So you want a greenhouse but you've never really grown anything before. Or maybe you've tried outdoor gardening and it didn't go well. Frost killed your tomatoes. Bugs ate your lettuce. The deer got everything else.

Here's something that might surprise you: greenhouse gardening is actually easier than outdoor gardening. Not harder. You're not fighting the weather anymore. You control what happens inside those walls.

About 40% of the people who buy from us have never grown food before. They do fine. If they can figure it out, so can you.

Why a greenhouse makes things easier

Outside, you're gambling. You plant tomatoes in May, cross your fingers, and hope a late frost doesn't kill them. You hope the rain comes when you need it and stops when you don't. You hope the bugs find someone else's garden.

Inside a greenhouse, you stop hoping and start controlling. Temperature stays stable. Rain doesn't matter. Most bugs can't get in. Your tomato plants don't care what the weather is doing outside because they're not outside.

That's the whole point. You remove most of the variables that make gardening frustrating.

What to actually grow your first year

Everyone wants to grow everything. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, corn, twelve types of lettuce, exotic herbs they saw on a cooking show.

Don't do that.

Pick three or four things. Get good at those. Expand next year when you know what you're doing.

If I had to pick a starter list, it would be: tomatoes, lettuce, basil, and peppers. Tomatoes because that's probably why you want a greenhouse in the first place. Lettuce because it grows fast and you'll have success within a month. Basil because it's almost impossible to kill and you'll use it constantly. Peppers because they grow just like tomatoes once you figure those out.

Skip melons your first year. Skip anything that needs a ton of space. Skip the weird stuff. Just get some wins first.

The size question

Here's the conversation I have constantly:

Someone emails asking about our smallest greenhouse. I ask what they want to grow. They list off tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, herbs, maybe some flowers, and they want to start seedlings in spring.

That doesn't fit in a small greenhouse. Not even close.

People always underestimate how much space plants actually need. A single tomato plant wants about 4 square feet once it's fully grown. Add walking space between rows. Add a small table for seedlings. Add somewhere to put your tools and pots.

An 8x10 fills up way faster than you'd think. Most families who actually want to grow real food end up needing at least a 10x12, often bigger.

I know the smaller greenhouse is cheaper. But buying too small and then wishing you'd gone bigger is one of the most common regrets we hear. If you have the space and the budget, get one size larger than you think you need.

Our Premium Polycarbonate Greenhouse starts at 10x13 and goes up to 10x39. The 10x16 is what most people end up choosing — it's enough room to grow food for a family without being overwhelming.

→ See sizes and pricing: https://gardeningculture.com/products/polycarbonate-greenhouse-kit

What you'll actually spend

Let me be straight about the money part.

A quality greenhouse that lasts 15-20 years costs somewhere between $2,000 and $4,000 depending on size. You can find cheaper ones at big box stores for $500-800, but those fall apart in 2-3 years. You end up buying multiple cheap ones, which costs more than just buying a good one upfront.

Beyond the greenhouse itself, budget maybe $100-200 for soil and pots, another $50-100 for seeds or starter plants, and some basic tools if you don't have them already. Call it $2,500-4,000 total to get started properly.

Here's the payback though: a 10x12 greenhouse can produce $3,000-4,000 worth of vegetables per year. Most people break even within the first 12-18 months. After that it's just free food for the next couple decades.

→ Read our full breakdown on costs and ROI: https://gardeningculture.com/blogs/growing-guides/greenhouse-buying-guide

The mistakes that actually matter

I could list fifty things beginners do wrong, but most of them don't really matter. Plants are forgiving. You'll figure it out.

But there are a few mistakes that actually cause problems:

Buying too small. Already covered this. Go bigger than you think.

Overwatering. This kills more beginner plants than anything else. Soil in a greenhouse stays moist way longer than outdoor soil because there's no wind drying it out and no sun baking it. Stick your finger two inches into the soil. If it's still damp, don't water. Seriously. More plants die from too much water than too little.

Forgetting about heat. Greenhouses get hot. Really hot. On a sunny 75°F day, the inside can hit 110°F or higher. You need vents. All our greenhouses come with ventilation windows, but you actually have to open them. Get in the habit of checking the temperature, especially in spring and summer.

Putting it in a bad spot. Full sun, minimum six hours a day. Close to a water source so you're not dragging hoses everywhere. Level ground. Somewhere you'll actually walk to in January when it's cold out.

Most other mistakes — wrong soil mix, planting too early, fertilizing wrong — those are fixable. The ones above are harder to undo.

What about winter?

Depends on where you live.

If you're in zones 7-10 (roughly the southern half of the country), you can grow cold-hardy stuff all winter with no additional heat. Lettuce, spinach, kale, herbs — they'll do fine.

If you're in colder zones (3-6), you have options. You can add a small electric heater to keep things above freezing. You can focus on cold-hardy crops that can handle some frost. Or you can take the winter off and start fresh in early spring, using the greenhouse to get a 6-8 week head start on the outdoor season.

The twin-wall polycarbonate panels on our greenhouses insulate pretty well — way better than single-pane glass or thin plastic. But they're not magic. In Minnesota in January, you'll need some heat if you want to keep tropical plants alive.

→ Check our FAQ for more on cold-climate growing: https://gardeningculture.com/pages/faq

Which greenhouse if you're just starting out

We sell two main styles.

The Premium Polycarbonate Greenhouse has an arch-shaped roof. Snow and rain slide right off. The curved design is what commercial growers use because it's structurally the strongest shape you can build. If you live somewhere with real winters, this is probably the better choice.

→ https://gardeningculture.com/products/polycarbonate-greenhouse-kit

The Heavy-Duty Greenhouse Kit has a traditional peaked roof — the classic greenhouse look. Double doors on both ends make it easy to move stuff in and out. If you want something that looks like a "proper" greenhouse and you live in a moderate climate, this works great.

→ https://gardeningculture.com/products/heavy-duty-greenhouse-kit

Both are built with the same galvanized steel frames and 4mm polycarbonate panels. Both handle 65 mph winds and heavy snow. Both have a 10-year warranty. The main difference is the roof shape and what that means for snow shedding and interior height.

Still nervous?

That's normal. Spending a few thousand dollars on something you've never done before is intimidating.

Here's what I'd tell a friend: the worst case scenario is you spend a year figuring it out and don't grow as much as you hoped. The best case is you're eating fresh tomatoes in January while everyone else is buying mealy grocery store produce.

Either way, you'll learn. And unlike a lot of hobbies, this one actually saves you money once you get decent at it.

Questions before you buy? Email us at hello@gardeningculture.com. We talk to beginners every day. There's no such thing as a dumb question.

→ Browse all our greenhouses:https://gardeningculture.com/collections/greenhouses