greenhouse growing medium

[Ivan]

Hi all, I recently bought a polytunnel/greenhouse and erected the structure in my backyard. My question relates to how to grow vegetables in it. The most obvious solutions would be in either the ground or individual pots. Now, the ground is not the best, so I would be building a raised bed inside the greenhouse and filling it with potting mix, compost and manure.

What I'd mostly be growing would be tomatoes, eggplants, leafy vegetables, and a variety of herbs.

What would be the medium recommended?

I've looked around and can't seem to find a definite answer, and all the videos I watch seem to have vegetables growing in greenhouses on individual pots, and not the ground .. At least in smaller green houses, anyway.

The greenhouse I have measures (in meters) 2.1(l) x 3.5(w) x 2(h)

[enigma]

Ivan wrote in news: [e-mail] ups.com:

find a copy of Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening, or look up the Square Foot Gardening website. he describes an excellent mixture for raised beds. lee

[Kay Lancaster]

Sounds like a good choice -- plants usually grow best in bigger containers than most pots.

The potting soil I've used most in greenhouses is equal parts good topsoil, chopped sphagnum or coir and sharp (builder's) sand, all steamed. Add lime as needed to correct the pH. Just about anything grows pretty well in it. Amend as needed to meet your growing conditions when you've got more experience.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Steamed? Why and how? What if he needs an quantity we might describe as "five bath tubs full"?

[Kay Lancaster]

Steamed to reduce pathogens and eliminate weed seed. Could be solarized at home.

And we steamed the material by putting a pipe fitted for a low pressure steam connection into a spreader plate cut to fit the bottom of a metal trash can. Insert steam pipe, fill with mixture (we used a manual cement mixer to mix soil), cover the can with a metal two-piece collar that was cut to fit around the pipe, and steam to an internal temperature of

160oF. Cooled for at least a week before using.

And yes, it was a large research university.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Since the vast majority of us don't have steam connections handy, we can discount this method. And since solarization is capable of killing the beneficial microorganisms as well as the evil ones, it makes more sense to use a potting medium that's relatively clean to begin with. There are lots of recipes. The OP is advised to use a protective mask while mixing stuff like perlite & vermiculite. That will be mentioned on the packages, but who reads packages these days?