Portable Garage to Greenhouse?

18 years ago

Hi all, my very first post here! Anyway, I am considering the purchase of one of those round-top portable garages to over-winter my tractor in. The size is 12'w x 20'l x 10'h. In trying to justify this purchase I am thinking about buying the translucent covering for it and using it for one or two winters as a shed then convert it to a greenhouse in the future. I am going to be building a new home next year so I didn't want to spend any money on a shed that I couldn't take with me. Has any one ever used that translucent rip-stop material for a greenhouse? As it is not really insulated, I would not neccesarily be looking at a full four season greenhouse but if I could use it to lengthen my growing season that that would be great.

Thanks for your input,

Phil

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Comments (10)

cactusfreak
18 years ago
I know of at least 2 people on this forum that have built greenhouses from the portable carports.
But not using the rip stop cover you are talking about.
Have you checked on the life expectancy of it. Most of those type covers only last 2 years. Your's may be different.
Here's some pic's of Patris's greenhouse. I hope she doesn't mind.

Here is a link that might be useful: Greenhouse from carport frame
Patris
18 years ago
Don't mind at all Cactus, I rather enjoy showing off our creation!
If I can help in anyway just let me know.
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I asked for advice and got it, didn't I? The trouble is, I didn't use it! I went to the Johnny's site and saw the premium model, but like Goldilocks, it was toooooo big. (I measured the footprint of where I want it to go, and even the smaller ones seemed really big.) I went to the other places where posters provided links and looked.... I didn't want to have to drag tables or shelving out and an 8' dimension (eiher way) is too big because there are roses right there with some SERIOUS canes. I only plant to keep it up in March and April, possibly into May, but that would be to keep plants dry rather than warm. Then I looked at some simple little upright ones. I think you could put one flat on each of the three or 4 shelves, but they were tooooo small. A heater would probably burn the plants closest to it. Then I went to Ebay and looked at all theirs and looked and looked and finally decided on a little 4 x 6 with shelves. It is NOT a good one. The plastic is reinforced, but there is no venting. Not real sure that was too bright, but we'll see. There is no anchoring at the bottom so it could also blow over (often times these come with little ground stakes) On the other hand, the price was right and I really just wanted a large germinator. It is a walk in model, so in a pinch I could put a heater in it without melting the plastic. I love wintersowing except for two things: the milk jugs look like hell and now that I am midway into it, people are talking about taking the tops of the jugs when the sun is shining & it's warm out, and then putting them back on when it's cold! I thought you could leave them out there on their own! No way I am babysitting 300 jugs next year! If only it had some vents, I would be really, really happy, but as it is, I just want to see what kinds of temperatures I can expect. As cheap as it was, maybe the reinformced plastic will rip right off the bat and those will be my vents :) Thnaks for all the insight, though. I enjoyed all your posts and collective thinking. Lime
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After trying to grow several hundred one-gallon lavender plants under a "portable garage", I do have at least one experience with them. Although we average only about 6 inches of snow at any one time, the metal poles cannot support the extra weight. The snow definitely did not slide off my structure, even with an emergency propane heater underneath. ( the cross supports on these structures are insufficient to hold any extra weight.) If you are planning to replace the opaque white/green plastic cover with clear for a greenhouse, it may be a challenge to attach the clear plastic. The plastic attachment hardware will be considerably more expensive than the structure itself. Hopefully this will save you the $199 initial expense of trying to use a portable garage for a greenhouse....
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I would wait 2 maybe 3 more weeks. I live in NKY and it's just a bit too cold right now. What I would do is if you have room to set it up indoors to get it started and after you're sure it's gonna stay fairly warm then set it up out side. This will get your plants off to a great early start. Welcome to the world of greenhouse gardening. You can actually get a month ahead of anything grown outdoors. And you can also extend your gardening season by months. Believe it or not I just picked my last ripe tomato just the other day. It's nice having homegrown tomatoes on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Good Luck! Here is a link that might be useful: My Bamboo Grove
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Pudgy
18 years ago
Total cost involved with alum carport frame, wood, electrical, time, sheeting/glazing? I'm intrigued, but want to cost justify this apposed to other designs and prefabbed systems and kits. Thanks.
Patris
18 years ago
Kind of hard to do a break down as we did all the work ourselves.

After we were done I think our total was right at $3100.
Greenhouse is 24 x 18 and I have 2 elec. plugs, 7 faucets, 2 ceiling fans, 1 exhaust fan and of course ground cover cloth under the cement blocks.
The carport was $495 bought just before they went up $100, the roof and wall panels are from Lowes high grade for roof and med. grade for walls.
This also includes the benches which the tops were bought from Park Seeds and we made the frames.

I looked at many greenhouses before we decided on this route and I could not find one with the strength or the square footage I have with this one for under $5000
Took a little longer to complete, but in my opinion well worth it.

This does not include the shade cloth which was $145
weebus
18 years ago
2 electrical plugs? WOW! I don't know how you do it...
BigDogues
Original Author
18 years ago
I believe I am looking a total of around $600 for a shelter with the translucent woven poly fabric. The material has UV protection and is suppose to last a good 7 or 8 years. Replacement fabric for the main stretch is suppose to run around $150. This seemed like a good value to me for a green house that could be put up in an afternoon and easily taken down and transported in the future. Of course this doesn't have any of the nice features that Patris has, but it's a start.
Weedy
18 years ago
You might want to check out the structures made by Coverit, Cover-It, or something like that. Do a Google search. I bought their 12x20 rounded top car cover 6 years ago. Cost was about $450 plus shipping as I recall. Used it three years and a neighbor now has it, still in good condition. It has held up under a three foot snow fall and a couple gale force winds. I think they make a greenhouse cover for their structures.
Cocobid
18 years ago
We are currently using a Portable garage greenhouse. I started a thread on what we are doing right & wrong. We live in Texas so our winters are quite mild. We really only need some protection for about 3 months. We purchased the white enclosure that is sold with the frame, to this we have also purchased an additional clear valance cover and side panel. This is where our greatest light source is from. The quality of the clear cover is very good this guy has been doing this for 30 years! I actually met him he is local-but sell all over. The peak is an issue you need to get that part right so it fits. If anyone could suggest a duct type tape that is locally available it would be of great help. Our heat will just melt anything. Our house comes down in the summer. But the tape is our issue. The corners will need to be sealed as well as around the valance top. We need a tape that will not destroy the plastic when it is removed, but strong enough to take the elements.

They make a different type of portable it looks like you are in the North so snow is an issue. Northern Tool makes a strong frame type shed you might look at it is more expensive than what I purchased but well worth it for your needs. I also found someone that sells the connecting pieces so you could use steel fence posts as supports instead of a pre-made frame
But overall we a quite pleased so far. We collect Brugs & Plumerias they get quite large so the Brugs barely fit. 9.5 inch peak. Next year we will loft the house about a foot. If I have time we might do this year.

Good Luck check out our little house. If you need some links let me know.

Karen

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Greenhouse Project
wolflover
18 years ago
Big Dogues,
Came across this greenhouse tonight on the net and thought of your post. Perhaps it will help...

Here is a link that might be useful: Carport Greenhouse
Trina Whittaker
8 years ago
I see this is an old post but my mother lives in Whitehorse, Yukon (zone 4a) and has used portable car shelters to grow amazing food for years. I believe hers are "Shelter Logic" 12'x8'x24' and she uses the white poly cover it came with.

Portable Garage to Greenhouse?

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