Greenhouses are becoming a very popular option for people who love to garden, have decided to start gardening, or want to start a gardening business. With the rising cost of fruits and vegetables at the local market many are turning to green houses in order to extend their ability to get fresh produce year round without having to pay the exorbitant prices found at the grocery store.

There are many types of green houses and the cost, depending on the materials used, can range from the fairly inexpensive to the quite expensive. Unless you are lucky enough to not have to worry about living on a budget and can afford to buy an entire green house set up then your best option is to build your own greenhouse. Fortunately, this is rather easy and can be done for $200 or even less.

First you must decide whether you require a free standing type of green house or one of the “lean-to” style green houses that are built right against your house. Both have their pros and cons.

Here are the basic instructions for building a small and super easy green house for around $25.

You will need the following item to construct this small, but efficient, 5′ x 5′ greenhouse. Four, ten foot sections of 1/2″ PVC Pipe. Your total cost for these should run about $8.00. Four 1/2″ Corner Elbow Connectors, each connector should have 3 ports. Four 1/2″ Adapters. The connectors and adapters should run you about $4.00. You will also need Primer and PVC Cement. These items should run you about $5.50. You are going to require a pair of scissors, and since most people already own a pair of scissors, or can at least borrow a pair, this shouldn’t coat you anything. You will need some of those long ‘Zip Ties’, you can generally get a pack of these for around a buck at the local dollar discount store. You’re also going to need a hack saw. These come pretty cheap, but if you already have one, or can borrow one, then it’ll cost you zip. Finally, you will need a six foot by six foot sheet of heavy duty plastic sheeting. Don’t bother wasting your money on that thin, clear plastic, it won’t last past a single season. A box of the heavy duty, 10′ x 25′ roll of plastic runs about $15 at your local home improvement/gardening store.

The PVC pipe cement and primer smell really strong and can have a nasty effect on your grey matter and lungs, so always use this stuff in a well ventilated area. Assembling the pipes in a well ventilated area, such as a porch, patio or driveway is a good idea. Make sure the work area is clean and dry as well.

Now, start by cutting two of the ten foot sections of your PVC pipe into five foot long halves. This should give you four, five foot sections of PVC pipe.

Now, swab the inside bits of the elbow pieces and the ends of two of the 5′ sections of PVC pipe with the primer. Do not swab the inside bit of the threaded elbows pieces with primer. Once the primer has dried, simply attach the elbows to the primed ends of the two 5′ sections of PVC pipe with the PVC cement.

Next, take the ten foot section of PVC pipe and attach to the unthreaded end of an elbow with PVC cement and press the pipe down firmly into the elbow.

After the cement dries, (this takes only a few minutes), carefully bend the ten foot section of PVC pipe and attached it to the other unthreaded end of the five foot section of pipe with the PVC cement. You might need some help to get this bit done. This will give you the shape for your green house.

Repeat the previous four steps to set up the other end of your little greenhouse.

Lay an end of your greenhouse frame on the plastic sheeting and cut out the end piece to attach. Be sure to leave at least 6 inches overlap. Allow for corners to be cut out in an L and pleat curve side. Only cut pleats about half way into the sheeting. Do not cut all the way down to the pipe line.

Now you get to attach the plastic sheeting to the frame with the zip ties you bought. Starting with the straight edge of the frame, start tucking the plastic sheeting around the pipe. Cut very small holes through the plastic right next to the frame. Loop your ties through your holes and pull them as tight as possible and cut off the tie tails. Repeat this procedure all the way around your frame.

Now, screw your threaded adapters into the ends of your threaded elbow and attach your remaining five foot sections of PVC pipe to the adapters to finish your frame. All that is left is to simply cover your frame with remaining plastic sheeting, cut it to size, and attach your plastic sheeting
with zip ties from top of your greenhouse frame to about half way down the frame. Doing this gives you access to the inside of your greenhouse and allows the air to flow on those nice breezy days.

Weigh down, or clamp, the edges of the plastic sheeting to the frame. It’s easy enough to keep your greenhouse frame from blowing over on a really windy day/night by simply anchoring it down with basic tent spikes. Cut very small holes in top of the plastic to prevent rain water from puddling and weighing the plastic down.

This simple and effective greenhouse takes only about an hour to make, give or take a few minutes. This basic design can be easily tweaked to make a larger greenhouse as needed.