Collection: Cheap greenhouse

What a Cheap Greenhouse Gets You

A cheap greenhouse offers shelter from wind, rain and frost at a lower outlay than a permanent glazed house. The saving comes from two places: a lighter frame, and a PVC or polycarbonate cover instead of glass. Both are real trade offs rather than marketing distinctions, and it helps to know what you are trading.

What you get is a working growing space for a fraction of the cost. Seed can be started earlier, tender plants have somewhere to shelter, and the season extends at both ends. For a first year of growing, that is most of the benefit of a full greenhouse.

Where the Money Is Saved

• Frames use thinner sections or tubular steel rather than heavy extruded aluminium.
• Covers are reinforced PVC or PE rather than glass, and are consumable rather than permanent.
• Fittings such as automatic vents, guttering and door furniture are usually omitted.

None of these makes a budget frame unusable. They do mean it is built for seasonal rather than decade long service, and expecting otherwise is where disappointment comes from.

Who It Suits

A budget greenhouse makes sense in three situations. If you are growing under cover for the first time and do not yet know how much space you will use. If you rent, and a permanent structure is not an option. And if you need extra capacity for a single busy season rather than year round.

It is less suited to overwintering tender plants, since light covers insulate poorly, or to exposed sites where the frame will take a beating. In those cases a rigid small greenhouse will serve better even at higher cost.

Getting More From a Budget Frame

The two failures that end a cheap greenhouse early are wind and heat, and both are avoidable.

For wind, anchor it properly. A light frame relies almost entirely on ground fixings, and pegs supplied in the box are usually a minimum rather than a recommendation. Our anchor kits suit soil, gravel and paving.

For heat, open it. A small enclosed volume under plastic heats extremely quickly on a bright day, and a closed frame in April will cook seedlings by mid morning. Roll the front up each day, or fit shade netting over the top if you cannot be there.

Making It Last

The cover wears out before the frame does. Check whether a replacement is available for the model before you buy, because a new cover costs a fraction of a new unit and doubles the useful life.

Storing the cover indoors over winter, rather than leaving it up through storms it was not built for, makes more difference than anything else. Frames can then be reused season after season, and many growers keep a budget frame for hardening off long after moving up to a permanent glazed house.