Feedback Please

We have essentially narrowed down our greenhouse kit search to either The Greenhouse Catalog out of Salem, Oregon or Growers Supply from Dyersville, Iowa. Does anyone here have one of these greenhouses, and if so, what is your opinion of them? We don't really want to spend much more than $3,000 for our greenhouse. If anyone has suggestions or ideas, we'd love to hear them!

check out farmtek.com.....how big were you wanting? hobby or commercial?

Yes, the farmtek.com site has the Grower's Supply greenhouses. There is one in their catalog called the Gothic style Solar Star that is 14 x 8'11" x 20'. That seems to be about the size I want. Just want to know if anyone has one and what their experience is.

I just bought and am in the process of installing the gothic 14X16..I am quite pleased with the price,service, quality and ease of installation and clear directions that came.....so far I only have the ground post in and am starting on the frame today.will keep you posted if you are interested.............I am also going to use the 55 gal black water drums for thermal heating and cooling.........they were donated by a friend so no additional expense

Forgot to include that I bought a roll of their tek-foil reflective radiant material . Spent an additional $100 and got enough with tape to cover north side above the curtain and the north half of the top.......drums will line both south and north side and will act as bases for growing benches.

By all means keep me posted on your installation progress, Jackieshar! I really appreciate your input here. Not sure how I will heat my greenhouse, but your plan sounds great. Looking forward to hearing your experiences as you build the greenhouse.

check out the barrels at salvage places, maybe oil and gas.....

I have a greenhouse and propane heater my husband bought from FarmTek. It took a while to set up, but it worked well last winter.

A word of caution. Be careful about reusing barrels. When I was taking classes for my pesticide applicator's license, we were warned about the dangers to ourselves and the environment concerning the reuse of barrels. You can't dispose of the rinse water safely. Even if you don't rinse the barrels before using, metal barrels will rust. The materials contained in the barrel may accelerate the rusting process. Then you will be stuck cleaning up a potentially hazardous mess. Pay particular attention to what the barrels contained. Black or dark green plastic garbage cans should work as well.

Seems we all operate on insufficient information...hadn't thought about metal barrels rusting, or what hazardous material they may have previously contained, but you are correct on both points!

I have pretty well decided to use small, ceramic space heaters in whatever greenhouse I eventually buy. Have gotten two positive notes on the Farm Tek greenhouses now, and I am leaning heavily in that direction. Thank you for your input, Bettydee!

any barrel with a history of hazardous materials should have a haz mat statement glued on it..... it is illegal to dispose of them in an improper manner or to reuse them...............
the best part of mine was that they were clean and free.......the barrels I have are heavy black plastic, did not contain a hazardous material ..and can be totally sealed..... once filled with water for heating they should never have to be emptied...interesting about the trash bags, never thought of that.

Yeah I am really pleased with the farm tek people. I had some questions about the installation today, called my rep at their 800 number and they were soooooooo helpful, could not have been better.......

Betty, how long have you had your GH from farmtek........are you still happy with it.?. any second thoughts? Do u have the one that the side curtains roll up? Are you using the tek-foil for radiant heat.....what's your opinion on that?..ooo I am glad to have someone to ask, I am soooo the novice

My intention is to install screening on the inside in the curtain area so that the insects dont get in when I raise them....not real sure how I am gonna do that yet........any suggestions?......I also plan to trench around the perimeter and put in a wire mesh to a depth of a couple of feet to fend off burrowing animals.....I am way in the country with lots of native critters
Also I am curious about the use of elec in a wet environment,Lettuceman......how will you protect your plugs? I am assuming your ceramic heaters are electric. .....won't they be costly to run? I have a little ceramic heater in my office just to add extra heat to my feet, and it pulls so much elec it kicks off every once in a while...I have a new house and the wiring seems ok everywhere else....it just seems to draw a lot of wattage..but on the plus, it heats really well

I haven't gotten that far in actually deciding what kind of heat to use in whatever greenhouse I wind up getting. I used a neighbor's ancient (built in 1956) greenhouse for two winters, and it was damp and wet all the time. Yet they had electrical outlets all over the place and I did keep the chill off with the space heaters without electrocuting myself! The old structure was so drafty that even with my 1500watt heater, I was only able to keep it above freezing most of the time. And, yes it gets a little spendy after awhile!
The bottom line for heating my new greenhouse is: I just don't know yet!

Jackie, I've had my FarmTek greenhouse for a year now and have been happy with it. I bought the one whose sides roll up. Our weather varies so much that I felt I needed that feature. On warm or hot winter days, I can roll up any of the 4 sides to cool down the greenhouse. I use the greenhouse as a shadehouse during the summer. I decided not to use Tek-foil. I needed the inside of the greenhouse as bright as possible. My citrus trees grow year round. They put out new growth and bloom while in the greenhouse.

My DH put in a cement paver floor this fall. I'm hoping that the pavers will absorb and store some heat during the day and release it at night. I've ordered some bubble wrap insulation, but it hasn't arrived yet. It will be used on the ceiling only. It would be difficult to roll the sides up if they were lined. I have a large Modine Propane heater in there which works pretty well. I have a radio controlled remote temperture and humidity sensor unit in the greenhouse and keep the main unit where I can easily see it.