I give up. No - one more attempt.

LilacPixie

I took the cover off mine for that very reason.

Primrose

I've got one of these greenhouses and them being unstable in the wind never really occurred to me until the first spring I used it, when it was full of all my germinating vegetable seed trays and I looked out of the window to see in blown over on the patio and all my seed trays and compost spread everywhere. I lost virtually everything and had to resow.

After that disaster my husband drilled two wall bolt into the house wall against which it was standing, about two thirds of the way up its height, about 18 inches apart. We have threaded a long nylon luggage strap (the sort you can buy from Halfords) through the bolts and strapped it round the outside of the whole structure, and clipped it tight through the adjustable clasp at the front. Ever since then it has remained as solid as a rock in some pretty heavy winds. If you position the bolts on the wall/fence/shed just about the height where the zipped flap is in the fully open position you won't have any problems unzipping it for ventilation and putting items on the top shelf.

I honestly wouldn't recommend using these mini greenhouses without some kind of structure to strap them firmly to a strong fence, shed or house wall. Sooner or later, even in sheltered conditions they will fall foul to a gust of wind and be blown over, usually with unfortunate results for all the plants you have in them. A full growbag on the bottom shelf might just be enough weight to anchor it down, but a good strap two thirds of the way up its height will keep the whole thing much more stable than weights on the bottom shelf.

Yorkie1

I've used string round the outside of mine and a fence post or a drainpipe. No weights on the bottom. The string hasn't given way and no need to poke holes in the plastic. I guess you do need alternative methods if you haven't got an upright post of some description to tie it to, though.

wssla00

The worst part about mine was it was tethered to my fence it just crumpled in the mad winds we have had here today!

ginnyknit

I lost all my first seedlings when my new greenhouse blew down and not a wolf or piggy in sight! So all my crops are late this year. Dh put a paving stone on the bottom shelf and today it happily withstood the winds we had, Ive actually taken the cover off and am using it as shelves cos I ran out of space. this should also extend the life of the cover...I hope... am going to buy a couple more soon as they are getting cheaper all the time. I am amazed how much it helped this year and like many others i couldn't afford the real thing.

Craftyscholar

Sorry to everyone who has also had problems - still it is a bit of a comfort to know I'm not alone.

It looks as if tying to a fence and sinking feet into ground with weight in the bottom is the way to go (so much for 'being ideal on a patio'!)

I do have a potential spot if I move something into front garden - after I make a space there :rotfl:

pinkpig08

You could always still have it on the patio and put a paver in the bottom as another poster did? Do you have a drainpipe on the house or something you could tie it to?

SallyForth_2

If you think about it, plastic growhouses are no more likely to stay put than a gazebo, tent or other temporary shelter, and who puts those up without anchoring them down.

Craftyscholar

SallyForth wrote: »

If you think about it, plastic growhouses are no more likely to stay put than a gazebo, tent or other temporary shelter, and who puts those up without anchoring them down.

True - it has gone over before, but I had more in it this time so more annoyed. I had moved it to what I thought was a more sheltered spot - think the wind just came from the wrong direction and it was very strong.
Mind you one of my neighbours had his big sunshade/brolly take off the other week - sailed over two garages, but fortunately came to rest without causing damage.

Primrose

The other problem to watch out for with this plastic greenhouses, especially in this heat is that the plastic can start to semi-melt at the top of the structure and stick onto the hot metal roof rods. Then it will tear a hole in it when you try to pull it off to remove the cover. This recently happened to me. Or condensation can form on the top metal rods and cause rust paches, which will also stick to the plastic at the contact points and tear it. I've wrapped some bent empty loo rolls over the top contact points as a temporary cure but really must get round to removing the cover and putting some waterproof Duct tape around the top metal poles where it comes into contact with the plastic cover to act as a barrier between metal and plastic cover, as hopefully this will prolong the life of my cover.