Thinking about a greenhouse...need advice

[Aya]

I'm starting to look around at greenhouses, as this year our season was crazy. I think we got maybe 2 weeks of really warm, good growing weather before it started raining. (I'm north of Seattle).

I really want to be successful growing things that require heat, and lots of it: tomatoes, bell peppers ect.. and the only way I can think of being successful is if I get t greenhouse. I didn't think there were so many on the market!
I would be trying to feed a family of four and I'm hoping there might be a way to grow plants that normally wouldn't even bear fruit here: Pink lady apples, pomegranates (HA! - Is it even possible?) and the like.

Any advice?

[rainbowgardener]

All the hot weather stuff you are talking about needs not only warmth, but lots of sunlight. In a greenhouse in a northern, cloudy area, you would likely have to have grow lights.

For the fruit trees you would have to have lots of light and you would have to hand pollinate. Apple trees usually have to be pollinated by a different variety, so you would have to grow your Pink Lady and a different variety and hand pollinate from one to the other. The apples have to have winter chill (900 to 1,200 hours of temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit). The pomegranate is mild-temperate to subtropical. It would likely survive that much chilling, but not thrive.

You will need to research carefully what to grow and what conditions they need as well as types of greenhouses.

[Aya]

Thanks Rainbow. I know I'm kind of reaching pretty far, but I just want to see if its doable.

[cynthia_h]

According to the Sunset Western Garden Book, people gardening "north of Seattle" but not into the mountains are in either Sunset climate zone 4 or 5.

Using the climate-zone information, I looked up pomegranates. Here's the relevant stuff:

"Pomegranate. Zones 5-24; H1, H2. Full sun. Regular water.

"Pomegranates ripen in fall; harvest them when they reach full color. Fruit left on the tree is likely to split and rot, especially if weather is rainy. ...

"In Zones 5, 6, and 17, where pomegranate grows and blooms but may not fruit, locate against south or west wall. Tolerates a wide variety of soils, growing well even in alkaline soil. Resistant to oak root fungus. Can take considerable drought but produces better fruit with regular moisture."

The vast majority of the pomegranates grown in the United States come from the Central Valley of California, a natural desert.

You'd definitely be working "uphill and against the wind," to use a bicycling phrase.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[lily51]

The Seattle area has some huge commercial greenhouse operations for flowers, so greenhouses do thrive there.
You might try touring/contacting these growers to ask for advise.
We have visited some of these and they are amazing!

[Aya]

I'll keep these things in mind. Thanks : )

[DoubleDogFarm]

at what cost? I would compare a pound of Pomegranates to all equipment required to grow a pound.

There are hundreds of fruits suited for our climate. Buy a hundred trees instead of one greenhouse.

Sorry I'm not supporting your dream. I just think feeding a family of four would be easier growing suited cultivars


Now if I could only remember what Olive tree is recommended for the islands.

Eric

[Aya]

@Double Dog: I suppose you're right *Nods* We don't exactly live in a climate that is hospitable to Poms..at least not if we want fruit off of them. I'd really also like Pink Lady apples, but have been told they're not really suited to here either...hmmm

[DoubleDogFarm]

I would give Pink Lady a try. Zone 4-9 https://www.raintreenursery.com/Pink_Lady_Apple_M27.html


Eric

[Bobberman]

If you are a handy man I would build my own green house using 2 by 4's. I built a A frame greenhouse for under $500 12 by16. You can get a 20 by 100 , 6 mill clear plastic plastic for $72 that will double cover the south area of the greenhouse for three consective years! All you need is flake boards on the north side and that is only $7 a 4 by 8 sheet. I used 7 to 8 on mine! The A frame also acts as a water collector on either side by using a gutter fed into sever 50 gallon barrels! I torn down several of the commercial metal ones and was not impessed because they are too hard to heat! Besides the covers are too expensive !

[rainbowgardener]

My point in there was that the Pink Lady is probably possible, if you have space and patience to grow two varieties out, wait a few years for fruit, hand pollinate, etc. The pomegranate is probably possible. But they are NOT possible in the same greenhouse at the same time. The conditions they need are too different. If you work at it, you can probably provide adequate conditions for one or the other, just not both at once.

So you really need to research what you want to grow and what conditions they need, and come up with a (small!) list of stuff to grow that all needs similar conditions.

[Aya]

Sounds like a good plan to me : )

I really want tomatoes and bell peppers this year - would I be able to grow those with either of the fruit trees? I'd guess I'd be choosing the Pink Ladies, as I can see our family eating more of those..

[DoubleDogFarm]

Pink Lady apples do not like the cold weather, be it in spring or as an early winter. This variety is the earliest to blossom (late March/early April), and one of the last to be harvested (end of October/early November). It is the significant change in temperature between night and day in the autumn that gives the apples their pink colour. However, they must also be well exposed. Therefore, the trees must be carefully pruned and their fruit production well managed.

I would espalier this variety against a south facing wall and maybe have a simple lean-to type greenhouse.

Eric