Top 10 Best Polycarbonate Greenhouses – 2018 Edition

best polycarbonate greenhouses - featured imageBuying the right polycarbonate greenhouse is extremely tough. Especially if you aren’t already the owner of a large nursery, you probably don’t know what kind of features to look for in a greenhouse, nor are you willing to put up with complicated assembly procedures.

In this article, we’ll review ten of the best polycarbonate greenhouses so that you will know how to pick the perfect one for your backyard or garden. By the time you’re done reading through our suggestions, you’ll be ready to take your green thumb to the next level.

Palram HG5508PH Hybrid Hobby Greenhouse, 6′ x 8′, Silver

The Palram HG5508PH Hybrid Hobby Greenhouse, 6′ x 8′, Silver is a greenhouse that borders on unbreakable.

Palram’s tradition of making great greenhouses continues with this self-assembled greenhouse. The spacious interior is well-sealed and will ensure that your plants have the environment that they deserve.

As a bonus, this greenhouse comes with hangars ready to go. You don’t need to worry about purchasing extra hangars or installing other manufacturer’s hangars inside of your greenhouse.

The roof panels of the greenhouse will be more than sufficient for blocking the direct impact of the sun which can make your plants wither. So, your plants will be ready to get the nutrients they need without worrying about overexposure.

Palram Nature Series Mythos Hobby Greenhouse – 6′ x 6′ x 7′, Forest Green

The Palram Nature Series Mythos Hobby Greenhouse – 6′ x 6′ x 7′, Forest Green is a lightweight and simple greenhouse which is perfect for someone who is starting on their nursery adventure.

This greenhouse is made from a lightweight material, which means that it is easy for a person without much muscle to install. At the same time, this greenhouse has cleanly interlocking surfaces to prevent heat loss, so it can be very warm even though it is lightweight.

For people who plan on relocating their nursery on a frequent basis, this greenhouse is hard to beat. The only downside is that the panels on the side are a bit more fragile than they might be in other greenhouses.

Grandio Elite 8×8 Greenhouse Kit – 10mm Twin-Wall Polycarbonate

The Grandio Elite 8×8 Greenhouse Kit – 10mm Twin-Wall Polycarbonate is an easy to deploy and lightweight greenhouse which will fit nicely in a permanent space or a space designed for frequent relocation.

The metal frame of this greenhouse affords it a higher standard of durability than other lightweight greenhouses in the same style. Furthermore, the double doors at the front of the greenhouse are a nice touch, and make emptying or filling the entire unit much more easily.

The interior of the greenhouse is spacious enough for two people, a feature which is usually not the case in polycarbonate greenhouses. If you set this greenhouse up in your backyard, you won’t be disappointed.

Rion EcoGrow 2 Twin Wall Greenhouse, 6′ x 8′

The Rion EcoGrow 2 Twin Wall Greenhouse, 6′ x 8′ is a greenhouse that’s ready for a permanent place in your home nursery.

As far as polycarbonate greenhouses go, this greenhouse is heavy duty. You won’t be able to move it around after you deploy it, and it should be resilient against the weather during the off-season.

The heavy build of this greenhouse makes for a warm and sturdy location for your plants. The roof on the top is a nice touch, and it will help to provide a few temperature and moisture controls for an otherwise impermeable structure.

Palram Bella Hobby Greenhouse, 8′ x 20′, Silver with Twin Wall Glazing

The Palram Bella Hobby Greenhouse, 8′ x 20′, Silver with Twin Wall Glazing is a beast of a polycarbonate greenhouse.

When you plunk this monster down in your backyard, you’ll never need to purchase another greenhouse. The spaciousness and quality of life features in this greenhouse are hard to overstate.

At the front, double doors and twin racks make this greenhouse tendable by two people simultaneously without much trouble. Likewise, multiple windows along the top provide many different moisture and temperature control options.

The fluted roof of the greenhouse is a great addition which helps with moisture re-trapping. As far as home greenhouses go, this greenhouse has the potential to be extremely self-sufficient.

Homewell Mini Walk-In Greenhouse 3 Tiers 6 Shelves, 56″W x 29″D x 77″H

The Homewell Mini Walk-In Greenhouse 3 Tiers 6 Shelves, 56″W x 29″D x 77″H is a compact and super-lightweight home greenhouse which you can easily pack up and move from one side of your home to another in less than twenty minutes.

Portability isn’t always the biggest priority with home greenhouses, but this greenhouse accomplishes it nonetheless. If you live in a mobile home, you could easily bring this greenhouse with you, set it up for a few weeks, then pack it up and move it to another area.

This also makes the greenhouse an ideal starter house for someone who isn’t certain whether they want to grow plants in a greenhouse over the long term. Its lightweight construction isn’t the most durable or the best at maintaining heat, but it’ll work as far as trying out the concept goes.

Palram Nature Series Hybrid Hobby Greenhouse – 6′ x 4′ x 7′, Silver

The Palram Nature Series Hybrid Hobby Greenhouse – 6′ x 4′ x 7′, Silver is a great balance between size and build quality.

This greenhouse is larger than the smallest backyard greenhouses but it isn’t as involved as the more complex units with bigger footprints. As a result, this greenhouse is a happy medium for many people.

You’ll be able to get some good temperature and moisture control using the top window, and you’ll also get enough space for a few different sets of plants. The only real downside of this unit is that the bottom isn’t insulated.

So, this greenhouse will need a bit of extra work if you want to use it for winter or fall growing. If you only intend to use it for spring and summer growing, this is a great little unit which won’t be a hassle to get producing good vegetables.

Green House HC-4202 Walk-in Greenhouse-Indoor Outdoor with 12 Sturdy Shelves-Grow Plants

The Green House HC-4202 Walk-in Greenhouse-Indoor Outdoor with 12 Sturdy Shelves-Grow Plants is a lightweight greenhouse solution which comes with a few extra flairs to keep things interesting.

This greenhouse is notable for its door, which is merely a rolled flap of plastic. As a result, the greenhouse is not as effective at maintaining heat or moisture as others might be. The upside is that this greenhouse includes a handful of racks which you can use to place plants on.

While the advantage of the racks is that you won’t need to purchase any new ones, they may not offset the lack of environmental controls in the greenhouse. So, you should probably refrain from using this greenhouse is arid areas to be safe.

Palram Snap & Grow 8′ Series Hobby Greenhouse – 8 x 8 x 9 Silver

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The Palram Snap & Grow 8′ Series Hobby Greenhouse – 8 x 8 x 9 Silver is a modular and fully-featured greenhouse which you can fit an entire garden’s worth of plants in.

The double-door design and deep back of this greenhouse make for a large capacity despite a relatively small footprint. The vertical space of this greenhouse is also very impressive, meaning that you can potentially have three stories of plants if you have the right racks.

The double doors at the front are a nice touch, as are the two shear-positioned windows on the roof. The windows may be a bit hard for shorter people to reach, but they’re nothing that a little bit of ingenuity can’t address.

 

Giantex Garden Portable Wooden Cold Frame Greenhouse Raised Flower Planter Protection (30.0″X22.4″X42.9″)

The Giantex Garden Portable Wooden Cold Frame Greenhouse Raised Flower Planter Protection (30.0″X22.4″X42.9″) is the smallest of greenhouses, offering enough space for a small handful of plants.

If you don’t want a huge greenhouse, this is the greenhouse for you. With a very small footprint and enough space for four potted plants, this greenhouse is the optimal greenhouse to use as a trial for sunlight or other purposes.

While there’s no moisture or temperature control to speak of, there is a very lightweight frame which you can use to capture moisture coming off of the ground. Likewise, you can capture as much sunlight as you want.

The only disadvantage of this greenhouse is its advantage. The small size makes for a very limited capacity and also may prevent holding enough air to keep temperatures high.

What Makes A Great Polycarbonate Greenhouse?

Great polycarbonate greenhouses have a few features.

First, great greenhouses manage the temperature and moisture content of the air without too much additional intervention. Features which contribute toward effective resource management include windows, door flaps, and ports for regulator units.

Most polycarbonate greenhouses have windows and doors, and the biggest thing to look for is that the windows can be set ajar at a handful of different angles.

For windows that can only be fully open or fully closed, there isn’t much ability to genuinely regulate the moisture content, though you may get lucky and have sufficient outside moisture to replace that which is sublimated from inside.

Should My Greenhouse Wobble In The Wind?

Yes, your greenhouse should wobble when the wind gets heavy. This answer often surprises amateurs because they assume that a wobbly greenhouse is a greenhouse which is going to tip over and spill plants everywhere.

While this might be the case if the greenhouse is wobbling after a very gentle wind, the more your greenhouse can sway with the wind the less likely it is to get topped altogether.

Remember, the wind doesn’t affect every part of your greenhouse equally, it only catches on one or two surfaces at a time. If these surfaces wobble, they won’t be stressed enough at the frame to tear or break away.

If they don’t wobble, they’re liable to fail spontaneously when there’s a strong wind. Polycarbonate greenhouses have a sturdiness that is appropriate for their intended use.

In other words, permanent emplacements should be sturdy, whereas temporary emplacements should be easy to break down without heavy tools and wobble.

Why Should My Greenhouse Be Broken Down For Winter?

Depending on where you live, your greenhouse should be broken down for winter. The snow and cold temperatures can warp the frame of the greenhouse, but, more importantly, your plants may not get enough light to grow anyway.

It’s tough to grow plants in the depth of winter using a backyard greenhouse, and it might be more effort than it’s worth for most amateur florists.

If you’re looking for a challenge, remember that you may need to provide a bit of supplemental heat for your greenhouse to make it through the days when there isn’t much sunlight.

Do I Need To Use The Racks That Come With The Greenhouse?

Good polycarbonate greenhouses do not necessarily have racks included. If they do have racks included, it is a bonus, but it should not be a major factor in your purchasing decision.

Racks are very cheap, and high quality racks are much better than the cheap ones which you may get with a greenhouse. There’s no point in buying a suboptimal greenhouse because you’ll get some mediocre racks too.

Focus on finding a great greenhouse, then buy some great racks to put inside. There aren’t any compatibility concerns regarding racks so long as they can fit through the door.

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