The plastic covered shelves are great for inside your GH. However I wonder if you might be better off making them free standing. I plan to use them in my GH if I ever get the damn thing finished. Homemade don't you see. Look into metal EMT tubing like 1/2 inch and the wide formed 90 degree elbows. You can use PVC fittings also if you buy 3/4 OD by 5/8 ID vinyl flexable tubing/hose. Put a piece on the 1/2 emt and you will get a tight fit in the PVC fitting. Finish it off with 1/2 x #8 or #10 sheet metal screws instead of glue and you will have a stand that you can move or place where ever you want without attaching anything to your GH frame. If you wish you can email me and I will attach some pics of how I have done it to use PVC and EMT together.
Cheers
1eyedJack and the Dawg

1eyedJack and the Dawg is correct. When you have the shelves full and when you water them they are quite heavy. Here is a photo of my shelves, I used 1/2in conduit for the legs and cross support. I will show you how I fastened every thing togeather and the levelers which are 1/2in bolts and nuts stuck in the end of the conduit
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Those are great ideas above. I have these shelves and I can tell you, you will need more reinforcement than just the braces they come with, and more than just the corners. If you don't get something out there (like the above post) in the middle of your span it will sag once you put plants on it.
Mine are attached to the frame of the greenhouse and to the foundation to pull the whole thing tighter together (Florida - the land of hurricanes - Gulp!). You can see the uprights in some of my pictures (husband painted them black - don't ask me why - LOL) and they really do make the whole thing a lot more sturdy. Oh, and thanks for your kinds words about my GH :O)......................

Pat - Florida

Thanks Pat, that's really good info. My husband and I did give those black supports a good long look in your photos. I've been watching this thread since I'll be buying the same type of shelves soon. Mine will be over wooden benches that are quite sturdy, so I think I'll add some wooden supports from the wire shelves and anchor them to my wooden benches, in addition to using a shelf brace on each wall stud.

I use mainly terra cotta pots, so my shelves will be loaded! I appreciate your comments (and this thread...thanks for starting it, buyorsell888.)
Sheri

Thanks for the photos and information. It is so helpful.

I just need one shelf. I have free standing decorative shelving for most of my plants. There is a pond across the back of my greenhouse. Made with 2 x 12s. I hate to have to put uprights on the pond edges.

I'm trying to make my little greenhouse a conservatory, decorative, rather than for production. No benches. No seed trays.

I need to upload pictures. I take them then forget to upload them to photobucket.

Oh YES!! Please pictures!!

I spent a long time in Lowes today with the ClosetMaid shelving components. I'm greedy and wanted 16" shelves, not 12". After looking at the 16" shelf supports I can see why other folks have suggested these braces/shelves may not support a lot of weight. To me, the thin stamped braces look a bit scary, especially when I imagine a shelf full of watered terra cotta pots (even small ones.)

And, as buyorsell888 mentioned, I can't find a good solution to securing the shelves in the corners of the greenhouse using any of the ClosetMaid components.

I'm leaning towards buying the shelves (no braces) and finding a way to support them using some of jbest123's good ideas above (thank you for those photos!) or building something out of wood. Pooey, another project.

I don't think it's been mentioned here, but I'm going to buy the close mesh shelves (1/2" space between the wire bars) instead of the standard (7/8" spacing between the bars.) They cost more (well of course) but I think jtbest123 and pcan-z9 both used that type. I think 4" pots might tip over on the standard mesh with wider spacing.

I'll try to post back here with photos of what we figure out in case it helps anyone.

(buyorsell888, I would also love to see photos of your greenhouse and pond!)

This is the pond. As you can see, I have not finished the edges of the rubber liner off yet. They will be trimmed up, stapled down and a piece of trim wood put over the top. The pump isn't hooked up yet for the cat spitter as DH hasn't run the electricity yet.

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One of the decorative shelf units

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This is the corner unit

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Oh my goodness BorS, that looks so nice! I'm good of mind to go tear out my center bed and put in a pond. I'm NOT kidding!!!....LOL....I'll break the news to my husband tomorrow .........yes, tomorrow. (he keeps asking me if we are *DONE* with the GH) I've been thinking about a pond, and your pic made something go click in my head LOL. I like the conservatory theme too! My entire house is shaded (very shaded) by huge Live oak and Hickory trees, so my GH is "the room" where I can grow all of the plants I always wanted to grow in the house - but couldn't. Your shelves look so nice, and give it a real "plant room" feel. I'd love to see pics again when you are done with the pond. Thanks for posting these.
Pat

Wow, what a beautiful pond! And all your plants look so wonderfully healthy and happy. Very pretty shelf units too. I agree with Pat, they really do give the greenhouse the feeling of a conservatory/plant room.

I don't have the courage to try something as challenging as a pond, but I'm sure it adds a sense of peacefulness and serenity that isn't otherwise possible. (Especially when you get the fountain pump hooked up, I love the cat!) I'll just enjoy your photos, and I hope you will post more as you make progress.
Sheri

I love your pond. Please post more pics when it's finished. I have two water tanks in my GH to winter over my pond's water lettuce and water hyacinth, but the tanks sure aren't decorative.

The greenhouse pond is no work or challenge. It isn't my first pond though. We have a 900 gallon fish pond that is ten years old plus four more liner ponds for waterlilies plus two barrels and a sunken barrel liner and assorted plastic pots that don't have holes with plants in them.

I do need to get some sort of a heater for it and get a light for it. The tropical waterlilies will bloom all winter if they get enough heat and light.

I've decided I don't care about the rest of the greenhouse blooming if I can have the waterlilies blooming. This will allow a smaller light.

Hi here are my shelves for my greenhouse. They were not expensive to make. Hope this helps someone out there.

Here is a link that might be useful:

They look stout to me. Do you have them tied in at the top? Not that I think they need it.

1 eyedJack and the Dawg

Holy smokes rosepedal! Dem's some *serious* shelves you got there!!! ;-)

Thanks for posting pictures!

Buyorsell... *Love* your conservatory! Your shelving units are gorgeous! I'd love to do something similar - but once I stick all my "marginal" plants in there, I'll be lucky to have enough room for a chair!!!

-Nancy

ole dawg and nancy. I am envious of your zones. I am from california oringinaly, just went back after 30 years. What plants ohhh! SC is beutiful too. Love to see pics of your greenhouses for ideas. I brought back cacti from home (ca) I will see how they will do. Please put in a pray. I have a plant (cutting) that goes back 3 generations in my family. Barb

IF I stick all of my marginally hardy plants in the greenhouse. I will not have room for a chair.

Some, I'm not going to bother with. Brugmansias for instance. Two years old and never bloomed and are serious bug magnets.

Some of my cannas are going to have to take their chances outside of the greenhouse.

Most of the trailing fuchsias are too. There is a sale here every spring on fuchsia starts for .50. I'd rather have room for more expensive plants and a chair than to save ten bucks on fuchsias....