If you think growing vegetables and herbs in a greenhouse is only for people with big backyards, we’re here to prove you wrong! We ourselves started growing crops on our city-sized balcony and loved spicing up our food with chili, mint and basil. Let us show you there’s a perfect greenhouse for every space with these best small greenhouses.
Where should you place your small greenhouse?
The general rule of thumb for placing any greenhouse is that it needs to receive as much sunlight as possible. Whether you’re going for an indoor greenhouse or an outdoor one, face it towards the sun. If you worry about your greenhouse becoming too hot, make sure you install a greenhouse thermometer to monitor the temperature and use a shade cloth during extremely hot summer days.
Mini greenhouses
The mini greenhouse is the perfect size for people living in an apartment or a smaller house with little or no outside space. A mini greenhouse usually comes in a cute design, so choose one that suits your style! They are made out of wooden or aluminum frames and covered with a polycarbonate (or sometimes glass) cover.
You also find mini greenhouses with plastic foil covers, these are usually a little taller with a couple of shelves in them. They can store more plants, but offer less protection so make sure to think about this before you place it outside, especially when it’s subjected to weather conditions. These plastic foil greenhouses are also less of a design addition to your living space, as they have a less fancy finishing.
A big advantage is that you can move it around. You can place it in full sunlight during winter and maybe protect it a little from hot days in summer. You can pick it up and move it to your next place and you can use it as an indoor greenhouse as well as placing it outside.
What can you grow in a mini greenhouse?
While it’s absolutely possible to grow vegetables and plants in a mini greenhouse, we would recommend you to use it mostly for herbs and spices. We noticed ourselves that when we started planting tomatoes, the mini size soon felt too small.
When we stuck to herbs we had plenty of room for different kinds: oregano, mint, spicy peppers, basil, … almost all herbs will do well in a mini greenhouse and if it receives enough sun, they will easily survive winter. Fresh spices all year long!
Take a look at some of our favorite mini greenhouses
Our recommendation:
Okngr Mini Greenhouse
The Okngr mini is the perfect portable greenhouse for small indoor or outdoor gardening. The PVC design is foldable and lightweight so you can move it according to the season. The greenhouse protects your plants from the frost, cold in winter and from pets in the summer.
👍 Advantages
- Full protection from frost, cold and pets
- Foldable design
- Easy to carry
- Can be used indoor and outdoor
- Lightweight
👎 Disadvantages
- No bottom tray included
Our recommendation:
Ikea Greenhouse
This Ikea greenhouse is an easy to assemble and budget-friendly option for smaller plants. The polycarbonate panels provides indoor protection against pets. The roof vents can be placed in a halfway open position to allow air to circulate and the temperature to cool. Not the best design to keep in humidity, but the greenhouse maintains a decent amount of heat for the plants.
👍 Advantages
- Budget friendly
- Great for indoor gardening
- Easy to assemble (10 min)
- Perfect protection against pets
- Cute design
👎 Disadvantages
- Not waterproof, needs protection if you want to use it outside
- Not easy to move
Product unavailable.
Our recommendation:
HAPPYGRILL Greenhouse
The Happygrill greenhouse is a wooden greenhouse for gardeners who want to keep it small. The heavy-duty wood ensures extended durability and a strong hold for seed trays and pots and plants.The design comes with foldable top parts that can open and close that make it easy to move around and provide air circulation when needed. All parts are detachable, so you can set it up wherever you want to, and move it when the seasons shift.
👍 Advantages
- Adjustable roof vent
- Door with lockable handle and magnetic catch
- Provides nice heat and humidity for the plants
- The polycarbonate panels provide over 70% light transmission with 100% protection from harmful UV rays
👎 Disadvantages
- Panels don’t fully seal so moisture can get in between
- Not easy to put together
- Lightweight material that can bend with strong wind
Our recommendation:
Gardman R687 4-Tier Mini Greenhouse
The Gardman mini greenhouse is ieadl for small backyards or homes where space is an issue. It is easy to assemble and great for beginners gardening because it holds heat and moisture well. The greenhouse is not very windproof, so it might be a good idea to put an extra weight on the bottom.
👍 Advantages
- Very budget friendly
- Ideal for small backyards or homes where space is an issue
- Great for indoor gardening
- Easy to assemble
- Holds heat and moisture well
- Great for beginners
👎 Disadvantages
- Not suitable for ceramic pots
- Not very wind proof → a weight on the bottom might help
- Needs an extra heat source at night
Best 6×4 greenhouses
A 6×4 greenhouse is perfect for when you have some outside space you want to dedicate to growing vegetables and plants and you want to have enough room to easily grow some bigger plants. When you are looking for a 6×4, there are two main types. Either you go for a plastic foil greenhouse or a polycarbonate one with an aluminum structure. Both offer some advantages and disadvantages, so base your decision on what it is you’re looking for.
The plastic foil is the more budget-friendly option, but will offer less protection against weather conditions and has a shorter lifespan. This option is also not the best choice if you’re planning on heating your greenhouse during winter. As the plastic foil is so thin, all the heat would flow right out of your greenhouse. If you want to be able to move your greenhouse around or you want to use it mainly during spring, summer, and fall, this is the right pick for you.
A polycarbonate 6×4 size will offer you a lot more possibilities, as the insulation is better and more efficient. It’s a steady structure and should last you many years. They are priced a little higher but will give you the opportunity to grow almost everything and keep growing vegetables all year long.
Before you decide on which greenhouse is the best fit for you, make sure to consider your budget, climate, the kind of plants you want to grow, and whether or not you want to be able to use it during winter.
Our best 6×4 greenhouse picks
Our recommendation:
Outsunny 6′ x 4′ x 7′ Polycarbonate Greenhouse Walk-in
The Outsunny greenhouse is a budget-friendly walk-in greenhouse for outdoor with UV-fighting polycarbonate sheets. The design also has a sliding door and a rooftop panel to provide air circulation. This greenhouse takes some time to assemble, because it needs an extra wooden frame to make it really sturdy.
👍 Advantages
- UV-fighting polycarbonate sheets
- Sliding door
- Rooftop panel to provide air circulation
- Budget-friendly option
👎 Disadvantages
- Best to put clear caulk in the plastic along the metal frame
- Takes some time to assemble (around 14 hours), instructions could be better
- You need a good wood frame to make the greenhouse sturdy for outside
- Polycarbonate outdoor greenhouse
- UV-resistant polycarbonate sheets
- Powder-coated aluminum alloy frame with galvanized base provides solid support to your entire structure
Our recommendation:
Palram 6×4 Hybrid Hobby Greenhouse
The Palram Hybrid is the perfect greenhouse for everyone who wants to have security and solidity. Although the design is lightweight and a challenge to assemble, it proves to be very sturdy once put together. Snow and wind should not be a problem. The magnetic hinged door can be assembled as either a right or left hand door to the gardener’s preferences.The design also features a built-in gutter system for water drainage and collection.
👍 Advantages
- Roof panels protect from strong sunlight exposure
- Very sturdy if properly assembled and anchored → tip: Make everything 75% tight, and do a final tightening only after everything is fully assembled and squared
- Easy to assemble
- Magnetic door catch
- Built-in gutter system for water drainage and collection
👎 Disadvantages
- Thin panels
- Best to assemble on perfectly flat base
Best 6×8 and 6×6 greenhouses
Whether this is categorized as a small greenhouse or not, depends on your frame of reference. We still qualify these as suitable for most backyards and thus smallish. Most of what we said in the 6×4 greenhouse is also applicable to the 6×8 greenhouse size, although you will have more options to choose from, especially in polycarbonate. There might be even some small glass greenhouses available in 6×8.
When you’re going for a 6×8 greenhouse you will have loads of room to grow your plants. It’s the perfect size when you want to get started with a decent size greenhouse, without it taking up too much space in your backyard.
If you are considering a small glass greenhouse, it’s good to know that while this is aesthetically definitely the prettiest option, it’s also more expensive. These greenhouses are a beautiful addition to your backyard and their durability is even better than polycarbonate. If you are willing to spend a little more, this might be a perfect option for you!
Our favorite 6×8 greenhouses
Our recommendation:
Palram HG5008 Mythos Hobby Greenhouse, 6′ x 8′ x 7′
The Palram Mythos Hobby Greenhouse is a lightweight greenhouse that distinguishes itself with their magnetic catch door with lockable handle. Although the greenhouse is not that easy to assemble, once put together it provides a snow and windproof environment for the plants. The design features a built-in gutter system for water drainage and collection and the polycarbonate panels protects the plants from harmful UV-rays. To make the greenhouse completely leak-proof, you can apply silicone caulking around the edges of the windows.
👍 Advantages
- Magnetic door catch
- Built-in gutter system for water drainage and collection
- Polycarbonate panels provide over 70% light transmission with 100% protection from harmful UV rays
- Very strong once assembled
- Snow and wind proof
- Includes extra screws and pieces
👎 Disadvantages
- No flooring included
- Doesn’t stay warm overnight in cold temperatures
- Takes some time to assemble (around 2 days)
- Good idea to apply silicone caulking around the edges of the windows and put weatherproof tape over the windows to make it sturdier and leak-proof
Our recommendation:
Outsunny 6′ x 8′ x 7′ Polycarbonate Greenhouse
The Outsunny greenhouse is a budget-friendly walk-in greenhouse for outdoor with UV-fighting polycarbonate sheets. The design also has a sliding door and a rooftop panel to provide air circulation. This greenhouse takes some time to assemble, because it needs an extra wooden frame to make it really sturdy.
👍 Advantages
- UV-fighting polycarbonate sheets
- Includes sliding door
- Rooftop vent panel
- Spacious
- Fairly sturdy, but not the best with very strong winds
👎 Disadvantages
- You need a good wood frame to make greenhouse sturdy for outside
- Difficult to assemble, you need at least two people
- Panels are not the best quality
- UV-resistant polycarbonate sheets
- Powder-coated aluminum alloy frame with galvanized base provides solid support to your entire structure
Our recommendation:
Outsunny 8′ x 6′ x 7′ Portable Water/UV Walk-in Greenhouse
This Outsunny 8′ x 6′ x 7 is a very spacious greenhouse that is ideal for beginners. It is easy to assemble and sturdy afterwards. The design self-waters the plants and holds the heat very well. It also has a large door for easy access. The shelves that are included in the kit are not designed for heavy items, but can be stabilized with some extra zip ties.
👍 Advantages
- Large door for easy access
- Very spacious
- Self-waters the plant
- Holds heat very well
- Great for beginners
- Sturdy
- Very budget friendly
👎 Disadvantages
- Easy to assemble (2 hours)
- Stakes that are included are not that good, it is better to buy tent stakes in addition
- Shelves are not designed for heavy items, can be stabilized with zip ties
- Spacious and light-weight to fit any backyard, deck, patio or indoor setting
- High-quality, water-resistant, transparent plastic covering with grid threading
- Roll-up zippered front door for easy access to the inside
I hope we’ve shown you that there’s a perfect greenhouse for every space. Still in doubt? Let us convince you to start greenhousing today!
Article photo source: Outsunny
