Super cool -- are you getting it?

If I didn't already have this one I would.
{{gwi:223911}}

I was thinking of all those who want one but don't have room for one my size. Mine's 17 x 24

There are many threads on GW's Greenhouse Forum about the Harbor Freight greenhouses. You can't get a better value for the size, but they require a bit of modification to make them more rigid to withstand wind. Also, the instructions are pretty bad.

My next door neighbor had his handyman build one of these three years ago. He figured out the instructions, built it on a timber foundation, and things were fine ... until a summer thunderstorm picked up the greenhouse, with my neighbor inside, and rolled both of them across my pasture like a tumbleweed. Fortunately, my neighbor was not injured.

If you get one of these, there are a few really good web sites and blogs where folks have documented their modifications step by step. Like Karl, if I didn't already have a greenhouse, I'd consider it. Heck, there's more than $559 worth of polycarbonate in it, if you had to buy it separately.

It's pretty nifty, isn't it?

I think any of these kits require some skill in assembly -- the one we got did! (And we paid more, for less size.)

Late last year, when part of our neighbor's massive tree justified my predictions and fell into our yard, our little greenhouse was moved twice, to keep it out of harms way during the removal process. Moved once to the lawn, it was moved a second time to the top of the dog runs, before being returned to its normal position.

It's a good thing it isn't very heavy!
I suspect it COULD be blown away, if wind hit it directly. Thank Heaven it is NOT positioned foursquare to the East winds, and the West wind here is gentler.

I say again, however -- that's a GREAT price.
I'm just not sure I should tell DH about it!

Jeri

I have one similar and agree about the wind. Those panels are so lightweight it takes the slightest wind to blow them out. And once one goes, it opens it up for more and the whole thing falls apart. Simply sliding the panels in and/or gluing them will not hold up. My husband had to start over completely after the first year and screw all the panels in. And it still comes apart frequently in heavy wind. No fun having to walk down the road half a mile to find the last of your greenhouse panels after a storm. It does help if you have it shut up tight before a storm/wind comes, but if you have plants in there it could get too hot.

I use mine mostly in spring for seedlings. I do have to wait quite a bit for the nights to warm up before I can put frost-sensitive things in there like tomato and eggplant seedings. The greenhouse retains virtually no heat after the sun goes down.

No greenhouse will retain heat after the sun sets unless you supply supplimental heating. This can get quite costly. I don't heat mine and I expect the inside to cool off at night. Even unheated, mine does a great job overwintering potted roses. They freeze but bud out earlier than those outdoors and bloom up to a month earlier than those outside.
Regarding the wind issue. Try wrapping the greenhouse with clear plastic. Then weigh it down with large containers of water. I use several 55 gallon barrels of water and mine hasn't moved one inch even under the heaviest wind conditions. The water barrels also act as little radiators, absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night. If you want to start seedlings you'll need supplimental heat or as I do, build a coldframe in the center of the greenhouse and just heat it. although the temps inside mine get down near the outside temps at night, way below freezing, I have 250 rooted cuttings overwintering in a cold frame heated only with two strings of C7 Christmas tree lights. It keeps them about 40 degrees. The coldframe is a simple box built out of 1 and 1/2 inch Polystyrene sides and a clear plastic top. Mine measures 6 x 12 and 24 inches high which is much larger than one would need for starting seedlings.
As the sun gets higher in the sky in late winter and stronger as the days get longer, the inside heats up so I can prune the potted roses in early March, 45 days earlier than those outdoors in my zone. I have roses blooming in the greenhouse by early to mid May, a month before those outside. When the dirt floor thaws and begin to retain heat at night from the daytime sun, it radiates warmth during the colder nights and tempers the cold. A fan running when it gets too hot inside, keeps it cooler. The weighed down sides prevents it from wind damage and allows me to keep the doors open to keep it cooler. I don't worry about heat buildup in spring as this helps my roses grow faster.
Four inch liners purchased in early April and repotted are blooming and ready to sell buy Mothers day.
I went through all your problems over the years and learned from them. I hope, by sharing what I've learbed over the years, it will make it easier for you to use a greenhouse during the winter in cold zones.