# My Greenhouse and other stuff



## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

Ive been doing out the greenhouse over the weekend and have added some yellow bellied toads and pool frogs up to now. Still needs more logs and branches and a few more plants but its a start


















one of the pool frogs









One for Al this is what i got from your tadpoles got 2 of these :2thumb:









Now my wildlife ponds which are coming back into life


















some toad Bufo bufo tadpoles in the big pond









And lastly for all you fishy people a picture of my koi in another pond obviously









hope you all enjoyed my day in the garden, you just got to love this time of year :2thumb:


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## calv07 (Mar 8, 2010)

Nice work mate. You'll get addicted to it. You'll be out there in the evening with your torch in no time lol.


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Ha I've been waiting for this for a while now mate,if i do get there first its a privalage,very nearly pm'ed ya twice on this as i know i have missed some of whats been going on,bloody great stuff,loving it all,if i didn't ruddy DIY everything yould have a job mate!!!,even love the Koi Rich have a massive soft spot for them too,guy next door used to bring em in from japan and grow them on,before he moved,Rich if you ever manage to track down some vids of how they do it in japan get them ,although i am sure you have already seen this .Its simply breathtaking!!!!!!!!!
Buddy what are the walls in you GH made of,doesn't look like glass,and what size?
All awsome as always bro,ha and that acer rocks too,can't beat treading carefully at night ,also love this time of year
Stu


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## spend_day (Apr 10, 2008)

loving the greenhouse


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## walt-disney (Apr 6, 2011)

looks super sweet bro :2thumb:


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks guys, its still along way off finished yet and the plants have got to grow a fair bit. Dont really need the waterfall but ive got a bit of an obsession with them and moving water, ive got 3 in the garden 

Calv im out with my torch in spring at the first sign of any frogs so nothing new there :2thumb:

Stu the greenhouse is a polycarbonate one its 10x6, ive also added another door made of mesh so i can leave the greenhouse door open with no worry of anything escaping. Ive already got the field crickets (black) breeding in there so theres a constant food supply for the phibs anyway.

And as for the koi Stu ive kept them almost as long as frogs, and yes mate seen all the japanese ways, amazing how they do it :notworthy:


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## ARMS87 (Jul 21, 2010)

Love it, want one, how do you keep it warm enough for them? What species can survive low temps?


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## jme2049 (Jan 11, 2008)

Both the greenhouse set up and your garden look amazing Richie:2thumb:


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## seanmackie (Oct 27, 2009)

Im so jealous :devil:


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Show off!


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## matt_mcmahon77 (Dec 3, 2009)

Looks awesome Richie nice work. That greenhouse will look amazing when its all grown in, and has lots of inhabitants. Wish I had a garden that I could do that to with the ponds.:2thumb:


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## stewie m (Sep 16, 2009)

awsome work richie


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

A greenhouse must be fairly low cost right?


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## stewie m (Sep 16, 2009)

Morgan Freeman said:


> A greenhouse must be fairly low cost right?


would of thought so


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## kristaily (Aug 29, 2009)

richie.b said:


> Ive been doing out the greenhouse over the weekend and have added some yellow bellied toads and pool frogs up to now. Still needs more logs and branches and a few more plants but its a start
> 
> image
> image
> ...


Wow Richie you have some project there, looking really nice keep up the good work.:notworthy:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Morgan Freeman said:


> A greenhouse must be fairly low cost right?


So long as you aren't looking at heating it! You also have to guard against escapes, as Ritchie has- not just the door, but vents and even the base. A friend of mine had one set up for wall lizards, and he even had to put in a weed mat barrior under the soil/rubble hibernation substrate to make sure they didn't tunnel out.


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## ARMS87 (Jul 21, 2010)

again, what species would survive the winter in there? If you had to heat it how would you go about it?


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

ARMS87 said:


> again, what species would survive the winter in there? If you had to heat it how would you go about it?


Most Northen European, North Asian/Japanese or Northern North American species should do fine. There are plenty of greenhouse heating systems out there, but most of them are expensive, and not all that effective- glass, and even polycarbonate lose heat very quickly. Sting can afford to heat his conservatory for his iguanas, but most of us can't!


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

Ron Magpie said:


> So long as you aren't looking at heating it! You also have to guard against escapes, as Ritchie has- not just the door, but vents and even the base. A friend of mine had one set up for wall lizards, and he even had to put in a weed mat barrior under the soil/rubble hibernation substrate to make sure they didn't tunnel out.


That's not expensive though, even laying concrete isn't that much.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Morgan Freeman said:


> That's not expensive though, even laying concrete isn't that much.


Nope- definitely do-able. He wanted a dryish drained area for hibernation, though, hence the mesh.


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

This is why i decided to use it for more european species so they can live in there year round. Ive burried some poly boxes with pipes leading into them and filled them with dry moss and leaves, but they may choose to use the log piles and rock piles. I used to use this greenhouse for breeding whites and white lipped but only from mid may until begining of september. Would cost a fortune to heat as it would realy have to be electric couldnt use parafin like most people do to heat there greenhouse.
Got to get some branches in there now and a thornless blackberry bush then find some hyla aborea 
And yes theyre low cost i was even watching female field crickets laying eggs in the soil yesterday so wont have to add much livefood hopefully :2thumb:


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

Well things are starting to happen already in the greenhouse, went out today to have a look and found lots of lumps of spawn. This came as a bit of suprise as my pool frogs i only got as froglets last october and grew them over the winter in the frogroom so didnt even hibernate them. Mind you since putting them in the greenhouse they have doubled in size and are now a good 8-9 cm. I took most of the spawn out to go in a fishtank and heres a photo of some

cheers
Richie


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

That's really exciting. I liked the look of those young pool frogs at PRAS, but I'm not really set up for them- besides, I was on a mission to get my GTF...:2thumb:


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

Ron Magpie said:


> That's really exciting. I liked the look of those young pool frogs at PRAS, but I'm not really set up for them- besides, I was on a mission to get my GTF...:2thumb:


I know Ron but did you see the size of them i never expected them to breed this year, i was going to hibernate them and hopefully get them going next year.
course theres no saying theyre going to hatch :blush:

You got that so will have to get some pool frogs this year at pras :2thumb:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

richie.b said:


> I know Ron but did you see the size of them i never expected them to breed this year, i was going to hibernate them and hopefully get them going next year.
> course theres no saying theyre going to hatch :blush:
> 
> *You got that so will have to get some pool frogs this year at pras* :2thumb:


 Lol. I really don't have proper facilities for temperate frogs! I rather think I will come to PRAS this year, though, and maybe Kempton, too.


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

Ron Magpie said:


> Lol. I really don't have proper facilities for temperate frogs! I rather think I will come to PRAS this year, though, and maybe Kempton, too.


Yer they are a bit jumpy and need a big viv as you know, that was my whole intention was to get them for the greenhouse. Ill be at pras with my table, love that show. Cant get a table at kempton been fully booked for ages, not supprising after last year, might still go though


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## FrogNick (Jul 2, 2009)

thanks richie looks great love the koi too maybe one day...


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## richie.b (Oct 27, 2008)

FrogNick said:


> thanks richie looks great love the koi too maybe one day...



Thanks Nick, yer i like my ponds and koi ive kept them for years.

Richie


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Koi always make me feel hungry....:mf_dribble:


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Ron Magpie said:


> Koi always make me feel hungry....:mf_dribble:


 thats wrong:lol2: gotta admit am also fascinated by them and as before how those japanese guys rear them in the mountains,sorry Rich i am ment to be chucking praise at you about you poolies congrats mate.and Morg there are GH's about for nothing if you look try your local freecycle site,ours is 8x10 cost nada!!
goodonya Rich!!
stu


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