Plants for a planted greenhouse

[Pembstort]

I have a 10 by 8 ft greenhouse that I want to plant up for my torts,
What's the best shrubs/plants/flowers to use that will survive year round in the greenhouse????
Thanks

[kazzabb]

Hi, what's your greenhouse made of? is it wood and glass, or polycarbonate and aluminum, etc, and, do you have the staging/tables around the edge?
What I mean is, are you intending to plant in the ground in the greenhouse?
Karen

[Pembstort]

It's a wooden frame greenhouse with glass. I have removable staging. The floor is separated by a concrete path roughly 18inch wide. On one side there is soil with a depth of about 18 inches and on the other side of the path there is gravel.
I intend to plant up the soil area and on the gravel area I am aiming to take most of the gravel out and add a sand/soil/gravel mix and plant up

[sa123]

Hi have a greenhouse as well with outside run attached , i have planted out the run with Tortoises friendly plants to grow for when the weather is warmer, i plan to plant tomatoe plants( tortoises cant eat the leaves) cucubers and other items some for the family they will all be in high pots inside the greenhouse so the tortoises can not get to the stems and hert them , plus i will be making sure how much waste falls on the floor .

[lynnedit]

I have had very good luck with Optunia and a dwarf hibiscus. I am growing trays of 'weeds', and mixed lettuces for us, which are all growing nicely. (in my Greenhouse)

[amph55]

I have a glass greenhouse too with an outside grassy run. I grow lettuces and tomatoes inside but not for my tortoise to get himself. These would need to be removed if the weather is too hot as they may dry up before I could get to them. Never thought of planting tortoise friendly weeds inside as when it gets over 30 degrees inside tort goes outside where he can find clover and dandelions himself.I have removed one of the back bottom panes and put in a wooden hatch which lifts up for him to go out. I have cottage fencing round the enclosure with no gaps between slats. Inside I have to feed him.
Like the idea of creating an indoor planted area so "pm" me if you have sucess!

[sandy]

A lot depends on where you live, as to what you can grow all year round in a greenhouse.
I live in Kent, and I can only grow something like Opuntia all year round, as it gets far too hot in the GH to grow plants for my tortoises. My tortoises have the GH as their home, so the GH is situated in the sunniest spot, which is not good for growing plants in the heat of Summer:0)
You can easily start plants off, and get them going, but they soon die (unless you have all the time in the world) if you dont keep up shading, and watering.

[kazzabb]

Hi
The small problem with planting straight into the ground, inside the greenhouse is; a) depending on the species of torts, they will gorge, b) once they've gorged and your plants are gone, c) if you plant more, the seedlings wouldn't have a chance, as they'd be eaten up d) If you plant tomatoes for example (I wouldn't recommend where the torts can get to them), and you get blight, the whole plant will have to come out and the soil replaced e) if you get an infestation of anything in your plants, it'll be hard to treat with sprays etc if the torts live in the greenhouse. If I were able to use our greenhouse for the torts I would plant up in pots, so plants are easily removable/replaceable if necessary. The torts can't gorge themselves. You can spot clean their poo etc, easier. If wood is separating the glass panes higher than waist height, I'd get second-hand wooden slatted shelves and put them up, about chest-level and grow tort salads in trays which can be bought down, placed on the floor, eaten, and then re-seeded and popped back on the shelves. As Sandy and Lynnedit say, Opuntia and Hibiscus grow really well in greenhouses, and you could hang hanging baskets under the shelving, or fix the half-moon ones onto the sides of the greenhouse low-down, in which you can plant tort-edible plants like trailing petunia, aubretia etc, this way the baskets look pretty, but the torts can only eat what they can reach! I'd leave the gravel, as it helps with keeping their claws short, and you could put some cactus in nice ceramic pots and half-bury them into the gravel. The idea of a beautifully planted greenhouse floor is great, but once the torts have trampled and poo'd and wee'd over the plants, it's a downer. By the way if your torts are horsfields, can they burrow under the greenhouse to freedom? Check the temps in the greenhouse too, ours has self-opening vents, but the temps still go off the thermometer on some days, so that's over 50C! Ouch! roll on the summer.
karen

[Pembstort]

Thanks for all the tips.
I want to create something similar to the TT Mediterranean greenhouse with various plants to simulate the natural environment.
I will be keeping the gravel area and also growing veggies in pots
I have hibiscus and honeysuckle on the walls plus grape vine to help with shading. I have also added two layers of polycarbonate to insulate the greenhouse during cold weather. All windows are on auto open and we are able to open the door daily when it's hot

[Stellanne]

I just have weeds on the greenhouse floor at this time of year. They are covered with slatted wooden squares so torts can only eat what grows through the gaps. X x x stella x x