Winter Harvest Success

What made you get a Planta Greenhouse?
It seemed like the best product for the money. I was also able to pick the kit up in person from the warehouse saving me the shipping costs.

What competitors did you consider before purchasing from Planta Greenhouses?
I don't remember specifically, but did review a number of products.

Why did you choose to buy from Planta Greenhouses?
I was able to speak in person with the owner with a couple of questions and the personal approach really helped.

What do you grow inside your greenhouse?
One side of the greenhouse is a "garden bed" where in the winter months I grow hardy greens. In the early spring, I plant a few tomato plants, eggplant and peppers, along with some marigolds to attract pollinators into the structure. Later in the spring, I seed a trellis of cucumbers. The other side of the greenhouse is where I start all my vegetable and flower seedlings, very early in the season a few under lights (my location gets a little shady mid December through early February). I don't heat the structure, but employ heating mats. I also move a few overwintered (in the house) huge blooming geraniums in pots for color and scent.

How did your Planta Greenhouse improve your gardening experience?
I absolutely love having so much fresh, organic food year round! The hardy greens take off tremendously in the very early spring, I can't keep up with them. Additionally the extended season (early and late) of tomatoes and other tender veggies is fantastic. Having the tomatoes inside a structure also kept the blight off the plants, an additional benefit. Although I've grown my own seedlings under lights in the house for many years, the greenhouse seedlings are much hardier. There is plenty of space for everything that I want to start.

What was your experience like buying from Planta Greenhouses? (was it easy to buy? How was customer service? etc)
This company really had great customer service, during all phases of the project including helping me when I got stuck with the construction.

What's your favourite thing about the Planta Greenhouse?
After 1 1/2 years of non-stop use, I can't imagine not having it. The design really works well for my tall, 6'2" frame.

What would you say to a person considering purchasing a Planta Greenhouse?
Be prepared for considerable time/effort in the construction phase. The company's claim that this can be done very quickly is somewhat misleading. Also, this is truly not a portable structure, once erected it will need to remain in place, mostly because many of the screws have rusted. Also, be prepared to slightly modify things as you find the need, but the way it is constructed allows easily for that.

Anything else you’d like to add?
This really is a wonderful addition to my extensive gardens and food production!

What made you get a Planta Greenhouse?
I compared prices, reviews and generally researched the subject fairly well before making the decision. One factor was fairly specific to my location because I was able to save $300 in shipping costs by picking it up myself from a warehouse in Massachusetts.

What competitors did you consider before purchasing from Planta Greenhouses?
I really liked the "Riga" greenhouse that is offered by several retailers, but it was clear that it's not a "kit" and the construction was seemingly more complicated.

Why did you choose to buy from Planta Greenhouses?
As mentioned above, it really was a combination of value, along with the fairly consistently good reviews it has received. Also, I liked the fact that it's being designed and built in Canada. Living in the Catskill mountains, we sometimes get significant snowfalls as well as some extreme temperatures.

What do you grow inside your greenhouse?
There was a whole "winter garden" consisting mostly of greens and a few other hardy vegetables. I was able to harvest food throughout the winter! In about February the veggies really took off! Around March I started some hardy vegetable seeds such as beets, lettuce, etc. directly into the ground. Around the same time, I also started seeds for the summer (and later greenhouse planting) on top of heating mats. In May I pulled most of the remaining winter greens and replaced them with heat-loving vegetables like eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. This is also a time to experiment to see what does well and how much earlier I can get food, so there's a short row of green beans. I planted some garlic in the autumn, it's ready for harvest about 4 weeks earlier than the bulbs growing outside!

How did your Planta Greenhouse improve your gardening experience?
It's an ongoing exercise, but it truly is allowing me to grow and harvest more fresh food year-round. Because I only finished installing it last September, I wasn't able to plant beets, carrots, etc. seeds into the greenhouse bed, but that's definitely part of the plan for this year. I also have a "sitting area" set up inside the greenhouse, where I can just relax on sunny cold weather days and rainy warm weather days!

What was your experience like buying from Planta Greenhouses?
Buying the Planta Greenhouse was totally easy and great. As mentioned, they allowed me to pick it up, thus saving shipping costs. I called customer service several times before making the final commitment and they were great at answering my questions.

What's your favourite thing about the Planta Greenhouse?
I honestly totally love having it. Not only for the food production and early seed starting capability (although honestly, some seeds are better off being started indoors under lights under more consistently warm temperatures), the design is attractive enough to fit in well with our "Victorian farmhouse" home and my general garden design.

What would you say to a person considering purchasing a Planta Greenhouse?
It's a good deal and the ultimate satisfaction and usage should be terrific. Assembly definitely is NOT a 2-person, one-day project. Not only has a reasonably level and square base need to be constructed before, the assembly involves thousands of screws and my whole process took at least 60 manhours. I found it necessary to take inventory of screws and such, as my shipment was missing quite a few, some of which I was able to purchase locally, and others were sent to me, but all this interfered with the assembly. For those living in the States, be ready to have metric wrenches available.