Greenhouses in Lidl

The Waxbill

On Monday next Lidl are offering 6 x 6 greenhouses. Anyone had them before and are they any use? Also the bare root fruit trees eg apple, pear and plum that Aldi and Lidl are selling at the moment. What are peoples opinions on these?

holmesy

Got one before, it lasted 2 weeks before it got blown apart in the wind. You'll need to place it in a very sheltered position and keep it weighed down.

hask1965

was thinking of getting one are the plant tunnells any better :cool:

bertie1

The fruit trees are young & take a few years to establish. Stake them well . I got a few every year for the past 4 years , the ones I put in 4 years ago are getting strong now. I think they are great value, the only ones I had trouble with was the pears everything else took fine . It is probably just the soil here

holmesy

Tunnels after the storm last week

redser7

Hi The Waxbill, I got a similar one in Argos last year in early summer. You definately want to have it against a wall, preferably a south facing wall, and weigh it down well. If it is out in the open it will be a like a huge sail. I used a couple of patio slabs and it never budged an inch. They heat up incredibly well and fast. So you really have to be careful if you have anything tender in there and keep an eye on it and open the flap or you'll fry your plants. Lidl are doing indoor/outdoor thermometers for a fiver. Got one and it's great. Even has an ice alarm. So you can monitor the temp in the greenhouse from inside your own house :-)
Read that they rarely last winter condtions so I took mine down in October. They are useless for winter use anyway, unless you just wanted to overwinter some hardy-ish pot plants. Takes about half an hour to put back up.
I'm going to use it as a nursery for seedlings I am growing now. Hopefully from late March/April. But will use my trusty thermometer to see what temps are like through March. Should do the job although this will be the first time to use it for hardening off plants. Fingers crossed. For the price I'd say go for it, so long as you don't expect it to be like a proper greenhouse.

Velvet shank

Be aware that many of the fruit tree varieties are self-sterile, so in these cases you'd need to plant 2 compatible varieties in order to produce fruit...unless there is already a suitable pollination partner for your tree somewhere neraby..

Corsendonk

Velvet shank wrote: »

Be aware that many of the fruit tree varieties are self-sterile, so in these cases you'd need to plant 2 compatible varieties in order to produce fruit...unless there is already a suitable pollination partner for your tree somewhere neraby..

Shouldn't be a problem with the amount of cheap fruit trees Lidl,Tesco and B & Q have flogged over the last 5 years in Ireland.

The Waxbill

Thanks everyone for their input. I'll see, I'll check them out, maybe as suggested only use it in the spring/summer and take it down for the winter. I planted some of the fruit trees from Aldi 2 years back myself. They've done ok, I wouldn't say thrived but they're still there, albeit not growing much. Maybe they'll take a few years to become established. Do they need fertilizer at any time of the year to help them along?

maringo

got some apple and cherry trees in Aldi or Lidl a few years ago. They came on really well and had fruit the first season which i didn't expect. Just bought a couple of cox pippins today am hoping they do just as well so i'll have to wait till the summer to see if the they's perform as well as the other trees have - they are such great value compared to a garden centre

touts

I bought 5 of the fruit trees a few years ago. Only 2 are left now. Yes the are cheap but I wouldn't buy them again. The remaing cherry and apple trees are TINY in comparison to what you will get in the garden centres. Two just died on me and the fifth I removed because I planted it in a stupid place.

For the price you get what you pay for but if I was seriously looking again for trees to produce fruit in the long term I would spend the extra few euro on more mature ones

hask1965

woodies doing green house with selfs for around 40 euro looks strong and a bit better than lidils also got apple tree 2 years ago bloomed 1 time only cheap but no apples on it last year only baby once could not eat them to small:cool:

JasonR16

Mine didn't last more than a mont, even in the summer - I am fairly sheltered and had it against a wall but it only takes one really strong gust to bend the flimsy metal tubing.

Its a false economy (Its not just Aldi - any of these type arent really suitable for this country)

redser7

Mine worked out fine. I wouldn't rule them out.

looksee

I have bought supermarket trees including Lidl and Tesco, and I have now stopped buying them. I think I have dug up all of them - there is a magnolia from a supermarket that will be gone when I go and sort the garden.

Spend a bit more in a reliable garden centre, you will be expecting them to be a long term purchase, get something worthwhile to start with.

tinapops

i bought one in lidl ahile ago nice space in them easy to erect,i had it full of loads of plants and seeds until three days ago the whole lot took off in the storm most of plants ruined.all the bars and plastic ok but the bar joiners which are plastic some are broke does anyone know if i can buy them seperaetly?

redser7

No I don't think so. You might pick up a 2nd hand greenhouse on adverts.ie for spares. You have to weigh them down with blocks and brace the bars with twine to withstand the wind.