Is Costco's Top-Rated Mini Greenhouse Really Worth The Hype? Here's What Users Say

If you're looking to elevate your gardening game, greenhouses offer a variety of advantages. With the right greenhouse, you can control the microclimate around your plants for specific growing conditions, as well as keep your prized plants protected from pests. As a result, for the gardener looking to take their setup to the next level, it may be worthwhile to consider adding a greenhouse to their outdoor space. However, if space is a concern, don't fret yet. Instead, there are mini greenhouses available that offer many of the same benefits while being small-space-savvy, as well as DIY greenhouse options.

Costco offers an online exclusive mini greenhouse under the brand name Juwel, which is currently available for $339.99. The Juwel Bio Star mini greenhouse features 8 millimeter thick polycarbonate panels vs glass. It also includes a special coating to reduce condensation, helping prevent overwatering, as well as all the supplies needed for installation aside from a screwdriver and pliers.

However, even when opting for a smaller option like the Juwel Bio Star, you want to make sure you're choosing a high-quality, well-rated greenhouse for your yard. This often involves looking beyond the specifications and diving into the nitty-gritty: The reviews. Looking at what previous buyers have to say about their purchase can be a great way to gauge the overall quality of a greenhouse, helping you make smart shopping decisions. At the time of writing, the Juwel mini greenhouse has 4.4 stars out of five, with 588 reviews.

Overall, the Juwel greenhouse received a variety of positive remarks in its reviews. Many of the reviews revolve around the functionality of this greenhouse, especially its automatic opening. While the assembly itself overall seemed easy, there were a few complaints about the vagueness of the instructions, which could lead to confusion, as noted by one verified buyer on Costco, SandraJ, who said, "I put together the cold frame in less than one hour. Most of the time was spent figuring out how to connect the panels due to (needlessly) vague drawings (step 5). Once that was sorted out, it went very smoothly."

James, another verified buyer who left a review on the Costco website, shared a similar sentiment as SandraJ, noting they had to switch some of the sections after building due to having them reversed. However, despite this hiccup, they also praised the automatic open feature, saying, "What makes this really worth the money is the automatic opening of the center panel. This has worked flawlessly so far, and without it, you would have to manually open a panel every time you have a sunny day or else your plants would cook."

When it comes to any negative experiences with the Juwel mini greenhouse, even those included in overall positive reviews, the instructions were mentioned often. However, another issue some reviewers reported was a lack of additional hardware, which required replacing defective or missing pieces. Verified buyer Plant Dog summed this up in their review, saying, "Hardware is exact quantity only with no extras, and of course, one of the wing nuts was defective. This required a trip to the hardware store to replace the made-in-Austria metric wingnut."

To get a clear sense of whether or not the Juwel Bio Star mini greenhouse was worth the hype, Outdoor Guide took the time to research the design and customer feedback available on Costco's website. Not every person may have the same experience with a product, and we wanted to consider all perspectives presented by verified buyers.

In all, the Juwel greenhouse received mostly positive reviews, with many reviewers noting their overall satisfaction with the greenhouse. However, for a thorough evaluation, we wanted to weigh both the positives and any potential drawbacks customers experienced.