http://www.amazon.com/Mini-lean-to-Model-3-Greenhouse/dp/B000KLTP4Q

I found this while shopping around today.  I am strongly considering purchasing one, since I'm not necessarily in the mood to build my own, and I don't like 'reinventing the wheel'.

The only issue I see is the huge brick heat sink on the back side. If it gets enough solar heating, it should help heat the greenhouse, but if it does not, then it will draw off a lot of heat from the greenhouse.

I realize that not all houses are brick, and you could add an insulating board on the back side.

Otherwise, a greenhouse is a greenhouse - you have to evaluate how to keep it warm, and how to keep it cool, depending on the seasonal temps.

Hey Jason!  Nice greenhouse however, I think the price is too high.  Earlier this year Harbour Freight had a 8'x6' GH on sale for $199.  I already have a Gh but was tempted to buy it just for the price!  Keep an eye on Better Homes and Garden magazine, i'd bet that GH will be listed again in March.  Here is a pic of the one I built:

My current issue is that I literally have a 1/6 acre lot, on a steep slope, and almost every last square foot is dedicated to edible landscaping, gardening tiers, fruit trees, etc.  The only part of the yard that isn't is a small 24' x 16' section, but again - it's on a slope - and my wife won't let me do anything there, because she wants me to build a jungle gym or something play-oriented for the baby.

For the lay of my land, I only have a 8' strip on the south side of my house that's "mine", and 6' strip on the north side, which is landscaped like woodland area and hasn't a square foot to spare.

I can't build in front of my house where I actually have some yard space, due to local code.

On that note then.....I would get the lean-to GH.

Dennis,

Nice greenhouse.
The heater you are using. About how much is it costing you ( per month Avg. )to operate it and what kind/model heater is it?

Can the greenhouse easily be broken down  and stored during the Summer months?

Hi Jason,
if you have the spot for it do it  !
Here is picture where i always had thought about putting one similar but longer to what you pictured and never did, but too late now for in a few years hopefully going to move to warmer climate.
Here is the spot that would have been well suited in my climate to get jump start on season and even extend it some for a few plants that would fit in there.

Don't wait like i did and it never came to be.
Time passes so fast .

Jason, let me help you out here.  If you decide to get this greenhouse, you need to understand something.  You will have to build a base for it to keep it from being blown away.  I built mine on top of 4, 4x4 pressure treated post.  Now understand something, most greenhouses are made of aluminum.  Aluminum and the chemicals in the lumber would eat, corode and totaly destroy the GH.  So you have to put a barrier between the base and lumber.  I used 10mil plastic tarp doubled and stapled to the lumber.  I used 2' of rebar nailed every 2' around the base using "U" nails.

To me, these Greenhouses can only give you a jump start on the season and extend your summer season into the Fall.  Summer temps will exceed 100 degrees easy and the only thing that can grow in there is Black Madeira and Panchee.  If I had to do it all over again I would build it twice the size!

Rafed, thanks for the compliment.  It is hard to say how much it cost me to operate the heater inside my GH.  My house is almost 4 thousand square feet and I have a dual heating system....one for upstairs and one for downstairs.  We only turn on the downstairs down stairs when the kids come over for the holidays.  My heating bill in winter can get to 200 bucks whether I run that small heater or not.  Plus I have the heater on a timer.  It only comes on when the temps are above 25 degrees.  The heater comes on at 4PM and off at 9AM, the sun keep the temps above 25 degrees.  The GH is permanent.  It can not be broken down.  The heater is an oil filled German DeLonghi radiant heater.  It has 2 seetings 800 and 1500 watts.  I usually keep it on 1500 watts and turn the themostat off whenever I get the temperature I want for the GH. I have 2 of these heaters....in case one dies.  I think I paid $30 bucks for each.

Listen to the aluminum/PT lumber advice from Dennis.  The chemicals in the lumber will eat the aluminum quick.  4x4 cedar would be a good alternative, but much cheaper just covering the PT with plastic as described above.  The little lean to looks exactly what I was planning to build (reinventing the wheel i guess) with old storm windows I've gathered over the last year or so.  My biggest concern would be all the time and effort going into design and build, and ending up with a GH that's too small.  That said, if it fits your space and that's it, go for it.

Well, basically, my whole reason for wanting this is to keep my potted plants from sub-freezing weather, but cold enough that they'll go dormant.

We got down to 29º a couple weeks back, and my 4yr+ old in-ground tree lost the last 12" of its latest growth, the leaves shrivelled up and died overnight.  All of the other more mature leaves went naturally (green -> yellow -> drop), so I'm guessing that (once again) I will have more dead wood on the tips of the branches where the newer leaves (less than 2 months old) were located. 

After seeing that, I'm worried about my potted trees, only 5 of 60 are actually dormant.  They're 1gal, 2gal and 3gal (1st/2nd year) potted figs.  With overnight temps in the 20s and frost coming up every morning, I am wary of putting them out and leaving them out all winter.

So, I guess ... here is our 10-day:  http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/30312

Should I just give in and leave these jokers outside and hope none of the green growth kicks the bucket?

Jason,

I am going to put together 3-4 pvc hoops anchored with rebar and cover my small potted figs with plastic (or agribon) because the sub-freezing temperatures are here as well (expected on Thursday). I expended too much TLC to just let them ride it out unprotected. Even some of your make shift tomato tunnels would be protection from wind and frost.

For reference, the temperature swings here in Tallahassee are from high 60s and occasionally low 70s to low 30s and occasionally 20s: http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/airquality/tenday/32311.

JD

I can't use my nifty-dandy tomato cage because I typically keep my 1gal plant pots together using bread trays like you see at the day-old-bread store (Merita store, etc.) and in your local bakery or grocery store bakery area.  It makes transporting them much easier.

Here is an example - and these are the same plants I am looking to keep safe (albeit this is only 80% of them), and they still have about 60% of the growth today, and it's just as green:

thats some collection U got Jason, I mean in a short time.

Thanks,

I had great success with last year's rooting.   I wsn't new to propagating plants, but figs were new to me.  I couldn't have done it without caring members like yourself sharing everything from tips/pointers to parts of their actual trees.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to everyone here.