Greenhouse advice

[Cactusgirl]

I'm going to buy an 8x10 Eden greenhouse as I'm now addicted to collecting cacti! I want to purchase the polycarbonate version as although more expensive I think it may be easier to maintain and keep heated in winter. I'm also interested in solar cooling/hearing devices. Can anyone offer any advice or recommendations please with regard to any of the above!? Thanks

[Mandy]

I personally would go for a glass greenhouse there more sturdy, my friend got a polycarbonate one and in bad wind it blow the panels through. But this is just my apinuin. There's not enough wait to them.

[Cactusgirl]

Hi thanks for that Mandy. The Eden site states the greenhouses have very strong strengthened frames and bars & are same frames in the range whether you choose glass, toughened glass or polycarbonate. Hopefully someone will have experience of Eden greenhouses. Thanks

[Mandy]

Which every you go for enjoy, I've just built a new 10ftx10ft greenhouse needed more space as i have started a cacti collection, l can see why members say they can be addictive. Every time I go to a garden centre I go looking for one I haven't got, it's like being in a sweetshop.

[Chris L]

Unless the GH is going to be in a very sheltered area I would go for toughned glass every time.

Glass is very much heavier than polycarbonate.

[Aiko]

I would also go with glass. No doubt. Much more sturdy in storms (I assume, I don't have polycarbonate experience besides a cold frame I use to keep my winter active plants free of freezing during winter to heath up just that little space of the cold fame).

Glass is also heavier, so in case you have a window open with a lot of wind, it will stay where it is and will not be lifted up so easily. And glass is more robust than you might expect. I do have glass panes in the top of my greenhouse with a big crack starting from the side at about half its length, running straight to the middle of the top. Probably happened in a storm many years ago. It survived many more storms after that with that big crack.

And if you want to replace a pane. I suspect glass will be cheaper (assuming you buy it a a greenhouse seller, that can cut the glass to fit. The 'normal' glass sellers will be much more expensive, so know where to buy new glass!).

I doubt polycarbonate is easy to clean, though. Glass certainly is!

[D^L]

I think that it is not the strength of the frame that worries people about polycarbonate. Instead it is the strength and stiffness of the actual panes. Under wind load these tend to bend and can pop out of the frame.
To be fair I too only have experience of glass in a greenhouse but I'd be very wary of using polycarbonate.
Cheers
David Lambie
Bristol

[Paul in Essex]

Glass is also more transparent and easier to clean. Once moisture gets in between the layers of twin wall polycarbonate, as it inevitably will, algae quickly develops and soon becomes unsightly.

[Cactusgirl]

Thanks everyone for the advice and very useful comments - certainly given me a lot to think about! Thanks

[Aiko]

And if you want to replace a pane. I suspect glass will be cheaper (assuming you buy it a a greenhouse seller, that can cut the glass to fit. The 'normal' glass sellers will be much more expensive, so know where to buy new glass!).

I believe I have to pay 8 euros for a pane cut to fit at my greenhouse seller, which is in my case a pane of about 150 centimeters by 80 centimeters. I don't think polycarbonate will be that cheap.