For over $200 for a 2 foot by 4 foot, it wouldn't be worth it for me.

I built this 12 by 18 high tunnel for under $200. I grew in this building for 3 years before I took it down to built a 30 by 48 foot tunnel.

{{gwi:115224}}

jrslick is right. Your cost is way to high for what you're getting. You say you don't have the real estate. How much space do you have?

not nearly enough for that, unless i replace the front lawn. seriously, in the back yard where id put anything i have a 8 feet between my garage and neighbors fence. the rest of my yard consists of a 12 x 20 patch of lawn, the garden/patio/trellis/pond area, the 20x20 garage, and the rest is concrete driveway. behind the garage is south facing, the grass area faces east, house is west.

again, im looking at stepping into this world, and i live in the suburbs of virginia beach. im open to ideas but i have to keep it small. also im growing maybe 70-90 plants. again even if i could grow more, i couldnt put them anywhere, unless i started selling them.

looked at another one, its like 6ft long, and is the same price. im certain id outgrow either eventually(haha literally)

thanks gang

in retrospect i should apologize, as i havent introduced myself or explained what my vision is.

first off im matt, ive been in the navy for 19 years. about 7yrs ago we bought a house, and since then ive been gardening. a little more every year. started out with a small plot, moved up to a sqft 4x4, now a 6x4 raised bed, and random beds/plots/pots scattered all over the yard.
as mentioned every year is a little more, and everything im doing at this point is mostly experimental/educational as i intend to garden/market garden full time after i retire and i want to make sure ive got my s--- together before i go larger scale.
this year i decided to start everything i can from seed, and im trying to stay with non hybrid plants so i can save the seed (not all, im definitely not there yet). really a self sustainment goal. so ive got the garage (complete with old chevy, 2 bicycle projects and random wood working projects going) set up with some shop lights and such, and just this morning ive got sprouts from the gerbera daisies.
looking in the near future, ill have around 70-80 plants that will rapidly need to be potted and set outside, but late feb/early march is still hit or miss on frost here. so i started looking for greenhouse set ups that i could take down at the end of the year, and honestly theyre crap from what i can see. thats how i got to the previous one, or a "sprout" set up i can get on ebay for 219.

if youve read this far, i apologize, didnt mean for it to be a dissertation.

ultimately, yes i intend to go bigger and better, but dont have the real estate now, so in order to get "smart" wanted to start small. thanks again guys and im always open to suggestion.

matt

First, Thank you for your service gunnersm8! Second, I don't think anyone here would take what you said wrong!

Third, Bigger is not always better! You need to have something that you can easily manage.

I grew up with a big garden, 3+ acres. And 40+ acres of row crops to help make ends meet. But Dad had 5 boys to help manage it!

After he got older and the other 4 boys were gone, He still insisted on having at least an acre of garden and I was the only one around to help!

After he got to where he couldn't do much in the garden I slowly reduced the size a little every year, hoping he wouldn't notice, and I had a much cleaner garden and more production. After He died in 2010, I reduced it to 1/2 acre. It will be 1/4 acre this year.

kind of where im at. been educating myself and experimenting with growing in small spaces. some pretty extensive research into it. im the only one that really works the garden, and honestly wifes been EXTREMELY tolerant of this but she has her limits. so i try and stay within those bounds.
i also HATE throwing anything away, specifically plastic, so the plastic covered shelfs and patio greenhouses are not really an option either.

ill look around today and see if theres something.
aside from the inevitable outgrowing of it, is there anything i should think about regarding super small greenhouses?

thanks much everyone.

Matt,

One thing to watch out for with a very small greenhouse or coldframe is overheating. On a bright sunny winter day it will heat up much faster than a large space to the point of cooking your plants. So make sure you have a good system of ventilation. Automatic is best. The link below is one example of a type of automatic vent opener that many gardeners use. (I don't know anything about this specific model, I'm just linking to it as an example.) You may be able to find a suitable tiny greenhouse that includes an automatic vent system.

Here is a link that might be useful: Automatic Opener Arm

ok, so i figured id go ahead and give anot so brief review of this thing

got it fast. real fast. like 4 days, so that was pretty awesome.

started putting it together in the garage on a friday(cant do that with a big one-HA!) and immediately considered returning it. the instructions didnt have any text. all pictures and numbers. huge PITA to get it going, but i perservered with the help of a few rfosty beverages.
saturday, reinvigorated by decent weather, i move the semi assembled pieces to their final location. south side of the garage. 45 minutes later, i seriously considered picking it up over my head and throwing it across the yard. few beverages later(in case you havent noticed i measure everything in beer hours) its assembled and in place and still in one piece. im somewhat pleased with it.

fast forward several days, im not so pleased. not because of it, but because of its location. crap for sun there. looking at alternate locations.

im guessing i need at least 4-6 hours of sun? filtered sun ok? petunias are growing there now, so i presume thats enough sun...

in summary im not displeased with this thing, but i wouldnt get another. in the end, for the same amount of money i could have a 6x8 HFGH, but as mentioned earlier, no realistic place to put it. it does have pretty good room considering, for new plants waiting to be planted, and maybe some cool season container crops like carrots, lettuce, etc. a little vent on top, sliding door. its not made for a 6ft tall 185lb man though. i do feel pretty buff when steeping into it, so maybe as an esteem booster i can recoup some of the cost.

also, once again im convinced that the only thing China ever designed and built worth a crap was a big wall.

the opinions of this poster do not reflect the opinions of anyone else. on earth. no matter what their affiliation.

pics out later. thanks again guys for the advice, and info.