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Hobby Greenhouses vs Commercial Greenhouses
Hobby Greenhouses vs Commercial Greenhouses

What is the difference between a hobby and commercial greenhouse?

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Written by Jerad Lauzier
Updated over a week ago

Firstly there is a distinction between functional hobby greenhouses and those intended to be ornate. If the greenhouse is built with creative architecture in mind the goal is aesthetic. We'll be focusing on functional greenhouses in this answer. The purpose of any sort of functional greenhouse is to create the best growing environment possible for your crop.

Commercial Greenhouses Are:

  • Designed to create profits and prioritize efficiency

  • Often more exposed and require thicker steel, more bows (smaller sidewall spacing), and other more robust materials

  • Scaled to produce cost-efficient harvests, with footprints ranging from one thousand to one million square feet

  • Structured with practical features like larger doors at each end

  • Designed to accommodate more elaborate ventilation systems with exhaust fans, intake shutters, and light traps

  • Built to accommodate all phases of production and adequate room for employees to work comfortably

  • Integrated with environmental controllers and all necessary equipment to optimize growing conditions

commercial greenhouse frame

Hobby Greenhouses Are:

  • Designed for fun as much as production

  • Usually less exposed to the elements wedged between residential homes

  • Sized smaller to require less labor intensiveness

  • Structured in a less robust way which saves on costs

  • Usually include simpler ventilation like roll-up sides

  • Sometimes comically sophisticated as a result of an owner/operator going hard on automation

  • Hosts to a variety of strains and sometimes entirely different crops which can change how "purpose-built" they are

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