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Grow & eat

Cleaning glazing

Posted by: Pippa Greenwood, 06 December 2007, 12.12PM

Cleaning glazing Only a couple of weeks ago I was waxing lyrical about my very much loved greenhouse. There are still a few peppers and tomatoes hanging on in there, but as light levels get lower and days get frighteningly shorter, I finally got around to starting that fun but very wet (and potentially cold) task of cleaning the glazing. (Someone did remind me the other day that in only a few weeks the days will start to get longer, but right now it just seems to be getting gloomier).

I have some wonderful window cleaning apparatus that my mother gave me many years ago - with a rubbery flange on one side and some net covered sponge on the other, on the end of a telescopic handle. Brilliant, but even this tremendous piece of kit will not shift stubborn, dried-on algae and the general debris that accumulates over the growing season.

So that is why wet weather can sometimes bring advantages. Now, with the naturally softened layer of gunk more easily shifted I am out there, starting to get to grips with all that gunge. I either blast out the accumulated stuff between the panes with a strong jet of water or push it clear with a thin sliver of plastic from an old yoghurt tub...

But why is it that however I try to do it, when I do need extra water, the ice-cold contents of the hose instantly becomes attracted to my arm and becomes the ice-cold contents of my sleeve?

Comments

  • Amoret

    06 December 2007, 08.29PM

    I use a long handled car cleaning brush thing that attaches to the hose. Better still, and a solution to the wet sleeve problem, I make sure my daughter volunteers to do it whilst I'm cooking her a favorite meal!!

  • Pippa Greenwood

    10 December 2007, 10.52AM

    Have to confess my two kids FIGHT about who can do it, but then that needs to be on a much warmer day, with dry clothes and hot chocolate lined up...and I took the precaution of installing toughened glass too !!!

  • 09 January 2008, 06.03PM

    Bob Flowerdew (who he?) said on GQT some time ago that cleaning the glass with a mixture of washing-up liquid and bleach would do the job. As my greenhouse had been in a disastrous greeny state (due to my long stay in hospital) I tried this method out. The cloth needs to be fairly well wrung out so that it doesn't drip and the nooks, crannies and awkward bits can be tackled with an old toothbrush or something similar. I got a clean attachment for my old floor sponge from a cheap DIY store and reached the higher up panels without any trouble. If the dirt is as bad as mine was you can do it twice. I finished it off with a clean dry cloth. The completed job was a joy to behold. And I had to invest in greenhouse shading!!! I use this cleaning method every year now.

  • Pippa Greenwood

    11 January 2008, 01.37PM

    I'm sure this would do the trick, though potentially a hazardous mix to plants or humans beneath unless a very small quantity used and the cloth extremely well wroung out, don't want bleach in my greenhouse myself but thanks for the suggestion as no doubt that it would do the job!

  • Sheila and William

    18 January 2008, 05.32PM

    Last year the greenhouse was in a rather rancid state, due to years of neglect. So my Mother and I decided to give it a new lease of life for the spring ahead, we did this simply with a high pressure hose and a yard brush this did the trick extremly well. The growing season went well and produced an abundance of chilli peppers, melons, aubergines, tomatoes and cucumbers.But can anyone give us some advice on onion growing and cultivation. Many thanks S&W

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