Update on my greenhouse

Last March, my buddy Kyle helped me put together a 7 × 8 ft. greenhouse manufactured by a Canadian company called Yardistry. Made of solid cedar and UV-resistant polycarbonate panels, it’s so well built that it’ll probably outlast me.

Back of the greenhouse

Some of you have asked for an update, now that I’ve been using it for 10 months. I’m happy to oblige.

Front

If I had to rate my greenhouse on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d give it a solid 8. There are two things I wish were different:

1. The greenhouse comes with lower and upper shelves on two sides. I wish it also had shelves on the third side (on the left in the photo below). I added a metal rack that matches the lower shelves in height and am considering adding an upper shelf as well.
2. The polycarbonate panels only go down to the lower shelf. I wish they went all the way to the ground so plants under the lower shelf received sufficient light. As it is, the area under the lower shelf is only good for storage. (OK, storage is important, too, so not entirely a bad thing.)

The automatic roof vent opener visible in the next photo works flawlessly. The temperature at which it opens can be set between 60°F and 70°F. In the summer, I also use a solar-powered fan for extra ventilation. I set it on the ground and point it up towards the roof vent to blow warm air out. This has worked well.

When I bought the greenhouse, I wasn’t quite clear on how I would use it. Now, ten months later, it houses “collector plants” (a term I’m not all that fond of it), seedlings, and plants too small to go in the ground. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think my greenhouse would look nicer if it contained a perfectly curated plant collection and nothing else. That’s not likely to happen any time soon, though, seeing how I’m not a hard-core collector and I need room for seedlings and utilitarian plants.

Let’s take a closer look at what is in the greenhouse now, starting with the upper shelves:

80 echinopsis seedlings (see here for more details)...

...many of which will have to be moved to larger pots this year

A few agaves...

...and mangaves

On the lower shelves and the extra rack I added:

Terrestrial bromeliads

A couple of Agave oteroi cultivars...

...variegated Mangave ‘Praying Hands’ and Agave isthmensis ‘Ohi Raijin Shiro Nakafu’ (apparently meaning “white-centered thunder queen” in Japanese). I don’t know what causes these brown bits, but every specimen I’ve ever seen has them.

Tephrocactus geometricus. I started out with three balls, now there are over 20. The balls break off easily (that’s the plant’s main method of propagation) so there’s no way I’ll ever be able to repot it intact.

Dyckia ‘Liz Taylor’ (D. magnifica × delicata) and a few choice agaves too small and precious to put in the ground

If there is a focus in my small collection, it’s astrophytums...

...especially Astrophytum asterias cultivars like these (good info here)

Maybe over time the seedlings and utilitarian plants will move out and more “special” plants will move in. Time will tell. I’m trying not to stress over this and will let things happen organically.

I bought my greenhouse at Costco, at almost 50% less than the prices listed on the Yardistry website. Here are the Yardistry greenhouses Costco carries right now. The prices on the Costco website include free shipping. Greenhouses sold in local Costco warehouses are about 10% cheaper.

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