Do you want to have a portable greenhouse in your backyard without constructing it from scratch? Do you want to grow different plants and vegetables all year round without relying on the growing season? Since you are here, you are a greenhouse gardening enthusiast.
There are around nine million acres of greenhouses worldwide. A greenhouse serves a multi-purpose role by offering a growing space for your plants. This way, it ensures proper light, moisture, temperature, and ventilation.That’s why this article will discuss three types of best greenhouse kits, including glass, portable, and mini greenhouse kits. Not only that, but a buyer’s guide will assist you in buying a suitable home greenhouse.
Selection of the Best Greenhouses
 | Vivosun Mini Walk-In 57"x57"x77" Steal/PE Cover | |
 | Home-Complete Hc-4202 Walk-in 56.3"x56.3"x76.7" Steal/PVC Cover | |
 | Erommy Portable Hexagonal 6.4'x6.4'x7.3' Steal/PE Cover | |
 | Vivosun Large Walk-In 10'x7'x7' Steal/PE Cover | |
 | Erommy High Tunnel Walk-in 26'x10'x7' Steal/PE Cover | |
 | Shelterlogic Growit 12'x20'x8' Stealth/Polyethylene | |
 | Vivosun Portable Clear 94.5"x36"x36" Steal/PVC Cover | |
 | Erommy Small Portable 7.9'x2.6'x2.6' Steal/PVC Cover | |
 | Quictent Portable Cloche Mini 71"x36"x36" Stealth/Polyethylene | |
 | Palram Mythos Hobby 49.6"x72.8"x81.9" Alum./Polycarbonate | |
 | Palram Chalet Orangery 95.25"x143.75"x105.9" Alum./Polycarbonate | |
 | Palram Americana Hybrid 143.75"x143.75"x103.5" Alum./Polycarbonate |
Greenhouse Kit Buyer’s Guide
The first question that comes to your mind is how to buy a greenhouse that suits our requirements. With so many greenhouse kits available in the market, you often find yourself confused. Don’t worry, as this section will discuss the main features you should look for in commercial greenhouse kits before buying.
Types of Greenhouse Kits
It’s essential to understand different types of available greenhouse kits so that you can later compare and evaluate the functionalities accordingly. This way, you can buy a greenhouse that matches your requirements.
- Starter – Serves as a transparent cover or shed for the seeds during the first few months, allowing decent light transmission. Later, you can transfer them to garden beds and other outdoor areas.
- Grower – Offers significant growing space for multiple seedlings, which you can plant simultaneously. It’s essentially a transparent cover that allows appropriate light inside while maintaining proper ventilation for indoor plants.
- Hot House – This allows you to keep plants inside at a temperature between 65 to 75 degrees, recommended for tropical and exotic plants. A hot greenhouse offers features, including roll-up windows, thick covers, and a heater opening.
Greenhouses Construction Type
You can select different cover materials, depending on your budget. Glass is comparatively more expensive but undoubtedly durable. It’s relatively easy to control the environment under the Glass greenhouse.
- Polyethylene Cover (PE): It’s an ideal cover for both residential and commercial greenhouse kits. The PE panels block harmful UV rays, protecting plants from any damage. However, a pure polyethylene cover wears off between two to five years, while a twin-walled PEC can last up to ten years.
- Polycarbonate Greenhouse (PC): A PC greenhouse is a water-proof, UV-resistant material. The regular Polycarbonate roof and panels can last for more than 15 years, while twin or triple-walled panels have a longer life of more than 20 years.
- PVC Greenhouse: PVC is affordable as Polyethylene and robust as Polycarbonate, lasting for around five years. It exponentially reduces the light to protect the interior, offering an exceptional thermal response.
- Fiberglass: It retains heat while offering protection against outside elements. However, it tends to discolor and break with time. Moreover, it’s more expensive than both Polyethylene and Polycarbonate.
- Tempered Glass: It’s an ideal choice for cold temperatures, offering UV resistance and waterproofing features. This durable and expensive material can last more than 30 years if you maintain it properly.
Access to the Greenhouse Kits
Another feature to look for in a greenhouse kit is access to the inside garden, where you can roam around easily. You can opt for a walk-in dome design compared to an octagonal design.
Greenhouses Size
The size and shape of a greenhouse kit depend on the size of your backyard. You should buy a greenhouse kit that’s neither too small nor too big.
A smaller greenhouse kit won’t allow you to grow multiple plants simultaneously, while a larger kit won’t fit your backyard.
That’s why you should take your yard measurement to estimate the greenhouse dimensions. For instance, for a 30 by 50 feet yard, you can buy a 20 x 15 feet large greenhouse kit.
However, you can invest in a small greenhouse of 10 x 10 feet if your yard is 20 by 20 feet only.
Growing Space
Once you know the dimensions of your yard and greenhouse, let’s talk about the growing space. It means how many plants you want to grow in your greenhouse.
If you are a beginner and don’t want to grow hundreds of plants, a compact 4 x 4 ft greenhouse is perfect for you. However, if you are a professional grower, it means you need a 10 x 20 ft greenhouse to grow dozens of plants.
Greenhouse Structure
A heavy-duty frame provides better support to the greenhouse structure as compared to a weak structure. That’s why you can select from the following available frame materials:
- Aluminum – This is lightweight and rust-resistant, offering easy assembly. However, an aluminum frame can’t withstand strong winds.
- Steel – Steel is definitely sturdier than aluminum, offering resistance to water and corrosion. However, galvanized steel base is relatively heavy and difficult to assemble.
- Wood – Serve as the frames for cheap greenhouse kits, enhancing the overall aesthetics of the greenhouse kit. On the downside, wooden frames rot gradually with time.
Greenhouse Panels And Roof Vents
You should carefully select apt panels for your greenhouse. We all know that opaque panels have different qualities as compared to crystal clear glass panels.
You can go for polycarbonate panels if you want initial seedlings in the greenhouse and later move them outside in the garden. This way, you can offer direct light to the seeds to promote the sprouting process.
However, if you want to keep the mature plants indoors, you required diffused light. In this case, you can opt for twin or multi-walled polycarbonate panels for a semi-diffused light.
Greenhouse Cost
Obviously, you need to consider the cost of the greenhouse before buying one. Generally, a mini-greenhouse costs less than $100, which is affordable indeed. However, the professional and industrial models can go as high as $10,000.
Other Kits Greenhouse Features
You can also look for other features such as insulation and clarity. At this point, you must be wondering why a greenhouse requires insulation.
The insulation prevents cold and brutal winds seep into the greenhouse in extremely cold weather.
For instance, you should select light covers with mesh for hot temperatures, such as Polyethylene and Polycarbonate, that don’t suffocate the plants.
Conversely, tempered glass, twin-wall Polycarbonate, and fiberglass offer excellent protection against high winds and cold.
Furthermore, you also need to check the total number of windows and doors to ensure proper ventilation for your plants and vegetables.
If you live in an area with moderate temperature, you can opt for adjustable roof panels and a sliding door to regulate the greenhouse temperature and moisture level.
Best Greenhouse Kits Product Reviews
We have categorized the best greenhouse kits for sale into the following three main classes: portable, large, and small greenhouse kits.
Best Small Greenhouse
A small greenhouse is easy to manage and a perfect choice for beginners or owners with a smaller yard.
Vivosun Mini Walk-In Green House 2 Tiers 8 Shelves
As the name suggests, the Vivosun Mini Greenhouse 2 Tiers 8 Shelves offers eight wired shelves, offering ample growing space to seed and sprout young plants.
The three tiers offer different heights between the shelves, allowing you to place small and large plants accordingly.
Furthermore, the zippered roll-up entrance, coupled with two side windows, ensure enough air circulation, even at a higher temperature. You don’t need to worry about the pests destroying your indoor plants, courtesy of the custom meshes on the window panels.
This mini greenhouse kit features a durable PE cover with double-stranded edge banding that improves its durability. Moreover, the anti-cold agent increases the greenhouse lifespan by three months.
Four ropes and stakes keep the greenhouse stable and balanced on a powder-coated steel frame.
You can fold and store the greenhouse in the winter season in a bag and reuse it when required.
Pros
- Three tiers
- Eight wired shelves
- Zippered roll-up entrance
- Robust steel structure
- Easy installation
- Premium-quality PE cover
Con
- Doesn’t come with a carry case
Home-Complete Hc-4202 Walk-in Greenhouse
The Home-Complete Hc-4202 Walk-in Greenhouse offers a roomy walk-in mini-greenhouse, perfect for both indoor and outdoor environments, including basements or patios. It provides an eight-shelf design, offering enough garden space to place planters, trays, and other grow pots.
The Home-Complete features 56.3 inches w x 76.7 inches h with a total of only 23 pounds. In addition to that, the wired frame supports a transparent, UV-resistant PVC cover.
This all-rounder garden greenhouse includes all the required anchors, ropes, and zip ties for tool-free assembly. It means you don’t have to spend extra bucks on buying the anchoring system. Moreover, you don’t need extra tools; all you need to do is follow the instruction manual for connection reeds.
Pros
- Easy assembly
- Panels block UV rays
- Spacious design with a lesser footprint
- Resistant metal steel construction
- Includes rope and anchors
Con
- Shelves aren’t durable enough
Erommy Portable Hexagonal Greenhouse W/ 3-Tier Shelf
The Erommy Portable Hexagonal Greenhouse W/ 3-Tier Shelf is one of the best affordable greenhouse kits available on the market. It comes with a premium-quality galvanized steel structure, resistant to rusting and chipping.
This compact mini greenhouse kit comes with total dimensions of 6.4 L x 6.4 W x 7.3 H ft with nine pounds. Moreover, the zipped roll-up door measures around 3.75 W x 5.75 H feet, ensuring convenient access.
Moreover, reinforced PE plastic protects the plants while providing the desired light. You can use tethers and single-sided tape to attach the cover to the frame conveniently.
The three sides of the hexagonal greenhouse offer six mesh racks to hold plants with a total weight of up to 33 pounds.
Pros
- Two slanting bracing tubes for stability
- Spacious interior
- Zipped roll-up door
- Long-lasting steel structure
Cons
- Difficult to pick up
- Can be displaced by strong wind
Best Large Greenhouse
If you are into horticulture and agriculture, you can buy a large greenhouse to grow numerous plants simultaneously.
Vivosun Large Walk-In Greenhouse Tunnel Garden
The Vivosun Large Walk-in Greenhouse Tunnel Garden Plant Hot House features a high-quality steel structure with a galvanized finish and powder coating. All these features guarantee rust-resistant and anti-corrosion properties to enhance the greenhouse’s longevity.
Furthermore, it offers a see-through reinforced, water-proof PE cover to protect plants and vegetables from harmful UV rays.
The Vivosun large greenhouse comes with a roll-up entrance and six side windows to ensure easy access and proper air circulation.
The extended cover design serves a multi-purpose role of providing balance to the garden greenhouse and ventilated environment for the plants. Additionally, the double-stranded edge banding enhances the durability of the cover.
This reliable greenhouse kit comes with a one-year free replacement of all the components and a six-month warranty for the cover.
Pros
- Galvanized finish steel frame
- Roll-up front entrance
- Six side windows
- Transparent reinforced PE cover
- Weather-resistant
- One-year free replacement
Con
- Absence of shelves
Erommy High Tunnel Walk-in Greenhouse
The Erommy High Tunnel Walk-in Greenhouse offers one large rolled-up door coupled with 12 windows, ensuring proper climate control and air circulation.
Furthermore, the mesh netting on the windows controls the internal temperature and prevents pests and insects from coming inside.
This durable portable greenhouse kit comes with a heavy-duty steel frame with an additional galvanized finish to withstand rust, peeling, and chipping.
Moreover, this reliable steel frame supports a transparent PE plastic cover. You can use the included tethers and single-sided tape to attach the cover to the greenhouse frame.
Another advantage of this featureful greenhouse is the included accessories such as four slant bracing tubes and front reinforced tubes. These bracing tubes are responsible for the stability of the greenhouse, holding it in place in strong winds.
Pros
- Robust construction
- PE plastic cover allows direct light
- Galvanized steel base
- Zipped roll-up door
- 12 roll-up windows
Con
- Parts aren’t labeled clearly
Shelterlogic Growit Greenhouse-in-a-Box Pro
The Shelterlogic Growit Greenhouse-in-a-Box Pro offers a spacious 12 x 20 ft area to provide shelter to your flowers and plants.
In addition to that, the transparent PE cover offers resistance to harsh weather and strong and strong winds. The specialized UV- resistant treatment minimizes the weathering of plastic in extreme summers.
This lightweight greenhouse kit offers a 1-3/8 inches steel structure to ensure exceptional performance in all seasons. Furthermore, the study anchors don’t let your greenhouse blow over in high winds. The easy-slide cross rails coupled with Ratchet Tite tensioning guarantee a perfect fit while anchoring the PE cover to the steel frame.
You can roll up side panels and half-moon end panels to ensure proper cross-ventilation and temperature control.
Pros
- PE fabric cover
- Easy to assemble
- Powder-coated steel structure
- Requires lesser water
Con
- Zip-up sides
Best Portable Greenhouse Kits
If you want to grow seasonal plants and vegetables indoors, you can buy portable greenhouse kits. Another reason for choosing a portable greenhouse is its convenient transportation so that you can place it either on your patio or yard.
Vivosun Portable Greenhouse Clear
The Vivosun Portable Greenhouse Clear comes with an overall dimension of 94.5 x 36 x 36 inches, offering protection and a controlled temperature environment for different fruits, flowers, plants, and other vegetables.
You can find three large zippered roll-up entrances on the two sides, offering easy access and cross-ventilation.
A durable, powder-coated steel frame supports a premium-quality PVC cover. Additionally, it protects plants from harmful UV rays and bad weather. Another good news is that the PVC cover comes with double-stranded edge banding for enhanced robustness and strength.
The VIVOSUN portable greenhouse comes with all the desired accessories to facilitate installation without requiring any tools.
Pros
- Long-tunneled design
- Three zippered roll-up entrances
- PVC cover
- Double-stranded edge banding
- Easy installation
Con
- No anchoring system
Erommy Small Portable Greenhouse With Zipper Door
The Erommy Small Portable Greenhouse With Zipper Door features not one but three zipped roll-up doors for easy access and air circulation. It depends on you to keep them open during the day and closed at night.
This easy-to-assemble greenhouse kit comes with a steel frame with powder coating to keep it secure and airtight. The powder coating resists both rust and corrosion. All you need to do is to bury the frame in the soil, and you are done.
The Erommy small portable greenhouse comes with a reinforced PVC cover, offering features like UV resistance, weatherproofing, and insect prevention.
A durable tubular steel structure supports the PE cover. Interestingly, the steel structure comes in green color to match your garden and plants’ color.
The Erommy portable greenhouse comes with overall dimensions of 7.9 x 2.6 x 2.6 ft and weighs only nine pounds, allowing you to place it in your house patio, balcony, yard, and ship deck.
Pros
- Easy assembling
- UV protection
- Push-fit tubular steel structure
- PE cover
- Includes all the necessary components
Con
- No full entrance
Quictent Portable Cloche Mini Greenhouse
The Quictent Portable Cloche Mini Greenhouse is one of the top-rated greenhouse kits for sale, courtesy of a PVC cover, steel frame, UV protection, and two roll-up doors.
With a total dimension of 71 x 36 x 36 inches, the Quictent portable greenhouse can accommodate both high plants and seedbeds. Moreover, you can place the greenhouse indoors and outdoors.
The powder-coated steel frame offers resistance to rust. Moreover, this durable frame doesn’t collapse in extremely snowy conditions.
The multi-functional PE cover comes with different features such as waterproofing and UV resistance.
The Quitent portable greenhouse includes 50 white labels to assist you in labeling the plants.
Another benefit of using this multi-functional greenhouse is its ability to keep the soil warm, thus enhancing the germination rate by 95 percent instead of the usual 80 percent.
You can completely open the two doors using the ropes to increase cross ventilation.
Pros
- Rust-resistant steel structure
- Transparent PE cover
- Waterproof and UV-protected
- 50 pieces of white T-type tags to mark plants
- Two roll-up doors with four zippers
Con
- Can’t withstand strong winds
Best Glass Greenhouse Kits (or Rigid)
Palram Mythos Hobby Greenhouse
The Palram Mythos Hobby Greenhouse is a high-performing glass greenhouse kit with unbreakable four-millimeter twin-wall polycarbonate panels.
This lightweight greenhouse kit guarantees to block 99.9 percent of UV rays and diffuses appropriate sun rays that don’t burn the plants. Moreover, the aluminum frame covers an area of 36 square inches with an adjustable roof vent.
Other features include the availability of rain gutters and a lockable door handle.
Pros
- Robust twin-wall Polycarbonate panels
- Blocks 99.9 percent of UV rays
- Heavy-duty aluminum frame
- 36 square feet of growing space
- Five years limited warranty
Con
- Can’t withstand strong winds
Palram Chalet Orangery Greenhouse
The Palram Chalet Orangery walk-in Greenhouse is one of the best greenhouse kits, offering a floor space of 112 square feet along with a headroom of eight feet, allowing you to grow tall plants. It provides a unique T-shape design coupled with a glazing system to offer the desired insulation and protection from direct sunlight.
It’s one of the high-quality commercial greenhouse kits, offering a light transmission of more than 90 percent.
Moreover, the aluminum frame comes with polycarbonate glazing to enhance the overall strength.
Pros
- 112 square feet of floor space
- Vaulted roof vents
- Adjustable roof vents
- Double door opening
- Headroom of eight feet
- Easy to assemble
Con
- Can’t withstand wind storm
Palram Americana Hybrid Greenhouse Kit
The Palram Americana Hybrid Greenhouse Kit is a spacious greenhouse with 4 mm twin-wall polycarbonate roof panels to maximize light transmission.
Besides, the panels block harmful UV, thus protecting plants and other vegetables. Another benefit of using the twin-wall panels is to enhance heat retention compared to a single-layer cover. This way, the plants get to enjoy the diffused light instead of direct sunlight.
This budget-friendly walk-in greenhouse kit comes with all the necessary features, including a built-in gutter and roof vent. The good news is that you can adjust and customize all of these accessories according to your requirement.
The greenhouse can resist strong winds of 75 mph if you assemble it using the provided anchoring kit. Furthermore, the greenhouse can withstand a snow load of 35 pounds per square foot, which is exceptional.
However, it’s a two-person job to assemble it in around four to five hours. A sturdy galvanized aluminum steel base supports polycarbonate panels.
The 6 x 4 ft Palram hybrid greenhouse covers a growing area of 144 square feet with a headroom of 8.6 inches for tall plants.
Lastly, the Palram portable greenhouse comes with a limited warranty for five years, ensuring a safe and long-term investment.
Pros
- Large footprint
- Double swimming doors
- Adjustable roof vent windows
- Polycarbonate panels
- Five Year warranty
Con
- Complicated assembly
FAQs About GreenHouses
Are Greenhouse Kits Worth it?
Whether you’re an avid gardener or someone who just likes the occasional sprout, a greenhouse is an excellent way to extend your growing season and allow you to grow more crops and plants for longer.
By starting plants earlier in the year, a greenhouse can extend harvest time by providing everything from tomatoes and peppers all through December.
Is it Cheaper to Build or Buy a Greenhouse?
Many people will think they can build their greenhouse at a lower cost than buying one. That is not necessarily the case, though– if you’re simply getting a standard-size kit without any modifications to it, then there’s no way that assembling all the materials would be cheaper than what it costs a pre-made greenhouse.
If what you want instead is more custom or modified for your needs, I recommend building them yourself because this allows creativity in design and size not offered by kits bought elsewhere.
Are Mini-Greenhouses any Good?
Mini greenhouses are the ideal solution for gardeners who want to grow plants in a small garden space. They work well indoors and outdoors but require more care than standard greenhouses to control the heat and humidity levels.
Are Portable Greenhouses any Good?
Definitely, a portable greenhouse kit gives you the best of both worlds. You have a protected garden space to grow plants in various climates and move them around as your needs change!
Portable greenhouses should be lightweight or have wheels. You don’t want to take it apart every time you need to move it.
Do Greenhouses Work in Winter?
Greenhouse kits offer growers a controlled and consistent environment regardless of the growing season; many can keep their crops coming up all year round, meaning that you can have your fresh produce available all through those cold winter months.
Closing with the Best Greenhouse Kits
A greenhouse allows you to protect your beloved plants from inclement weather that hinders their growth and development.
If you want to save your time and money, it’s better to buy the right growing equipment like the best greenhouse kits reviewed above instead of constructing a new greenhouse.
The best thing about the portable greenhouse kit is its adaptability and easy setup. However, you can opt for small or large greenhouses, depending on your requirement, and most importantly, budget.