Good points! I will do that. I read the reviews and questions. They said snow should be cleared off it as much as possible. Some reviewers said they'd had it several years. I'll call them tomorrow and inquire further.

My concerns would be wind and ventilation. I have never lived in MD, so I know I'm probably comparing apples and oranges here. But when planning my greenhouse, I realized heat was my real enemy and I was right because the sun makes my 10x24 twinwall poly (harbor freight) So hot. And I positioned it where it is shaded a little by some palm trees. And did I mention the ends aren't even in yet? LOL. So I would be concerned that it could overheat in the day and you would be tied to it all the time to monitor it.

If you can, set it up inside of a fenced in yard or somewhere there's a wind break.

Maybe you could go ahead and get it and just give it a dry run this winter? Then you could get past that learning curve without endangering any of your lovely trees.

Of course if it were me, that would last about ten seconds and then it would be full of new trees lol!

Thanks Jennifer, that is a good idea. I may try it out for a bit before putting the trees inside. Actually, I thought along those same lines and worried about the heat and how difficult it would be to ventilate. It has a large opening for the door, and there is a back panel that is zippered with a screen mesh that I could also open. I thought I would put a fan in there to blow air through if it is too hot. The area where it would be is pretty sunny, but not fully. The more I think about it, the more I like your idea of a test period.

I think a fan is a must for circulation and it helps avoid hot/cold spots.

I'm so jealous that you can just pop that baby right up! I got a simple harbor freight (sarcasm emphasis on simple) and then we got another one to make one big one. Well, the doors seemed iffy, so we put up storm doors on each end. Then my husband did all kinds of things for reinforcement of the not so sturdy greenhouse. I know I'm going to love it when it's complete--whenever that will be!---but it has been an angonizingly slow process because of all our modifications. The electricians came today for day 1 of 3 planned work days. We still have to add the poly to the ends.

The good news---it will have wifi!

Jennifer, yours sounds impressive. I would live in there too! I hope you will post pics of it with trees inside. Do you have lots like me? Mine will not be as fancy, but hopefully functional.

I need to post some pics one day so that others can learn from our missteps and wins with the greenhouse build. I think I'll get something together when it is finished.

Unfortunately, I only have a few citrus trees and they all have resided in the ground for the last few years. Finding this forum though has made me want to go plum (actually lemon and lime) crazy!

Let me see, I have three Mexican key lime trees, one Meyer lemon, one Satsuma mandarin and a grapefruit. Now I'm hoping to add some container grown citrus. I am such a newbie to it though!

Don,t waist your money. It will be impossible to seal out drafts. The heating load will be 4 time that of a rigid panel GH. That statement is based on math and is real. There are a lot of problems we deal with on the farm with those types of structures. It will not work for you. I have personal experience with several of those. Add lights to your indoor trees and smell the blooming flowers all winter.

Steve at 6b

Laura, if I am not mistaken, those types of structures are only meant to extend growing periods, not to hold anything all winter...So you could probably extend your growing season my a month or two in fall and in spring...This is a great advantage even if you can't keep them in there all winter...You would have more space available in your home and only have to house them in there for the winter..

I would get in and use it until you know winter is on your door step. Then on the first warmish day I would take them all in and take that structure down until you know winter is over..Your space heater will keep them warm just fine and the heat of the sun will heat the structure up as soon as March and as late as the end of November..

Then too you would have a much easier time of watering and keeping pests at bay! You will probably find it less aggravating to keeping all this plants inside for a shorter period of time..I used a small version of one like that for 3 years and I loved it until I left it out all winter once..I pushed it and it broke that year...

If you are going to do this, then I would make sure to anchor it good for those strong winds and that's it)

Yeah, I hear you guys. Thanks Steve for the insight. Mike, I think if that is all I will be able to use it for, it may not be worth the trouble of putting it up and taking it down. I just don't have the time or energy for that, not to mention, I would then have to move the trees more times (a big job). Perhaps I'll go back to plan A which was to house them in my house all winter and then next year, invest in a nicer greenhouse. That may be the way to go.

I installed one for a customer. You cannot see through it and the sun is so low in the fall you would have to add a lot of lighting. It only gives about about a few degrees advantage with the higher sun in the spring. both customers found they could do better growing under light to get their starts growing strong then they hardened the plants off to sunlight before planting in their gardens. On the farm we have clear 2 layer plastic. the 2 layer plastic is as good as single layer glass and at 1/10 the cost we can turn a profit through which I get living wage. There are a lot of GH gimmicks out there that cleanse the outdoor air of dust.

Laura, Steve is right! I thought that greenhouse was one that allowed sunlight in real good, but now that Steve brought that up, it looks like it does not. Good catch Steve