Staging for a new greenhouse?

[DaveW]

My greenhouse is 18ft x 12 ft wide with stagings I made myself each side, with a 2 ft deep raised centre bed instead of another staging. As I said the stagings are topped with sheathing plywood on 3" x 2" legs and rails and with a 6" upstand to stop clothes sweeping plants off, or snagging hooked spines and then lined with roofing felt. They have a three quarter inch slit along their centre where the felt is turned down through the hole for drainage.

The main stagings are 3ft high x 3ft wide and the shelf above 18 inches wide of similar construction to the staging, but instead of a centre slit they slope slightly to the centre of the greenhouse where a gutter empties into a fall pipe to the staging below.

You have to use a pair of aluminium steps to get up to the shelf, but that is no problem. The bubble wrap is UV stabilised and left up all the time since it would be too much trouble to keep taking down and putting up.

[Tony R]

... I was thinking of having sort of C shapes, didn't someone on the forum have this- speak up please with pictures if you have them....

Tina, this is a plan of the staging inside my Robinson Rosette. I don't have a photo to hand when built and empty as they are all pre-digital. To give an idea of scale the square benches are 4 foot square. These days I use a number of Two Wests aluminium trays to bridge the gaps in some of the alley-ways, particularly in winter to maximise use of space.

[Tina]

Thanks Tony, just what I wanted.
How wide is the greenhouse this is designed for plz,

[Tony R]

The Rosette is 10ft 6in wide. You could do any width by adjusting the size of the tables. The idea was that most plants are within easy reach, not much more than 2ft from one direction.

[DaveW]

I had a similar layout in a previous greenhouse Tony, but the square beds alternated as to which side they were attached to, so giving a zigzag path. It's always a problem finding the best arrangement so as not to waste valuable greenhouse space with paths.

As said earlier, some greenhouse widths are not really very efficient for growing off stagings since they waste too much of the interior in paths, particularly if you are paying for heating it. It is best to design everything on paper first from the inside out to maximise staging room versus path space and then see if you can find a greenhouse of suitable width to take them.

[Chris43]

Hi Chris
What width is your greenhouse ?, as this will be my last one( so Baz says) I went for a 12ft wide but not sure about staging I was thinking of having sort of C shapes, didn't someone on the forum have this- speak up please with pictures if you have them.

I always go for metal after a bunch of mealy were hiding under the slats of my first wooden staging, I kept treating the plants & they kept coming back until I eventually got my brain in gear and found them.
I nearly died of malathion poisoning and learnt that it kills crassula plants.

I'm probably going to go for a 12 ft wide and 20 ft long Rhino. I've played around with different layouts, the most obvious being staging around each side and back, and a pier from the middle of the back towards the door. That would create two paths, so that limits the width of the staging. To make 2ft 6 walkways, the staging would have to be perhaps 2 ft wide at the sides, and 3 ft wide in the centre (2x2, 3, 2 x 2'6 = 12). I calculate that gives me about 146 sq ft of staging. If the staging at the back were deeper it would reduce the length of the central pier, and probably not make a huge difference.

However, with 4 ft wide staging (hence the question that started this thread), a simple U shape with 4 ft wide staging gives me 176 sq ft, and a lot of space to move around in.

[ralphrmartin]

One advantage of placing the walkways at the edge, and the staging in the middle, is the plants are further away from the cold glass - and it is easier to clean the glass, put bubble wrap up, etc...

[Paul in Essex]

One advantage of placing the walkways at the edge, and the staging in the middle, is the plants are further away from the cold glass - and it is easier to clean the glass, put bubble wrap up, etc...

....and you have extra height that can accommodate taller plants.

I have a 22 x 12 greenhouse with staging along both sides, the far end and down the middle, so there are 2 pathways between as you describe above, Chris. The central 'pier' on mine is shorter so I can put even taller plants on the floor at this point, too. Works for me. I used Rhino staging with wooden slats - I wouldn't choose those again as the sticky foam spacers don't stay sticky for long, fall off, then you are left with slats that move every time you move a plant.

[habanerocat]

I've seen these in Kew Gardens.

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Basicall the weight of the staging top is supported on the rollers (pipes) so the whole table top can be moved from side to side surprisingly very easily. This means you only need one walkway down your greenhouse. This is particularly usefull for a middle section.

[matchat]

I had a chance to view the private C&S collection at Winterbourne garden at the last auction hosted by Birmingham branch. The staging there was the same design, fantastically easy to move about and a great way to maximise growing space but probably only viable for larger commercial greenhouses.

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