Customer Reviews for Exaco Riga 9 ft. 8 in. x 17 ft. 2 in. German Hobby Greenhouse

This is a major piece of fine equipment. I spent a lot of time reading and researching various greenhouses and this one seemed to have a number of details well thought out. It is so well made that if you pay attention to the directions it goes together perfectly. We have installed it on a concrete driveway and it stayed pretty warm through a cold Utah winter with 2 minor little heaters. We live in an extremely windy place and the special safety wires for the vents have held up well. We even installed an extra one for the open door. The space is great and we even built a feral cat shelter into the back left corner!

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.

My husband and I really love this greenhouse. We were looking for something that would fit in our small backyard yet give us enough space to grow seed starters. This greenhouse is very well made and we use just a small milk house heater thru the winter and it stays quite warm in there. We have had this for about 4 years and it has exceeded our expectations. We have quite hot summers where we live and the only parts that need replaced since we bought it is the extended arm for the gable end window to hold the window open and a couple of the flat panels that the seed trays sit on. We also love the automatic vent openers on the 2 windows, it saves a lot of running back and forth to open and close according to the weather, and the large black seed trays that came with it hold a lot of plants/seeds in a small area. Overall we are very happy with our purchase.

We have had our Riga greenhouse thru a couple Northern Minnesota winters now. It has stood through bitter cold and blowing winds (that took down many trees!). Greens that finally freeze in late-December miraculously revive in mid-February for fresh spinach, kale, even romaine lettuce. In summer, we do tomatoes, cukes, peppers, all the things that being perched next to Lake Superior has made so difficult in the past. This is a very well-designed greenhouse; we assembled it with just two people. I recommend getting a third person to help. The assembly instruktions (poorly translated from German), are a bit of a challenge. But it does all go together, and stays together, for great growing.

It is now a year + later and I am still very pleased with this structure. It is very functional much more energy efficient than my previous one and has even survived a hurricane. Definately not a single man job and probably would have been much easier with three persons but two ole guys were quite successful.

We have been using it for 10 months and love it. I chose the Riga because it seemed to hold up well in the snow for other users and I have not been disappointed. The shape of the greenhouse allows rain and snow to fall off easily and it still looks beautiful in the garden. I did underestimate the need for shade in the summer and we have none where we set it up so I will share what worked well for us. You will see lots of pics from people using shade cloth on the outside, wouldn't that be nice! We live in a high wind area and that was not an option for us. I ended up getting aluminet (80% for the south side and 50% for the north side) shade cloth and hung it inside using the extra bolts that came with the greenhouse, don't throw those away. We just hung the cloth up and used washers with the bolts to hold it snug to the aluminum supports and cut flaps for the top window vents. Sometimes I would spray it down with water and that really dropped the temp. For the future though I planted some trees around it, the cloth is a bit of a hassle. I was surprised how easy it was to install the ventilation fan and louvers, I thought the sheets would be hard to cut but they really were not, we just used a jigsaw with a fine blade. I think it took us 2 days to set up the greenhouse itself with 3 people and we did the ventilation on another day. You really do need 3 people. Some of it is not intuitive but the video provided by Exaco was really great and they were there to help us with any other questions. For the floor I have 3 zones, pavers in the middle for walking, rock on weed barrier on the right for potted plants, and a compost mix 3 ft wide along the south wall for planting in ground. We actually built the greenhouse in Feb thanks to a mild winter and I was able to use it for starting seedlings. I also planted carrots and lettuce in ground and had a nice crop early.

I live in Downeast Maine and bought my Riga greenhouse 10 years ago. It provides vegetables and herbs from March through November. When some panels showed deterioration last year, I called Exaco and found that they were originally installed with the UV coating on the wrong side. Exaco sent me replacement panels just for the cost of shipping and said that the Riga now comes with UV coating on both sides. I think that is customer service "above and beyond!"

I been enjoying my greenhouse for five years now. Right about now (November) the seed catalogs arrive, a favorite time of the year. Come January-February I'll begin my seed germinating in the greenhouse. A small oil-filled electric heater keeps the temps above freezing. Sometimes I overwinter hot pepper plants inside, too.

I love this thing! Gets use all year and is excellent quality and value

The purchase of our Riga was one of the best buying decisions my wife and I have ever made. It is a top quality and value product. My wife wants to divorce me and marry the Riga.The service and support we received from the folks at Exaco was in a word "Outstanding". We purchased our Riga XL in 2011. To avoid potential issues be sure to follow assembly instructions carefully.

We assembled my Riga IV greenhouse this fall so that I can start my vegetables much earlier in the spring. The result is not only practical but beautiful. I bought this style because I live at a high elevation where we get a lot of snow in the long winter. The ceiling windows opened and closed automatically from the start. Exaco provided outstanding support, from my many phone calls to the great coordination of the delivery truck. Their DVD provided very helpful insights into the assembly. I also appreciate many of the details provided by the German engineering of the design. I'm thrilled with my final greenhouse and would recommend it to any of my friends.

Our Riga V is mounted on a stem wall. We grow vegetables year round in Northern New Mexico at 7800 ft. Retrofitted the doors for summer with screens to maintain temperatures. So great to have fresh tomatoes in the winter!

I bought this close to 3 years ago and love it. It was fun to put together and I have since added electricity so I can run fans, heat (only a little on coldest nights), and grow light. I use it to winter over plants as well as grow seedlings. I'm in it almost every day.

We bought a Riga 4 in the late fall of 2014. By the time it arrived the ground was frozen and snow covered so my husband and some neighbors assembled it in our garage. When the snow left early this year we got a bunch of friends to help move it to a pad in the garden and by March 4th I had planted lots of cold loving plants directly in the ground. Between the ground-planted crops and indoor-started plants being hardened off, the greenhouse has been continuously busy and productive ever since. COMPLETELY WITHOUT SUPPLEMENTAL HEAT, by mid-April we began harvesting loads of spinach, lettuce, green onions, radishes and bok choy until we began replacing these early veggies with heat lovers like tomatoes, peppers and muskmelon.There were a few nights early on where we had a borderline frost but no damage on the cool climate plants and now (June 7th) the trick will be to prevent overheating. I have had home made greenhouses before but NOTHING has matched the Riga performance. I am already harvesting peppers. This is all happening on a north-east facing slope at 3500 feet elevation in the Canadian Rockies. Amazing!

I bought this greenhouse in 2009 from Exaco and have had wonderful success with it. I am growing vegetables, herbs and flowers. It is SO well built and holds up in the big winds and snow that I get at 6,000 feet in the Southern California mountains. I also love the ventilation in the greenhouse as we can get 80-90 degree temperatures in the summer. During the summer I leave the top of the dutch door open along with the window on the opposite side of the greenhouse. This, together with the automatic windows on the top of the greenhouse, allows me to grow in the heat of summer. I also love the shelving on one side o the greenhouse with the panels that I can take out depending on how tall the plants under the shelf grow. I highly recommend this greenhouse.

We purchased a Riga 8 and are pleased with the quality and strength of the product. Assembly was well documented. Customer service was exceptional. Exaco is a first class operation. The Riga system is perfect for our windy location.

We purchased our greenhouse nine years ago and have been extremely happy with it ever since. The instructional DVD was invaluable in the construction of the greenhouse.

I bought my first Riga III Greenhouse in January of 2014. This is a sturdy little greenhouse! Lots of great features for the price. I did lots of "shopping around" before I purchased a greenhouse and just kept coming back to the Riga. By the end of my first "growing season" I sadly realized I had not bought a big enough one. I was determined to have something larger for 2015 so I started shopping around again. I just kept coming back to wanting another Riga. I was sold on its features and how sturdy it was. I knew it would survive our extreme Nebraska weather - wind, hail, rain, wind, snow, ice, heat, wind, cold....and did I say wind? Yep, my Riga endured and stood up to all that weather its first year. So.....in February of 2015 I purchased another Riga III greenhouse. I bought one identical to my first one and butted the two together to make one greenhouse! I now have all the room I need! And my plan to put the two together worked out perfectly! We mounted the door on the second greenhouse so it swings IN instead of out. I can close off the second greenhouse if I don't have plants in it or don't want to heat it. I now have two automatic roof vents, a window on one end and the divided door on the other end - just like it was when they were single greenhouses. The greenhouses butted together with only about a half inch space between them. We cut silver flashing and screwed it on to the outside of the greenhouses thus "connecting" them and sealing out any air. We also added clear calk to help seal and adhere the flashing to the greenhouses. There is absolutely NO air that seeps into the greenhouses through this small space. My greenhouses are mounted on 4X4 treated timbers. I have dirt floors which I have covered in ground soybean mulch which helps keep heat in and also absorbs water. They are firmly mounted to the ground with those tie downs that screw in to the ground. This greenhouse is secure! Might not withstand a Nebraska tornado, but it has stood strong through some 40-50 MPH winds. I am SO happy with my Riga greenhouse! I would recommend a Riga to anyone who is looking to buy a greenhouse. They are sturdy. I have no problem with keeping my Riga heated in the winter and cool in the spring/summer. And, like I said before, we have some pretty extreme weather here in Nebraska. You will not believe how quickly stuff germinates in this greenhouse. The conditions are perfect. My only advice would be to MAKE SURE you buy a big enough one the FIRST TIME! And....when it comes to assembly...the video that comes with the greenhouse is your best friend. Watch it at least once before you even attempt assembly. We took a laptop to our assembly site and watched the video step by step as we put it together. This being said it really wasn't that hard to put together and ours went up fairly fast. I just can't say enough how much I love my Riga greenhouse!

I asked a million questions to Andrew. I really researched this product. They answered all my questions and installed the Riga XL. I couldn't be happier with both the service and product. It's very rare you get this quality experience. The help I got in setting up the foundation to the greenhouse setup was amazing. Our greenhouse is even better than we imagined. We even purchased additional heaters and composting bins!

I am the horticulturist and garden manager for a large private estate located in Southern California. I grow organic vegetables for the estate and a nearby restaurant. Prior to acquiring the Riga III, I purchased my organic vegetable starts from a local grower. I was limited to the varieties that they chose to grow and had to deal with a lower level of quality than I wanted. After doing a LOT of online research, I decided that the Riga was the greenhouse that I wanted. I felt that the price was more than reasonable for all of the features offered. The ordering process and subsequent delivery was problem free. While the installation was somewhat challenging - with the aid of the video and the written instructions it was assembled by a team of three capable men in just over a day. Our greenhouse sits on a poured concrete pad that we installed with a drain and an irrigation quick coupler. This makes it easy to water and to keep the greenhouse clean inside. The Riga III is very roomy and I am able to have 32 flats of seedlings growing at the same time. The quality of my vegetable starts is amazing now! Seeds germinate in just a couple of days. The diffused light allows is perfect. I directly attribute the improved quality of the vegetables I am producing to the Riga III. I don't have to deal with snow here in Southern California- but as my greenhouse is sited on top of a hill in full sun- I do deal with high summer temperatures and occasional high winds up to 60 mph. The Riga is the only greenhouse I found that has a back wall window. The cross ventilation that I get by keeping the top of the dutch door open and the back window open really helps with keeping my summer temps low which helps to keep both my vegetables and ME comfortable as I like to work in the greenhouse in the afternoons. The Riga has withstood the winds like a champ! Of course, I didn't have to use my own money to pay for the greenhouse. My employer did that. But, I am so in love with this greenhouse that I am getting ready to buy one myself for my own backyard! I highly recommend this greenhouse to anyone who wants a beautiful, functional, strong, easy maintenance, high quality greenhouse in which to grow beautiful plants of any type!

We love our Riga and use it all year round. We are in Santa Ynez, CA. and load it up for the winter to protect all of our succulents and frost sensitive potted plants. In the summer, we put shade cloth over it and it becomes a playroom for our grandson and a alfresco dinning room at night.

The greenhouse arrived with all parts clearly labeled for installation. With two of us, it was erected easily and quickly. I’ve been using it to grow my summer and winter seeds successfully. And it has been a perfect place to overwinter my potted fuchsias. Plus it looks very sharp in the garden!

We looked for two years for the perfect greenhouse. We choose the Riga V because of the excellent ventilation, and it's proven to be top-notch!! We thought we'd have to empty the greenhouse by August becaues of the heat but due to the four roof vents, large back window and the dutch door, we didn't have to! And we haven't even put in the fan yet! As a result of the incredible ventilation, we had a full greenhouse and full garden all season long! It was awesome! We're doing the same thing this year. Right now we have blueberries, bell peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower, lettuce, Kale, potatoes, brocolli and strawberries that we're harvesting out of the greenhouse. This was the best purchase we ever made! We are having so much fun with it. The design is fabulous!! We're so pleased with the Riga V and highly recommend it!

It’s great! Couldn’t be happier.

The supplier (Exaco) has EXCELLENT customer service. They called me to be sure the greenhouse had been delivered undamaged, ask if I had any questions,etc. They also have pretty good assembly videos on their web site. Construction was fairly simple and straightforward. DEFINITELY a 2-3 person job.

We bought the Riga 10x17 and while it presented a number of difficulties to a single person putting it up (I did get around an hours worth of help when I absolutely needed it) I managed to get it all assembled and very pleased with it. We had power added and installed 15 sq in paving stones over a 2 - 3" bed of playground sand that helps to hold in the heat and it stays above freezing when the weather outside doesn't and warms nicely to the 60's during mid 30's outside. Never did really get the thing going, just some lettuce right now, but hopefully will have more time in the spring to really deck it out as we had planned!

i have bought 2 of these great for gardening in alaska

I have had my greenhouse for almost two years now, and I love it. It has held up great and is very sturdy. I had it installed by our favorite handyman who did a fantastic job making sure it was appropriately secured to the ground on treated 4x4's with 18" long stakes. As a result it has held up to the very strong Souther Utah winds without a problem. Unless you are very handy, with a good eye for basic engineering, setting this up is not a project you will want to take on. Even if you have those skills, there are parts of the process that will be much easier with two people working together. I over-winter potted plants, start seeds in the early spring and keep my collection of succulents in the greenhouse. I get a lot of use out of it! During the winter I run a heater overnight to keep the plants warm - it is usually 10º - 30º outside, so the greenhouse can't keep things warm enough on its own. But during the day I rarely have to run the heater and even have to open a window sometimes! I did a lot of research and comparison shopping before choosing the RIGA brand, and have been very satisfied with my purchase.