If I’ve seemed a bit absent last week, well, I was. The sun started popping out a bit here in Western Washington and I was no match for it. I figure as a bit of penance, I’d give you some extra gardening posts over the next week. (I hope that will work!)
So I’d like to welcome you to my new happy place in the garden.
I’ve been wanting a greenhouse for awhile, but I was overwhelmed by the potential cost involved and/or the work to set it up. My husband and I have initially been looking at building one ourselves by re-purposing old windows à la Pinterest, but when it came down to it, I think we realized it was more than we honestly wanted to deal with.
Last week, I spotted the above simple portable greenhouse for about $120 at Watson’s Nursery in Puyallup and thought it would be perfect. A great opportunity to test the waters with greenhouse gardening before making a major investment. I thought I’d share my adventure with you here because it turns out Fred Meyer is putting a strikingly similar one on sale for $99 starting tomorrow (3/10) you may want to consider:
I also noticed this portable greenhouse that’s $84.99 + $25 shipping on Amazon right now (so $109.99 total). It looks very similar and has an average 4-star rating after 12 reviews:
(Amazon also has a very nice selection of additional portable greenhouses in case you’d like to compare prices, read reviews, see what’s out there, etc.)
I surprisingly spent a very small amount of money beyond the $120 for the greenhouse itself, and I thought I’d share with you what I did.
First, I wanted to really secure down the shelves. They are….well, what you might expect of a $100 greenhouse. I had these simple cable ties on hand I’d purchased previously from Fred Meyer. I also noticed you can buy a big bag of them for $2 at Harbor Freight. This made a huge difference and took all of a few minutes! No wiggling around!
The other thing you’ll want to do is stake your greenhouse down. While it might seem secure, reader Marti warned me on Facebook the other day she had had hers blow down before in a windstorm. SAD. Don’t want that. I just used some really, really long screws I found out in the garage with some rope. I tacked down about 8 of them and then added a large brick on top of the screws as well. I’m sure you could use tent stakes or other stuff you have on hand. I will say the stakes that came with it did not seem secure enough.
Now the fun part! Filling up my greenhouse. Here’s what I have so far. Please keep in mind I’m a total novice. (So please don’t head out to the nursery or hardware store and say “Angela told me I needed this stuff” or anything silly.)
I bought the cheapest thermometer I could find at Lowe’s. I want to say it was about a buck. I then secured it using electrical tape.
Above is a view of one of my shelves. I’ve made room for lighter stuff on top. You’ll note I have seeds there, but only because I was getting ready to do some planting. Remember to store your seeds in cool, dark, and dry conditions! I also have some gardening tools, gloves, and at the bottom – a watering can and potting soil ready. We got in two yards of Tagro Potting Mix on Thursday, and would you believe that was all I had left over after refreshing my containers and filling in a planter?
I was also shocked how many pots and containers I had just laying around the deck, garage, and garden from years past! I bought the large tray seedling planter you see at top for about $5 at Lowe’s, plus a few others that you just set the entire thing into the ground, but even so, I didn’t really have to spend much money on pots. The cilantro plant I dug up from my garden (yes, it was still growing in there) to make way for some tomatoes.
We’ve had this little stool just sitting in the garage FOREVER. How sweet and perfect is it here in the greenhouse?! I think so often we run out and buy new stuff without considering what we may already have that could do the trick!
The longer I have my garden, the more importance I’ve placed on seating. I adore having a cup of coffee in the morning out in my garden (OK, maybe on a sunny day!), or a place to read. I’m thinking I’ll be spending a lot of time in this greenhouse. You can zip yourself in there and it’s like magic – no one knows where you are! Mommy’s time out space!
Here’s a view of my raspberry bushes from the greenhouse:
Lovely!
So what will I be doing in this greenhouse? Here are a few ideas…
- Start some of my garden plants early. I’m hoping to particularly focus on jump starting my herb plantings. To my surprise, I way underplanted/under-preserved some herbs for my kitchen. I need a whole mess of parsley this year!
- Keep some things growing in there I want to control. I may experiment with growing varieties in there that I’ve struggled with out in my garden. For instance, slugs ravaged my strawberries last year and my spinach always bolts out in direct sunlight. I may try growing these in the greenhouse and compare results.
- Propagate plants. I’ve lately taken an interest in exploring plant propagation and I may use the greenhouse to try my hand at producing more plants.
- Extend the season. I hope to start plants for my fall/winter garden in the greenhouse as well as attempt to grow some things out there year round. Stay tuned.
- Grow bananas and avocados. I adore bananas and they can get really expensive…. nah, just kidding. I should be clear that this is a very very simple greenhouse. There is no heater or fan, so I’ll be holding off on the tropical and more temperamental varieties just yet. It’s also quite small, so I’m going to use this as an opportunity to learn all I can.
Oh and the kids? They totally approve.
I would really appreciate hearing from you! If you have a greenhouse, what tips/ideas can you share? Does anyone have experience with growing in a greenhouse like this one? If you are thinking of gardening or getting a greenhouse yourself, are there any questions I might answer for you?
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
We’re working on our second plastic greenhouse. The first was similar to yours, but smaller, about 18″ deep. It definitely was prone to being blown over. Our current one is a pop up version with tent stakes that tie to the body fairly high up much like a tent. This is a lot more stable.
For all of these you need to monitor the temperature.
These green houses all get cold at night. Pretty much no insulation there. We made a bubble wrap enclosure for our first one that helped a bit. With the second we are using seed starter heating pads after trying a small barn heater. The heating pads seem to be the best option so far.
But heat is also a problem. While they will be moderately warm when it is overcast, when the sun comes out, look out. Temperatures rise dramatically and can kill seedlings. Be sure to ventilate when the sun is out.
Very good points, Jay, and something I’ve been wondering about – temperature. So seeds need heat to germinate, and then light to grow…. I noticed one year I had real luck germinating seeds in my laundry room. Do you think it would be worth it to start them there – and then move them out to the greenhouse once they’ve emerged?
The bubble wrap is a great idea. I also wonder about throwing a tarp over it for shade if we hit a real hot spell. Thoughts?
Generally hot spells here generally aren’t hot enough to damage plants. It’s the sunlight through the green house when it is sealed up that does damage, much like your car in the sun, it can get over 100 during the day. Ventilation takes care of that pretty well. Screening with a tarp could do the same, but it cuts out light. The pop up we have as a screen that is permanently on, but it is just a screen with holes, and the green house still gets quite hot with full sun. Just remember to open it up when it is in full sun, or if you have to leave it unattended during the day. Closing it up at night doesn’t seem to help much in keeping the cold out, so if you need to leave for a few days you should probably vent it. Hopefully we are getting past the night time frost.
If you have an area that works well for starting seeds, buy all means use it. It will be easier than trying to regulate the green house. You can move the seedlings out to the green house when it’s time to start toughing them up.
Really appreciate your advice Jay! You caused me to rethink some things. Thank you!
You may want to invest in a remote thermometer as well. They have been available for under $30 dollars, They usually record minimum and maximum temperatures, either over 24 hours or since resetting. They can tell you how your green house is behaving when you don’t go out to check the thermometer inside every few hours during the day and while you are sleeping. Understanding the highs and lows of the green house can help you use it to your best advantage.
Thank you!
Have you used Tagro before? I would love to hear what you think of it. How much of it do you mix with your soil? I’ve heard fabulous things about Tagro. The smell is a killer but the outcome is so worth it, I’ve heard
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I adore it. When we first put in our garden 4 years ago we did 1/2 Tagro + 1/2 topsoil and mixed it in. My first year’s garden was SPECTACULAR. Pretty much everything grew and in crazy high yields, too.
This year I bought the Tagro Potting Soil as opposed to the straight Tagro compost. I was told that with the potting soil you can plant straight away – no mixing required. I also noticed that the smell was a LOT less obtrusive with the potting soil – not much worse than any other dirt or compost you’d buy.
I paid $75 for two yards delivered ($30/yard + $15 delivery fee) and was VERY happy with that price! I have also picked up the Tagro compost for free before:
You might be interested to read my post on visiting the Tagro place and getting my free Tagro: http://thecouponproject.com/2012/10/how-to-grow-garlic-and-when.html
Thank you so much for explaining this. We might do the potting mix next time as well. The straight compost was a bit much. Looking forward to a great year of gardening.
What is Tagro? Where does one buy it and how much? Thx.
Never mind. Went back up, found and clicked on the link. Too far to go from PDX.
Bummer! If I were you, I’d call the Portland Utilities Department and mention Tagro and ask if they have a similar program. I think it would be worth making a phone call or two! Good luck!
Good idea!
Your greenhouse is awesome! I would love to have one. With the snow we get in Utah, I’m wondering if I could leave it up, or would Ihave to take it down and set it back up every year? Thanks for sharing!
Hmmm If you get heavy snow, I’d probably be inclined to take it down and move it. I’m not sure how much it can withstand.
I just bought the same green house about two weeks ago from big lots with my 20% off coupon, we put in 4′ plant light that we got from home depot for less then $30 since our green house is in an all shade area. My biggest concern is heating at night time since we have been in the low 20′s the last couple days and I’m getting ready to plant. I don’t have any good ideas except to put a space heater in…but I think that would be like heating the outside
need a much better idea.
Wow this post and the comments are so informative!! : No garden or greenhouse, but impressively tempted after reading the post/comments!!
You can always start small and see how it goes too! Maybe start with a buckets and containers on the patio or deck. Start small and go from there! You can do it!
I recently discovered the blog: onehundreddollarsamonth.com
She too lives in WA. I’ll bet you can find some great tips for growing in a similar climate. Mavis is SUPER ambitious and hilarious to boot!
Happy gardening!
Yup, I am familiar with her blog.
For battling garden slugs, we bury a few half full beer cans in the perimeter of the garden boxes (or planters). The slugs go for the beer instead of the plants, get drunk, and can not get out. While it’s not very slug friendly, at least the littly guys get a bit tipsy before they go.
We battled with slug last year and lost all of our pumpkin plants but we did use beer the next day and I felt a little better, I’m hoping to keep the slugs away this year.
Slugs are just the worst!! Hate ‘em! I found an organic slug killer, but I find with all the wet weather we have this early time of the year, you have to reapply it often!
I am so inspired!! Thank you!