what are your Pros & Cons of greenhouse growing?

socalgardengal · August 25, 2013

I'm debating buying a greenhouse and have no clue what the advantages and disadvantages are. Could you please tell me your experience with them. Thanks

LDx4 · August 25, 2013

It depends on what you want to use the greenhouse for. I started out with a 10x12 greenhouse (you can see it in my avatar picture off to the right). It is too warm in SoCal to use it much in the summer. We ended up taking many of the panels off in May because even with the mounted fan going, it still got too hot. In the winter, the nights still got too cold for tomatoes and when we tried heating it for a month, the SDG&E bill went up $200

in just a few weeks. So it didn't turn out to be the magic solution to growing through the winter that I had hoped it would be. We've converted it to a screened-in house completely now, which keeps the larger pests (rats and raccoons) away from the tomatoes.

What kind of greenhouse are you thinking of getting?

Lyn

socalgardengal · August 25, 2013

Thanks Lyn. I have no clue what kind I wanted. I was at Biglots a couple weeks ago and saw some cheesy cheap ones with plastic roll up sides but it looked to flimsy. I want to use it for tomatoes in the beginning of the year since it's so cold here til July and thought the extra heat would help.

JoAnne · August 25, 2013

My DH built a greenhouse for the tomatoes 6 yrs ago as we have very cool, foggy nights. (Unfortunately it is not quite tall enough, but we manage.) We use a small heater and dehumidifier at night and fans during the day, so yes, the tomatoes get to be expensive.

One has to be very careful not to track small pests into the greenhouse as whiteflies or spider mites really thrive in that environment. However, we get beautiful tomatoes in large quantities, whereas the outside plants struggle every year.

LDx4 · August 25, 2013

Harbor Freight has two sizes (small, around $250 and large, around $600). We bought the larger one. You can get them even cheaper when HF has a big sale. They're not the best made greenhouse, but for our climate they work just fine, since we don't have the wind or weather that other parts of the country get. The extra heat would definitely help you during the day time (and probably get too hot), but you'd still have the problem of cooler nights. And JoAnne is right - whiteflies, spider mites, fungus gnats are all problems in the greenhouse.

Lyn

socalgardengal · August 25, 2013

Thank you ladies! I am having a bad time right now with white flies on my pepper plants UGH!! I totally forgot about Harbor Freight. It's always windy at my house. So I should check if there's a way to anchor it down somehow. Is bigger always better?

beeman · August 25, 2013

Siting and size are important. I built one some years ago, now the neighbours trees are grown and it's in shade most of the morning, so stuff is leggy. Not good.
The new one is in full sun all day, much better.
Twin wall or even 3 wall will help with the heating bills. A small propane heater will help, run just above frost levels at night, daylight heating is normally enough to get a reasonable start on the season.
If you use a pressure treated wooden foundation, then a series of screws around the perimeter would suffice. I drilled holes and planted 2 foot Rbar on all 4 sides, this will never move.
Bigger is not always better, heating costs dramatically increase, but then you can grow more stuff!!!!

b54red · August 25, 2013

Mine is way too small and attached to my house. The one advantage is it is small enough that a very small cheap air conditioner keeps it cool enough to use even in the very hot weather. I have not found a cheap way to heat it in the winter months when it is cloudy and cold. I think that as far as growing tomatoes in cooler weather in a greenhouse the larger you can go the better. I grew a couple a few years ago and got some good tomatoes off of them but they took over the inside of the greenhouse so I could barely get inside. Besides aphids, whiteflies and such you have to watch out for mice getting in the greenhouse. They just love those little two or three day old seedlings.

Bill

Cole_Robbie · August 26, 2013

Don't bother with the plastic-covered shelf model. Everyone hates it and they fall apart in the first strong wind.

Aesthetics are what is expensive. You can spend $10,000 on a cedar and glass structure that is not very big, but looks pretty. Or you can spend $1,000 and build something larger, but it will not look nearly as nice.

August 25, 2013	#1
socalgardengal Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: San Diego,Ca Posts: 462	what are your Pros & Cons of greenhouse growing? I'm debating buying a greenhouse and have no clue what the advantages and disadvantages are. Could you please tell me your experience with them. Thanks

August 25, 2013	#7
beeman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 692	Siting and size are important. I built one some years ago, now the neighbours trees are grown and it's in shade most of the morning, so stuff is leggy. Not good. The new one is in full sun all day, much better. Twin wall or even 3 wall will help with the heating bills. A small propane heater will help, run just above frost levels at night, daylight heating is normally enough to get a reasonable start on the season. If you use a pressure treated wooden foundation, then a series of screws around the perimeter would suffice. I drilled holes and planted 2 foot Rbar on all 4 sides, this will never move. Bigger is not always better, heating costs dramatically increase, but then you can grow more stuff!!!! Last edited by beeman; August 25, 2013 at 05:51 PM. Reason: Addition

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August 25, 2013	#2
LDx4 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: San Diego Posts: 321	It depends on what you want to use the greenhouse for. I started out with a 10x12 greenhouse (you can see it in my avatar picture off to the right). It is too warm in SoCal to use it much in the summer. We ended up taking many of the panels off in May because even with the mounted fan going, it still got too hot. In the winter, the nights still got too cold for tomatoes and when we tried heating it for a month, the SDG&E bill went up $200 in just a few weeks. So it didn't turn out to be the magic solution to growing through the winter that I had hoped it would be. We've converted it to a screened-in house completely now, which keeps the larger pests (rats and raccoons) away from the tomatoes. What kind of greenhouse are you thinking of getting? Lyn

August 25, 2013	#4
JoAnne Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 69	My DH built a greenhouse for the tomatoes 6 yrs ago as we have very cool, foggy nights. (Unfortunately it is not quite tall enough, but we manage.) We use a small heater and dehumidifier at night and fans during the day, so yes, the tomatoes get to be expensive. One has to be very careful not to track small pests into the greenhouse as whiteflies or spider mites really thrive in that environment. However, we get beautiful tomatoes in large quantities, whereas the outside plants struggle every year.

August 25, 2013	#8
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Mine is way too small and attached to my house. The one advantage is it is small enough that a very small cheap air conditioner keeps it cool enough to use even in the very hot weather. I have not found a cheap way to heat it in the winter months when it is cloudy and cold. I think that as far as growing tomatoes in cooler weather in a greenhouse the larger you can go the better. I grew a couple a few years ago and got some good tomatoes off of them but they took over the inside of the greenhouse so I could barely get inside. Besides aphids, whiteflies and such you have to watch out for mice getting in the greenhouse. They just love those little two or three day old seedlings. Bill

August 26, 2013	#9
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Don't bother with the plastic-covered shelf model. Everyone hates it and they fall apart in the first strong wind. Aesthetics are what is expensive. You can spend $10,000 on a cedar and glass structure that is not very big, but looks pretty. Or you can spend $1,000 and build something larger, but it will not look nearly as nice.