, plants and all, then it could well be worth it.

      I see the point of removing any border soil, if you grow that way, and I must admit I was under the impression blight can stay dormant overwinter in the soil.
      But my thoughts on blight are, if you have the ideal conditions you will get it anyway.
      As far as I know it can be airbourne.
       
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      • Kleftiwallah

        Kleftiwallah Gardener

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        This year I are mainly- removing all glass from the roof, cleaning and storing. Jet washing all ally structure and replacing all cracked glass in the verticles, leaving the roof glass out hoping a couple of good frosts will zap a few bugs.

        Glass in and a spray of Jeyes and a candle jobby.

        Cheers, Tony.
         
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        • chitting kaz

          chitting kaz Total Gardener

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          cant presure wash as poly carb sheets so can i steam clean ?
           
        • Kristen

          Kristen Under gardener

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          Quite. My aim in pressure washing the greenhouse, and using Jeyes, is to get rid of the grime and the green algae-looking muck. There are trees to the North of my greenhouses, so maybe my glass is more manky than others?

          I had a look on the RHS website. This is all I could find that seemed to be relevant:

          http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=217

          "The pathogen overwinters in rotten potatoes left in the ground or by the sides of fields

          The fungus can also produce resting spores (oospores) in the plant tissues that can contaminate the soil. Little is known about their survival and their potential as a source of the disease."

          so I still think it is crucial to remove any potatoes that sprout the following year. A 4-year rotation will take care of any infection that does overwinter in the soil.

          Also, wrt Airborne infection, this:

          "the great majority of infections in gardens arise from wind-blown sporangia originating in other gardens, allotments and commercial crops. In the UK, outbreaks may occur from June onwards, usually earliest in the South West."

          (This is late-onset blight, not early blight)
           
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          • chitting kaz

            chitting kaz Total Gardener

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            thanks Kirsten,
            well that helps me alot actually as once i remove all dead plants (it was late blight) the green can be cleaned throughout and as i have been ill not plants where put into to over winter Terry has popped them in them garage for me ... so once i and up too it i shall get a riddle on the sort it out, thanks for the advice
             
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            • chitting kaz

              chitting kaz Total Gardener

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              just re read my last reply ....:lunapic 130165696578242 5: i dont make sense trying to type during an md attack .... i dont even recall posted this morning :scratch:
               
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              • Hannah's Rose Garden

                Hannah's Rose Garden Total Gardener

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