If you’ve offered to look after the crops and flowers flourishing in your neighbour’s greenhouse while they are away, there are some golden rules to follow to keep things alive and healthy. Watering, ventilation and harvesting are all important, but so is watching out for pests that can breed rapidly in warm, humid weather, which can so often hit us in late summer. Vegetables including cucumbers, melons and tomatoes will all be cropping, but a greenhouse owner may return to ruined edibles if they are left to their own devices.
No pressure, then, if you have volunteered to look after your neighbour’s greenhouse. But as long as you are prepared, they should be returning to a rich harvest and some healthy plants, rather than a straggly mass of mouldy crops. Tom Barry, CEO of heritage greenhouse manufacturer Hartley Botanic , offers the following tips to greenhouse sitters: 1.
Be prepared for watering Hopefully the greenhouse owner will have filled up watering cans and put them under the greenhouse bench to warm the water for 24 hours before they go away, so that the water is at the optimum temperature for the plants. If they have a water butt, use it to repeat the task every day when you visit, or if not, use an outside tap to refill the watering cans after you have watered the plants, so that the water warms accordingly. During their absence in the height of summer, keep an eye on watering and the condition of the plants.
You can check if containerised plants need waterin.