The 5 Best Polycarbonate Greenhouses [Ranked]
If you are looking for an affordable but rugged and longlasting greenhouse, a polycarbonate greenhouse might be a good choice for you.
Tough and light-weight, UV-treated polycarbonate is an advanced, and top quality paneling material for garden greenhouses. It's easily obtainable in various thicknesses.
Polycarbonate greenhouses provide you the clearness of glass, but with extra ruggedness and specialized insulation properties.
Polycarbonate panelings possess a fairly lengthy life-span of fifteen years or even longer in most areas- and you can always swap out the panels should they become defective.
Let's take a look at 5 of the best-selling polycarbonate greenhouses on the market today.
Contents
Comparing Them
- 【Polycarbonate Panels & Aluminum-Coated】To a big fan of gardening, this hobby greenhouse will help the growth of your plants absolutely. Built of power-coated aluminum and 4mm double transparent polycarbonate panels with removable protective films, it can keep weather resistant and light-thru as well as heat-preserved maximum which will protect your flowers or herbs from raining or snowing.
- Sturdy and Thickened: you will receive 12 pieces polycarbonate greenhouse panels, the size is approx. 4 x 2 ft, the thickness is about 0.16 inch, shatterproof and reliable, not easy to break, which can serve you for a long time and you can use them with confidence
- Large Size - Greenhouse size: 77“x97"x81". Door size: 68.5"x23". This greenhouse is the perfect size for backyards, decks and gardens. Ideal for the casual gardener or flower lover to grow a variety of vegetables, plants, flowers and herbs. It can provide you with plenty of space for plant preparation and growth.
- 6x12 Hybrid Greenhouse: Create a space where you can raise seedlings or heat-loving grow crops. Twin-wall translucent polycarbonate roof panels combine Crystal-clear shatterproof PC wall panels, balancing light exposure and preventing plant sunburn
- 8x12x7.5FT Hobby Greenhouse & Sunroom：6mm Twin-wall translucent PC panels(UV Protection 99.99%)，perfect for raising seedlings or heat-loving plants. Upgraded 5.2FT wall height, easy to access, and no need to bend over.
Building a Monticello Greenhouse
Why we like polycarbonate greenhouses
Polycarbonate greenhouses are really trending nowadays. There are some really great resources for helping you make a decision online if you are thinking of purchasing them.
Polycarbonate is a highly rigid plastic which provides some of the best features of glass, but is tougher and impact resistant. The polycarbonate paneling that structures the greenhouses walls provides durable strength and supreme heat retention properties.
The inside of the greenhouses is more effectively insulated, which is obviously conducive to plant growth. Besides this heat retention and insulative property, the multi-wall polycarbonate paneling provides diffuse light that is designed to increase plant growth rates.
The Benefits Of polycarbonate greenhouse paneling
What are customers saying?
- One user who purchased the MIC polycarbonate and aluminum greenhouse complained that high winds actually bent the structure so that he actually had to reinforce it with plywood.
- Some of the cheaper greenhouses that are in high wind areas will need to be reinforced with plywood or PVC pipe, especially if they are kept out during the winter and not stored.
- Another DIY fix for the polycarbonate hot houses is to do some silicone caulking. One reviewer even caulked all of the panels and panes inside of the greenhouse to ensure that the rain did not seep in, and heat did not escape.
- Another important purchasing consideration is to determine whether your greenhouse comes with shelving or not.
- Some users chose to place their greenhouses on wood decks where they could easily anchor them.
- People who bought the Palram Nature Series Hybrid Hobby Greenhouse were pleasantly surprised at how durable it was even when confronting 50 mile-per-hour Oklahoma winds- even with an automatic vent opener.
- Depending on the greenhouse you choose, sometimes the instructions are not great quality.
- Most people who endeavor to operate their own greenhouse usually have some commonsense handicraft capabilities and can figure out how to assemble them without too much trouble. Though it is important to get another person to help you out when erecting them.
- Another reviewer writes of their Paltam polycarbonate greenhouse that it is relatively sturdy and that it warms up quickly with the sunrise, but they do have to open their vent manually at night to help their greenhouse crops grow.
- Some interesting features that can be included with these styles of green houses are rain gutters, roof vents, magnetic catching doors, aluminum reinforced frames, snow load kits, rust resistant coating as well as the protection of a strong shatter-resistant polymer.
- People who purchased the Grandiose Elite polycarbonate greenhouse were happy that the packaging was intuitively designed to help the assembly process- there were five boxes that were numbered and each of the instruction steps corresponded so that it was pretty easy to understand how to linearly construct their greenhouse.
Summing Up
When choosing a greenhouse, users were pretty surprised at how cheap and long-lasting they have become- especially a cold frame greenhouse. There's so many more styles nowadays than there used today which means that any backyard hobbyist and horticulturalist can find a design that works for them in their own backyard.
One reason that people have begun returning to backyard garden cultivation with greenhouses is concerned over food security. As the cost of food has risen and the possibility of global calamities seemingly more probable day by day, having a greenhouse with seedlings, tomatoes, and all manner of other vegetables is a great way to protect you and your family and increase their food security.
As well, climate change concerns have made outdoor growing conditions more erratic which is an incentive to purchase a polycarbonate greenhouse and control the environment artificially. Some of the benefits of greenhouse gardening include extending the growing season; having access to fresh vegetables year-round; an ability to protect seed germination from inclement weather; protection of seedlings from insects, parasites and pests; protection of sprouts and seedlings from pesky birds.
Controlling the greenhouse environment can save money on plants as well as enabling you to grow plants in containers or in the ground directly.
If you are considering purchasing a polycarbonate greenhouse, Do some extensive reading prior to purchase and figure out which model is best for you. Important to remember that some greenhouses will require structural reinforcement as well as caulking to keep them in good standing for the long-term.
