RIGA XL 6 (standard) Professional Greenhouse

Upstate NY has long hard winters, but this Christmas (2016) it hit 96 degrees in my greenhouse and the tropical plants are loving it. The shape seems to shed the snow really well and it has enough height for most plants. I used 1/2 inch pipe insulation over the aluminum arches to minimize the condensation, I keep the humidity high for the plants. A gas furnace keeps it warm (65 degrees F) and a 1 KW grow light helps with the dark snowy days. If we're not out there I leave a portable heater's pilot light on to keep the carbon dioxide levels from dropping too low, there is only about 1 air exchange per hour (it seals well) and the plants need a little more carbon dioxide of optimal growth. The optional aluminum foundation worked well, and the floor is decorative stones in a plastic grid material that makes the stones very stable to walk on. The kits directions were good but don't under estimate the other work like leveling the site and bringing in gas, water, and electric. Exaco was very good about taking care of some minor parts issues with this complex kit. It is now a tropical paradise with bananas, papayas, plumeria, coffee, tea, avocado, cinnamon, orange, lime, guava, figs, Hawaiian tree fern and lots of orchids. We're very happy with it and everyone says it looks good.

So far we're using our greenhouse as a chicken coop. Chickens love it, natural light but plenty of space to dig and scratch. Funner than a small dark coop b/c we can walk inside the chicken coop and enjoy being with the chickens without being crowded. We use an electric dog water bowl and the chicken feeder hangs from the ceiling frame. A 2x4 spans the rear of the coop for roosting. In the spring all doors and vents need to be open else it gets too hot. We had custom cut aluminum panels to change the front door from solid panels to something more like a fence (chickens need fresh cool air). Also, we hung chicken wire over the back window so that can be open in the summer. Through the winter we just let the deep bedding straw and compost mixture build up and mix it with our boots every so often..... easy, no coop to clean. When we sold our house, 3 adults lifted the greenhouse, put it on a trailer and towed it to our new location (~25mph). Great product, great for chickens in the winter! Assembly took 1.5 days by myself, would be a lot faster with 2 people. Soon we hope to use it as a real greenhouse.

After wrestling with the city for permits, I finally was able to build my greenhouse in about 3 days. The directions were a bit lacking, but I work construction and was able to figure it out. It seems to have survived well thru its first snow storm.I have some leftover parts and not sure what they go to.

I've had the Riga greenhouse now for at least 4 years, no sign at all of any problems. It did go together very straightforward and I feel paying a little more for a quality product was a good choice. If we'd had the room, I sure would have gotten a larger one, but this does just fine. I did add a thermal opener for the back window, in addition to the roof vent, these things sure get hot in the summer, even with shade cloth. This is a quality product backed up by the quality company that imports them.

I can't say enough good things about this greenhouse. Quality materials and careful engineering made for an investment that has increased my quality of life! The manual, because of the German/English language barrier, is confusing, but the videos provided were very detailed and got us through the construction process, even with some modifications we made. Best part was the excellent and super-responsive customer service. These folks want you to love your greenhouse and will help you through whatever questions arise.