Greenhouse Reviews - Learn About The Various Types Of Greenhouses Big And Small And Your Options

by Jerrico_Usher

Discover your choices in finding and/or building your own greenhouse

Wether you're a home hobbyist or a professional grower of vegetables, herbs, or any other type of "garden variety" plants and vegetables, a greenhouse can be a great investment. Greenhouses give you extraordinary control over the environment surrounding your plants and give you the best chance of success. The beauty of a greenhouse is that no matter where you live, what time of year it is, or what the outside weather is like, the greenhouse can be used to grow anything, even off season vegetables, for example.

There are indoor and outdoor, small and large (and medium) sized models, models you build yourself and others that come pre-built (some minor assembly required to transport them however). We will explore the many kinds of greenhouses available and what they are used for, how they can benefit you to help you figure out what you need.

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Greenhouse Review

Introduction

Making a decision to build a greenhouse takes a lot of planning and design work before the building is even started. Knowing what you will use the greenhouse for and what those plants or flowers will need to thrive is essential in the planning stages. Some resources you will need are:

  • Shade
  • Watering Systems
  • Food Systems
  • Ventilation

You will find greenhouse plans, instruction books, and design books, as well as kits that make the process much easier.

A Great Book for starting out is "How To Build Your Own Greenhouse" by Roger Marshall (see to the right of this paragraph). This is an excellent book on learning about Greenhouse Designs and everything you need to know about building one. It's about $16.00 and is well worth the money.

Another great book is written by Ortho Books called "Greenhouses" that runs about $8.00. This book gives you detailed information on 5 different greenhouse designs as well as step-by-step instruction on creating your own design. You'll find there are also many pre-made Greenhouse Designs and plans that can be used if you don't feel you have the creativity or knowledge to design your own.

These free or at low cost designs include plans for attached buildings, even-span buildings, window mounted greenhouses, and freestanding buildings with many designs. Greenhouse plans and kits are available in several different categories. These categories include kits by price, model, frame type, covering type, and top reviewed or favorite designs among consumer consensus.

There are sites that review these pre-made greenhouses, greenhouse kits, and the like. In other articles (and below) I explore these individual pre-fabricated greenhouses, greenhouse plans (how to find them) and more.

There are a lot of greenhouse resources, including infrastructure, irrigation, heating and cooling, windows, film, or plastic see through coverings that make up a big part of the greenhouse.  Let's talk about the various pre-fabricated greenhouses available next.

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Greenhouse Overview

Gardeners can extend their growing season by providing artificially for their plants, what nature does naturally. You can coax seeds to germinate sooner and produce seedlings earlier by starting the seeds indoors. They can also produce even more plants over longer periods with a backyard greenhouse.

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Off-Season Growing

A greenhouse gives the gardener the ability to give their plants enough heat and light during times of the year when there may be very little heat outdoors and more overcast than sunny days.

On the other side there is the times when the weather unusually gets too cold putting your plants in danger- a greenhouse is the perfect solution and a year round control you can utilize very easily.

Available Types, Brands, And More

Greenhouses need not be expensive to build, nor take up a great deal of space in the yard or garden. The types and varieties of plants you chose to grow is dependent on your needs and interests.

Greenhouses can be structured to suit many different types of plants. Some people choose to use their greenhouses only for seed germination and the initial growth of their plants. This protects the fragile seedlings from the weather and gives you more options in the "off season".

There are many backyard greenhouses that can be relatively simple in terms of design and accessories. In those instances simple shelving should be all the internal structure you need. To get the best from your seeds you should have a way to warm the soil, either with individual pads under the containers or with a heater that will warm the overall space.

These gardeners will need lighting that can be placed a few inches above the plants as they grow. Gardeners who want to use their greenhouses more extensively and for longer stretches throughout the year may want to consider starting with a sturdy aluminum frame with polycarbonate panels.

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Greenhouse types available include:

  • Easy Grow
  • Hydroponic
  • Mini Greenhouses
  • Starter and Indoor Types.

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Top name pre-built personal, professional, and commercial greenhouses Include:

  • Rion Professional
  • Juliana Premium
  • Rion Prestige
  • Riga Onion
  • Aluminum Greenhouse
  • Commercial
  • Polycarbonate Greenhouses
  • Walk in greenhouses

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What Materials Are Best For Your Greenhouse?

It Depends On Your Goal And How Long You Plan To Use It

Aluminum makes an excellent frame material because it is light weight and manufactures can shape backyard greenhouses into many designs with it. Aluminum tends to be more expensive than plastic or wood frames; however, it is easy to maintain and lasts for a long time. Polycarbonate panels are excellent for transmitting light because they are almost transparent. (see above for an example of an aluminum framed polycarbonate paneled greenhouse.

Polycarbonate is virtually unbreakable and can withstand impacts, such as tricycles and errant basketballs, that occur often to backyard structures. 

Be Careful To Obey Zoning/Permit Laws When Choosing A Large Structure

Homeowners should consult with local zoning authorities before investing in large or expensive structures. Some municipalities and even homeowner associations have specific guidelines for acceptable structures.

Sometimes it is only a matter of paying a fee for a permit to build a backyard greenhouse. The rewards of a greenhouse are that you get a dedicated space to grow plants. The plants are often healthier and more abundant, less likely to die than in harsh weather.

Greenhouses come in commercial and private models priced relatively. Generally the bigger name brand models are more expensive and you can find off brand greenhouses as well to save money.

I hope this was helpful in your search and awareness of your options. There will be a individual reviews on the various types mentioned here (more focused review on the types and brands over several articles). When these are all published you will see the link to each one below.

Thank you for reading, bookmark this page and come back to see the other pages!

  • Rion Professional
  • Juliana Premium
  • Rion Prestige
  • Riga Onion
  • Aluminum Greenhouse
  • Commercial
  • Polycarbonate Greenhouses
  • Walk in greenhouses

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  • Easy Grow
  • Hydroponic
  • Mini Greenhouses
  • Starter and Indoor Types.
  • Professional/Commercial Greenhouses
  • Greenhouse Plans

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Updated: 07/15/2012, Jerrico_Usher
 
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sheilamarie on 02/10/2015

I hope to put up some kind of greenhouse this year to start my seeds in. Thanks for doing this research.

Jerrico_Usher on 07/17/2012

thanks Brenda, what's funny is this started out as one 350 word article so I pulled another with it then started updating the content and reviews, I have another 8 articles covering each of the types of greenhouses coming (professional, name brands, build it yourself plans, etc...)... Appreciate your comment!

BrendaReeves on 07/17/2012

Very thorough job on this article. I like the Hydrofarm germination station.

Jerrico_Usher on 07/15/2012

Yea those are cool, we're using a couple to grow our own herbs if we can keep the cats away from them :)

dustytoes on 07/14/2012

I really like that mini greenhouse. I need something just like that to grow my veggies during the month of May when frosts can still happen and it's too soon to plant.

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