Watch This Before Buying a Greenhouse

For anyone who gets tempered glass, be extremely cautious about weed whacking around it. Almost every broken tempered glass pane that comes through my shop is because of a weed whacked launching a pebble.

Chris needs to do an audiobook. She has a perfect narrator voice.

I love this style of video! Asking experts that chose different solutions their reasons for their choices makes this so much more informative than a typical pros/cons video.

Just wanted to say as a northern CO gardener, I am loving the zone 5/cold winter growing content! Please keep it coming!

I'm glad you added the gal from Colorado! I'm in New England, but much of the things she deals with are an issue here as well. It's interesting to have different folks chime in, as everyone does things slightly differently.

I have the HARBOR FREIGHT greenhouse. It has added SO MUCH to the quality of my gardening life. I wish you the BEST moving forward.

I installed the Costco greenhouse made by Yardistry in November, and it's got the poly carbonate roof and cedar wood walls. It has a great automatic vent as well which is such a blessing in my warmer zone 9B Northern California garden. I have lots of seedlings growing well, and I also protected my Dragon fruit and Curry leaf plants in it over winter. I amd really enjoying this Greenhouse

There really should be an extensive series of videos on the the foundation: settings a string line, shooting grade, and making it structurally sound. I say this as a carpenter with experience in concrete footings and I really hope everyone in this video understands the points I made.

I had no idea there was so much to consider about greenhouses! Thank you guys so much - this video has definitely saved me from several serious mistakes I was about to make!

Can’t wait for your greenhouse videos. We are building one this fall. I will definitely use Chris’s tarp idea for keeping the space clean.

Thank you for a really thorough in-depth explanation of the pros and cons of different types of greenhouses. It it really neat that you have two cold climate gardeners with two different types. Not everyone lives in zone 9+ :)

Thank you for this video! While my greenhouse fantasies are still years away... I've been day dreaming and planning

Much as I appreciate you, Mr Epic, these two ladies stole the show! Production value is top notch and the point-counterpoint delivery was PERFECT. I have oft wondered “what is the value of a greenhouse?” I can already store seed-starting materials and raise seedlings on shelves under light (I mean, what else is a dining room good for? 🤣). I have searched YouTube, and even Pinterest (👎), for ideas on how to set up a greenhouse that might work for me. THIS video is the best collection of information I’ve seen. Easily one of your Top Five videos! ❤ Thank you!

I purchased a 10 x 12 greenhouse this past fall. I'm soooo excited to get it up. I have been gardening for about 15 years, so I have a grow room where I start seedlings, but since I started a small flower farm, I really needed more space for seed starting & hardening things off without having to bring trays in and out, in and out, killing my back!

8:00 - those auto-vent devices are genius and almost compulsory for any greenhouse. I cannot recommend them enough. For the floor it does pay to do a proper paved path with bricks or pavers for places you want to walk/stand. These compact greenhouses are small enough it is not a massive expense or too hard to DIY. For areas under potting/seed raising benches or for large pots though, a deep gravel bed is cheap, easy and provides decent drainage. On the other hand, for permanent plants like grape vines or espalier fruit trees, just leaving a soil bed is fine.

Where I live, a greenhouse isn't a good idea because the temps even in winter can get far too high. A shade house is far more common in my local area for that reason - same thing but with shade cloth or a heavily tinted polycarbonate covering. We still call it a greenhouse as it does the same job - help us control temperature and humidity. That doesn't stop companies pushing the idea that people should have a normal greenhouse, people buy them and then not long after they're getting rid of it because it cooked all their plants. The more creative people will strip the glass or clear polycarbonate and replace it with shade cloth or tinted poly. I've also seen greenhouse frames covered in wire purely to keep birds out of what becomes a berry house, or to keep birds in by turning them into a large walk-in bird cage or chicken coop. I've also known one person that spray painted the glass white as a way to reduce the extreme direct sunlight and heat but still let in plenty of light. My point being, if for any reason a greenhouse isn't working out for you, before getting rid of it, investigate other options for what you can use as the covering for it to make it something that will work better for you.

Oh my heart SOARED watching this… gonna start planning mine 😂

Just the info I needed!! Building my greenhouse this year with double glass pane windows because that's what's available to me. My husband works in construction, so he brings any leftover brand new windows, or old windows they've replaced. Can't wait!! AAAAAHHHH!!! 🙌

Yep. We get hail, too. I'll stick with the greenhouse plastic I can tape back together, if necessary. I use bricks in my tunnel for heat retention, too, and it's a good solid place to put my heater. I had some thick Styrofoam that go in garage door panels, and placed those around the walls... they really helped. Good info, though.

Thank you for this thoroughly detailed Informative presentation. The comparisons really piqued my interest . You both made it look relatively easy!