Have you bought a prefabricated green house?

[Nahum]

I am curious if anyone has recently bought a small, prefabricated green house. Did it work well or not? Any tips on buying? Thank you.

 

[Rzashida]

I bought a pop up greenhouse that worked well for me for a bought 4 year. It was later damaged because of heavy snow. I enjoyed it, because it stayed warm and moist during summer and spring. I had a issue with pillbugs/Rollie poleys eating my young sprouts. To protect my sprouts I had to put the greenhouse on top of a hard surface. (Out of the dirt) I would suggest a pop up greenhouse to a person on a budget or a beginner gardener.

 

[loopyloo]

My father just bought a kit that he put together in his back yard. It is the same as one he could have built himself but it was nice to have everything precut and organized. It was $239 for a 6x10. It has some things that we would like to change on it. We added a solar fan so that when it got super hot it would send air out.

 

[Nahum]

Thank you both for the details. I hadn't seen a pop-up green house before, but they look interesting. The precut kit at $239 is not bad.

 

[Trace]

I bought a tiny one to start seeds in several years ago. And by tiny, I mean REALLY tiny. It is about the size of a bookcase, and has three wire shelves that are adjustable. The cover is an inexpensive plastic zip up affair that comes to the bottom of the lowest shelf, so it allows air circulation even when zipped closed. The bonus was it is on wheels. I was able to start my whole garden in it much earlier than I would have been otherwise, and roll it around on the porch a couple of times a day to keep up with the sun. The ones I found on Amazon that are similar are only about $40-$50, but I think I paid less than that for mine, and it works great, and rolls easily into the basement for off season storage. I suppose if you needed to, you could even fold it flat for storage.

I also have used the seed starter terrarium ones that are just a tray with places for peat tablets and a clear plastic cover. They're great for what they do, but once your sprouts get a little growth, that's about all the usefulness you get from them. Once I got the little greenhouse, I never bothered with the starter trays again...I just start my seeds in small peat or recycled paper pots in the greenhouse, then transfer to the garden when they're large enough.

 

[loopyloo]

We start our seeds in the starter terrariums and then plant in pots when they get to big for them. It takes over our kitchen table and we eat surrounded by plants. Id love a small bookcase sized greenhouse to take the pressure off our table. Can you leave it out overnight? Does it stand up to freezing temps?

 

[Trace]

We start our seeds in the starter terrariums and then plant in pots when they get to big for them. It takes over our kitchen table and we eat surrounded by plants. Id love a small bookcase sized greenhouse to take the pressure off our table. Can you leave it out overnight? Does it stand up to freezing temps?

Yes, you absolutely can leave it out. I left mine on the porch from February on. On nights when it was expected to be below freezing, I just rolled it up against the house where it would be sheltered and have residual warmth from the house. I sprouted the seeds in the kitchen, then once they came up and I thinned them to the number I wanted to keep, I moved them into the greenhouse, so my table and windowsills were only covered for a couple of weeks at most.

I don't think I'd chance it lower than 25 F, though. Eventually the plastic cover might get brittle, but it hasn't been a problem for me so far.

 

[Gina145]

I had one of those greenhouses with wire shelves and a zip up plastic cover which was big enough for me to walk into it. Our climate is relatively mid, so temperatures don't go much below the 25 F mark, and they only go that low quite rarely. The greenhouse worked fine over the course of the winter, but as Trace says the plastic cover does get brittle. In my case, the first hail storm of the summer ripped it to shreds. I kept my plants in the remains of the greenhouse over the summer and added more plastic for the next winter. Once again everything was fine until summer came around again, and once more the plastic fell apart.

At that stage I decided to give up on the cover and bought a modular greenhouse kit made of polycarbonate, but kept the wire stands. The polycarbonate greenhouse is really good, but after a further year the wire stands were so badly rusted that I had to replace those as well.

 

[headfullofbees]

I have a twin-wall polycarbonate-glazed 8x6 in my garden, which I put together myself, and it's great.
A word of advice, get someone to help you, as you'll cut the time and frustration to a quarter.

 

[LindaKay]

I haven't bought one, but I definitely would. It seems like it would save a lot of time and potentially some money as well.

 

[lukeout007]

I bought a 4x6 I believe. I posted a pic and a bit about it in this thread https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/greenhouses.149/

Also you can go to my blog below and the link to the actual greenhouse on amazon (which is where I bought it) is on the right.

I really like it so far. I bought it right in the middle of summer so I haven't had a ton of need yet. But the size is fantastic and it definitely holds heat/moisture.

 

[Nahum]

Thanks for the details, Lukeout007. I will check that one out as the cost is certainly reasonable.

Maybe let us know how it holds up over time.

 

[Gina145]

Thanks for the details, Lukeout007. I will check that one out as the cost is certainly reasonable.

Maybe let us know how it holds up over time.

I hate to put a negative spin on this, but the one I mentioned higher up the page was one of that kind. I won't repeat everything I said earlier, but the plastic gets brittle quite quickly and after a while the stands start to rust as well.