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If you’re thinking about investing in a conservatory now that, for most of us anyway, moving home is out of the question, you might be wondering what sort of plants you can grow there.  Even if you are using the conservatory mainly as an extra room in the house, you will still be able to grow plants that wouldn’t survive a British winter.  Here are some ideas:

1. Tropical and subtropical plants, as big as you have room for, along with climbers can be trained onto wires that will eventually cover walls and ceilings.
2. Think about perfume as well as looks, with the door open something like jasmine will scent the whole ground floor of your home.
3. In winter months, when the conservatory has cooled down a little, consider growing spring bulbs such as narcissi and hyacinths. Some hyacinths are wonderfully scented so you’d be killling two birds with one stone.
4. If you have room for just one plant, what about a small peach tree? Grow it in a pot and then, in the summer, you can move it out onto the patio.
5. As the weather cools bring patio plants in and they will continue to flower.

More next time.

Considering that we British are hailed as being a nation of gardeners, its extraordinary that we seem to have forgotten the original reason for building a conservatory - to grow exotic plants.  Nowadays, we tend to buy conservatories to provide an extra room so if you intend to keep plants in your conservatory, you need to let the supplier know.

The first thing that must be considered is ventilation.  Conservatories can get hot; very hot.  The best advice is to have ventilation vents in the apex of your conservatory, however, leaving the connecting door between the conservatory and the house open during the summertime will allow for air circulation.  If you choose to do this, ensure that your conservatory door is securely locked.

The ideal temperature for a plant-conservatory is a winter minimum of between  7C and 10C, so slightly cooler than for a conservatory used as an extra room.

Temperatures in this range will allow you to overwinter summer garden plants, such as pelargonium, and grow flowering winter plants - cyclamen and azalea spring to mind.  A conservatory is far more stylish than a window sill!

Ensure that your conservatory plants receive enough water by checking them daily; if the top soil feels dry, water the plant. And remember that just wetting the surface is not good enough, the soil should be moist right down to the bottom of the pot.

In the spring and summer months, your conservatory plants should be fed weekly, reducing to once or twice a month in the winter months.  Make sure that you use the correct feed too - for instance, citrus trees do best if they are given a specific fruit and citrus food.

As winter comes to an end, check all your plants to see if they need repotting - which is best done in spring or summer.  And if your plants are taking over or are not growing straight - prune them!  The best time to prune is after flowering or in later winter/early spring.

Finally - think about pests.  Winter fungal diseases can be a major problem in cool conservatories but can be kept at bay by using a small dehumidifying unit.

Next time, we’ll take a look at specific conservatory plants and how to get the best out of them.