considering a FarmTek Premium Solar Star GH

Hi all,

I live in zone 5 (NY state) and would like a greenhouse to raise some tropical fruit trees, along with some herbs and veggies. I'm looking at the FarmTek Premium Solar Star 18wx12hx32L. That seems big, but I think when you start with the fruiting trees it can fill up pretty fast.

Anyone have experience with this brand/model?

Also I'm not sure yet what kind of foundation is needed. I would like to dig down a couple feet and build a foundation with pressure treated 6x6 lumber with insulation on the outside. Below a couple of feet I hit ground water. The newer kind of ACQ pressure treated wood doesn't contain arsenic and probably would be fine with food crops, but I'm not totally resolved on that yet.

zone 5 Indiana here. I have two farmtek greenhouses, both solar stars and I love them.
One's 20x20, one 26x36 and both of them are too small. Soon we're going to expand the 26x36 up to 96' long.

You don't need any foundation for them at all. You drive ground stakes in the ground, hook baseboards to them and then install the rest of the structure. You use good augers to secure them into the ground too. I use mine commercially with benches to grow plants in containers for sale, but many use them to plant their plants directly in the ground as it seems you're wanting to do.
The instructions are very comprehensive and easy to follow. Mine arrived in good shape, except there was one damaged polycarb panel on the larger one, and they replaced it with no problems. I think now you can even look at the instructions for installation online before you buy the greenhouse so you know what you're getting into.

18x32 will get small for you fast too! but you can expand them later on......

I'd probably avoid having pressure treated wood in direct contact with soil that you're growing food in--even though it doesn't have arsenic in it anymore it's still not anything you'd want to be eating if you can avoid it. If you are planning to build beds in the GH and want to use wood to frame them, either look for a naturally rot-resistant wood like redwood or cedar, or if you have to use pressure treated you could put a liner between the wood and the soil to prevent any chemicals from leaching into the soil.