Ever since I harvested the last of my greenhouse crops, I’ve been dying to go forth and propagate.  It’s not that I need more plants, but I’ve never had the space for cuttings before and besides, it’s always useful to have a tray of plants to take to the school fair or the local jumble sale.

I started with cuttings of curry plant, lavender, penstemon, fuchsia, hydrangea, pinks, rosemary, geraniums, buddleia and everlasting wallflower.   If you’ve never taken cuttings before and want to see how it’s done, YouTube has some good entries to help you get started.  This one by Margaret Lear is one of the most popular.  This video is slightly shambolic but I like the home-made feel!

As well as cuttings I’ve also been tracking down seed from plants I’ve written down in my notebook but never quite got round to growing.
One is Viola wittrockiana ‘Ultima Morpho ( F1).  This variety won a Fleuroselect medal a few years ago but doesn’t seem to be on the market any more.   I tracked some down at Seeds by Size run by John Size.  His web-site is a bit more complicated than it might be, but is worth persevering with as he has an incredibly large selection on offer. Ultima Morpho is named after a Morpho butterfly, it has lovely blue petals with yellow markings and I’ve sown some in the greenhouse now so that I can over-winter the plants in a cold frame and get a head start in spring. Another plant which caught my attention is Lupinus ‘Blue Spear’.  This is a tall variety of annual lupin bred for cutting.  It has handsome, long spires which are blue and yellow, but again it’s not widely available.   I found it on Nicky’s Seeds, though it looks remarkably like Lupinus Hartwegii, and seems to be used referred to as the same thing on some sites.

A friend mentioned that the germination could sometimes be tricky, so I soaked the seed, which is quite large, overnight in water.  I then did a test: 20 seeds in soil with a covering of vermiculite, 20 seeds between two pieces of moist kitchen towel and 20 seeds in a plastic bag with some barely moist compost. Interestingly the first conventionally sown group only produced 4 shoots after a week or so, the rest rotted away. The kitchen towel seeds produced 10 seedlings (with the rest looking rather unhappy).  Best of all were the seeds in the just damp compost.  They produced 17 seedlings of the strongest vigour, which I am about to pot up individually.

When they have put on a little growth, they too will leave the greenhouse to be overwintered in the cold frame for an early spring start.  Next week I’ll be sowing sweet peas.

When is a good time to clean the greenhouse?  Many gardeners recommend early spring, just before seed sowing when over-wintering pests can be got rid of, but I’ve chosen my first major clear-out in October.

I could have kept my tomato plants going for much longer, but I decided to boot them out because it was getting so hard to move about in the greenhouse.  In a frenzy of clearing I harvested all my chillies, the small Thai aubergines and the jungle of tomatoes.

My reasoning for an autumn clean-out  is that in January I’ll be starting off  my peppers, so I don’t want to disturb them once I’ve got them going.   Then in early spring, just to be thorough, I’ll give the greenhouse an inspection before the big seed sowing season to see if it needs a spring clean.

I could be letting myself in for problems later on, but gardening is about trial and error, and you learn as much from mistakes as from successes.

So, how do you clean a greenhouse?  When I first got my allotment, I can remember some of the older plotholders used nicotine to fumigate the greenhouse. The EU has since cracked down on the use of many noxious substances.
Remember to clean the glass outside to let the maximum amount of light in during winter. Clear the gutters too.
Wash down all the staging, paying special attention in corners and underneath.
Cleaning Products for the Greenhouse:  here are some of the most common substances used.

Sulphur Candle
Used as a fumigant.  Remember to follow instructions carefully and when cleaning your greenhouse with a sulphur candle you should be careful if you have blinds in your greenhouse.

Citrox
An organic, citrus based cleaner which is mild but effective.

Vinegar
Use white vinegar diluted around 1:8 parts.

Jeyes Fluid
Dilute to clean surfaces.  It  can also be used to sterilise soil, though it will kill off good bacteria too.  Fairly pungent, so ensure good ventilation.

Armillatox is a soap useful for cleaning trays, staging and other surfaces in the greenhouse.
Greenhouse Hardware

Pots: Give them a good scrub, inside and out with a pot-brush and scourer.  Leave them outside to dry naturally, when fully dry store in the shed.  Wrap them in plastic or bin bags if you are going to leave them outside.

Capillary Matting: The received wisdom is that this should be replaced every year as harmful bacteria can easily kill off your precious seedlings.  It’s not terribly expensive so replace every couple of years if you are feeling frugal.
Windows: Use a plastic plant label to get to the algae under glass and in corners.  Disconnect your water butt before cleaning the top panes with mild, soapy water.

Water Butt: Empty these once a year and hose them down inside. Check them regularly and make sure they are free of leaves or snails.

Gravel: If you really want to clean the greenhouse properly, remove all the gravel and wash it through with a proprietary cleaner.  In practice this is quite a job.  You can use a watering can to administer Jeyes Fluid or another cleaner.  It won’t be quite as effective as total removal, but should help if the above is unfeasible.
Border Soil – Use Jeyes Fluid to sterilise or replace altogether every year.  Many gardeners now use growbags in the greenhouse.