Inexpensive mini greenhouse (with shelves): is it worth it?

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced plant enthusiast, the desire or need to buy a greenhouse has already arisen. But there's a lot of choice when it comes to greenhouses, and you need to consider a significant number of criteria before embarking on your purchase. And one of the most important criteria is how much space you can give this greenhouse.

Good news! There are a large number of shelf greenhouses on the market. They will allow you to sow your seedlings for your future vegetable garden but also be able to overwinter your most fragile plants. But are they really effective and do they fulfil their purpose? Let's talk about it in this article!

What are the advantages of mini greenhouses?

We can't say it enough, mini greenhouses are interesting for their size. In fact, whether you live in the city or the country, you can easily find a nook where you can place it. You can place it on your balcony or in your garden. It has a compact size, but it's also very light, so you can move it around easily if you feel like it. You'll need minimal materials to assemble your new purchase. So it's easy for you to assemble and install. Given the greenhouse's surface area, it will be very quick and simple to warm it up.

The mini greenhouse with shelves makes it possible, thanks to its verticality, to grow climbing plants if you want to. You can even plant vegetables such as cucumbers and melons, which can easily grab hold if you fit them with a stake. Tomato plants, which grow quite large, can also be planted there without any problem, provided you buy one that will be big enough to accommodate them.

Mini garden greenhouses are still quite affordable for someone who wants to start out or simply, for people with limited financial means. They can be a good springboard if you just want to try greenhouse growing before investing in a larger model.

What are the disadvantages?

As we've seen, the shelf greenhouse can be very light. While this is an advantage when you need to move it, it quickly becomes a disadvantage if your greenhouse is outdoors. In the event of climatic hazards such as wind or hail, your mini greenhouse could easily blow away or be damaged. The surface area of the greenhouse is very small. This can quickly become a real problem if you have a large number of plants to overwinter or a lot of seedlings to sow.

The greenhouse creates a micro-climate to encourage the cultivation of your vegetable and flower plants. However, excessive and poorly controlled humidity could quickly become a vector for disease or the proliferation of parasites. So it's important to ventilate the greenhouse, but also to avoid over-watering. If you grow vegetable plants in your greenhouse, it may be difficult for pollinating insects to reach the flowers on your plants.

The different multi-storey greenhouses

There are different tiered greenhouses. Some are designed with wood, which will make it much heavier and therefore, more suitable for outdoors. But, they will still be a little more expensive than steel and plastic shelf greenhouses. If plastic isn't for you, some are made from polycarbonate. They will be more expensive, but they will still be more affordable than a large glass greenhouse.

You can find greenhouses with relatively compact shelves, but also more spacious greenhouses that will allow you to take advantage of space on the shelves, but also on the floor. Shelf greenhouses have many advantages and few disadvantages. They are just as effective as large greenhouses. All you have to do is choose which greenhouse best suits your needs! Happy growing!