How to Build a $17.50 Greenhouse Without Any Tools

Alright, this is John Kohler with growingyourgreens.com, and we have another exciting episode for ya, and what we’re going to do today is very simply, build my $17.50 greenhouse. Yes, this greenhouse right here was 17.50 and that’s because it was purchased at big lots, and if you look closely it says $69 dolla’. $69 for this quality is poor value in my opinion. At the end of the season, big lots did put them on clearance first at %50 and if they didn’t sell, later at $17.50 it’s good new for me that there’s not a lot of gardeners in this city.

So I was able to pick a whole bunch up actually for $17.50. $17.50 is an excellent value. For $34.00 that’s all right, for $69 I wouldn’t touch it with my dad’s ten foot pole. Anyways, what we’re gonna do today is we’re gonna go ahead and set this guy up. We’re getting into other winter time here, it’s fall, we just had daylight savings time change , the nights are getting cooler now. It’s dipping down into the 40’s as you guys can see behind me, I still have a flourishing summer garden, I’m still making tomatoes, peppers, but pretty soon that’s gonna come to an end, but meanwhile i can’t plant anything in my beds , because I’m not going to pull up my summer crops to plant my winter stuff. I need some more planting space so we’re gonna build some greenhouses to keep the temperatures a little bit warmer, an ya know reflect sun, so my plants will grow faster in the winter time.

So actually I’m gonna build a total of four of these guys, and we’re gonna put them underneath this awning in the backyard so it’s gonna get more sun, stay warm, and be protected from the elements because these guys literally will blow away. They’re super cheap, I definitely recommend for an inexpensive greenhouse. The Harbor Freight greenhouses, they have one 6×8 and one 10×12. I recommend the 10×12 if you can afford it. Otherwise, go for the 6×8, check my past videos for videos of that. I also did another assembly of another greenhouse that’s actually much higher quality than this one, that I would recommend before I recommended this one. It’s a little more durable, but I actually like this one because it actually comes with shelves and everything you need to get growing today.

So I guess without further ado. Let’s go ahead and open this box up and assemble it. The cool thing is you will need absolutely no tools to assemble this guy. I think although I might use a screwdriver to cut the tape open on the box, but other than that. No tools, this is totally cool. I mean anyone could do this. Alright so check it out, now that we’ve got the box open. Here’s all the different parts inside here. You’ve got this vinyl greenhouse cover here. Now this isn’t worth beans really. It smells like vinyl. It’s kind of like your vinyl shower curtain, and that would be a good idea. Sew together a couple vinyl shower curtains and make a greenhouse cover. That being said this will not last.

So don’t think this is a one time purchase greenhouse. You’re buying an inexpensive greenhouse, this vinyl covering will degrade over time easily. I expect it to last maybe a season. Maybe two if I’m lucky. Depending on the intense sun. We’ll be taking this down in the summer. I’m only going to use it in the fall, winter and early spring until it starts to warm up a bit. I’m only going to use it to keep my plants a little bit warmer and growing a lot better. With that being said, super inexpensive. If you want a really good greenhouse, The Harbor Freight one has performed well for me for many years. In here you’ll see the instructions, they’re just very simple picture instructions. Super simple to assemble, and the other thing in here is you’ve got a ton of different poles going on. So if you liked Lincoln Logs when you were a kid, and I did, you’re gonna love this kit right here. It’s like adult Lincoln Logs. Your going to link things in, maybe even get your kids to help you out there. To put this thing together, ths links together and it’s gonna go up, and easy.

You’ve even got shelves here, it comes with little shelves, so you can stack plants on your shelves. I like it, it’s all in one. Literally, you just have to buy this, and you can be up and growing. Now I only recommend this kind of greenhouse for mild climates, alright. Like if you live in Chicago or Wisconsin or Minnesota, this is probably not the greenhouse you wanna get to get you over the winter time. Now the snow, and all that kinda weather. This thing ain’t gonna make it man. If you wanna put it up after the snow kinda starts to melt and stuff. This guy will give you kinda a jump start on your season, but other than that it’s real light duty.

I recommend you guys building like a coup house or something like that first, but ya know, this is an option, and it’s a really inexpensive option at that. The cheapest greenhouse I’ve ever bought. So what I’m gonna do next is I’m just gonna start setting this guy up and I’ll show you guys different clips as I’m going along. One of the things, you’ll say, “John, how is this guy doin’”, well as for an update, this guy is actually doing quite well. As you can see, the greens are growing really well, filled out really nice, and some of the plants on the bottom are kind of stunted from when I transferred them in, a few of them didn’t make it, but I think that’s because the plants weren’t of the highest quality. All of the plants that I put in that were in healthy shape when I planted them are doing just great. One of the questions on this video which is called the garden tower video.

Best container garden I’ve found. Hey John, how are you gonna move that into your greenhouse, well guess what. I’m gonna build this inside the greenhouse, I’m gonna build the greenhouse around this, and this is gonna be on the inside once I erect the greenhouse. So you guys are going to get to see that. I was supposed to buy a dolly to put this on, but I haven’t had the chance to go to Harbor Freight yet to buy a dolly and make a platform and all this kinda stuff yet, so that’ll be in the future, anyways let’s get started building this no tool greenhouse.

So let’s get started. Check it out, I’ve got the base built, this thing is super easy, what you do is you take the pole and you take the connectors like Lincoln Logs and fit them together while you follow directions. It’s really super simple, I’m really glad that my garden tower fit inside this guy, cause it’s really quite small. This guy is probably like i don’t know 5ft by 5ft. So this is a really small greenhouse, ya know, I generally recommend the large size greenhouses you can’t afford, but for $17.50 I couldn’t turn this guy down. I’m gonna go ahead and continue and build up the current layers, and we’re gonna go ahead an show you the progress as I do it. Alright, as you guys can see, I’ve got the next round set up, super simple super easy just connect all the parts, add them on and keep building.

Alright, as you guys can see, I’ve got the next round going on. Next we’re gonna go ahead and put the next round, and the the roof. As you can see this is going super quick. It`s getting pretty tall here man, got another layer. Just gotta put another piece, and then the roof. Then we’re gonna buckle this thing up. Put the shelves on, and put on the vinyl covering.

Alright, so as you guys can see, I’m standing inside my greenhouse. Put up super simply, super easily, next we’ve got the shelves, and you’re just gonna take one shelf and put it on each little section here. So now you can have some plants in your greenhouse. Now, I don’t know if I’m gonna put some shelves on this guy, cause I can barely get around this side to harvest. So I might end up taking some of these shelves out. Which will actually weaken the entire structure, which is not fully recommended, but it’s gonna be a pain in the arse to get around the back side and actually harvest. Alright, so as you guys can see I’m getting the top on. So what we did was just basically got one side of it and brought it up and over the top.

Then we’re just gonna kinda swing this all the way around. So it’s molding so that your gonna wanna make sure the peak lines up with the peak here, and do that on both sides, and basically all the green lines on the edges are gonna line up with the poles.

So you guys are gonna get this guy on top. So I’m gonna go ahead and get this guy up and start tying it down. Alright, the greenhouse is erected. The final step is the ties. Basically tie the vinyl top down to the branch. So I’m just gonna show you that real quick. Alright as you guys can see, there’s the greenhouse fully assembled. Get in there and tie it off real quick. It has zippers for closure. I don’t know if this is gonna last too long. The vinyl is super cheap, it’s not super clear, but it’s clear enough to let some light through and keep it just a tad bit warmer on the inside. Let’s go ahead inside, and take my spinach and dandelion, and lettuce.

I like it already. It’s just a tad bit warmer especially with the cold winter winds, it’s gonna keep the wind out, and it’s gonna trap the heat, and keep it warmer inside here. So the last thing we’re gonna do is we’re gonna tie these little ties off here. These little ties are basically gonna go around each pole, and you’re just gonna tie them like a little bow-tie and tie them tight. So that the cover does not just fly off. Once the cover is stabilized to the frame, and then once you’ve got some weight on the shelves.

That’s gonna keep this guy pretty stable. In addition if you don’t have some heavy weight on the shelves. I’m gonna probably put some of those Gerome’s containers on the bottom. You’re going to want to weigh it down or something so that it doesn’t fly away. This thing literally, if you’ve got strong winds, this thing is literally going to blow up in the air and get blown away real easy. Alright, so that was a success, super easy, super quick to build. Ya know on a scale of 1-10. 10 being the easiest, 1 being the hardest. This is like a 1. I mean you guys gotta be able to do this or ya can’t even be living, ya know, connect the frickin parts put it together.

You too can grow in a greenhouse. Now this is definitely not the highest quality greenhouse. Ya know, for $17.50 I’m happy with it, but it’s full price $69 I would not be so happy. I would recommend you guys save up your money and buy a good decent greenhouse. Like the one from Harbor Freight that’s gonna last from season after season. This is definitely a temporary fix. It might last a season or two, and for $17.50 you should go out and buy them all. Unfortunately, the deal is already over. Be sure to subscribe to my videos. When I do find deals, I’ll post it on my channel. Show you guys what I’m getting and this kind of stuff.

All in all, I’m happy with my greenhouse, and it’s going to allow me to grow more food faster in the fall and winter here, and even the early spring. So my plants start earlier. Stay tuned for future episodes where I’ll actually show you guys tours of my four greenhouses that I have on site now, and all the different things I’m growing inside. It’s definitely really cool. So once again my name is John Kohler with growingyourgreens.com.

We’ll see you next time, and remember, keep on growing.