Turning Ikea cabinets into indoor greenhouses is a trend that hasn’t faded, and it’s not difficult to see why making your greenhouse is one of the best ways to up your houseplant game.
You can customize your Ikea greenhouse cabinet as much as you want, and it also helps that for the most part, you’ll be getting a large greenhouse for a fraction of the cost of a ready-made, purpose-built indoor one.
Interested in making your indoor greenhouse out of an Ikea cabinet? Here’s everything you should know.
Why Use Ikea Cabinets For Indoor Greenhouses?
There are many advantages to converting an Ikea cabinet to an indoor greenhouse.
For one, you can customize it as much as you like, and if you want to grow plants with very specific needs, this is easy to do by modifying the design of the greenhouse.
Another great reason is that humidity levels will be much higher in an enclosed environment, which benefits all sorts of houseplant species, especially if you live somewhere colder, and you have to turn the heating on in winter.
It also means that you can keep your plants safe away from curious hands, paws, and mouths that might otherwise investigate or sample your plants!
You can even root cuttings much easier in a greenhouse-like environment.
While a clear plastic bag does the job in a pinch, putting your cutting (bag and all) inside a greenhouse cabinet will greatly speed up the process, and you may find that more of them are successful, too.
How To Choose Between Ikea Cabinets You Can Convert To Greenhouses
There are many Ikea cabinets to choose from when it comes to converting a cabinet to a greenhouse, and the choice can be a little overwhelming.
The first thing to consider is where you’re going to put this greenhouse, and what size would be best for the space you’re thinking of.
Preferably near a plug, as you’ll need a power source for grow lights, any humidifiers, and fans you choose to add to the set-up.
Fabrikor and Milsbo cabinets are the most popular models for indoor greenhouses, and they both come in two sizes, so consider which would fit the space best.
It’s also worth thinking about the space each cabinet has for plants, especially if you like to grow large humidity-loving plants in there such as Philodendron Gloriosum, Caladiums, or Alocasias.
The good news is that you can add and remove shelves as you need to, so if you find you only want to grow a few specimen plants in your cabinet, you can do that too.
The process is pretty much the same for any Ikea cabinet you wish to convert. If you don’t want to spend the money on brand-new cabinets, they are usually available second-hand, or you could even turn to online marketplaces to get a suitable cabinet.
How To Make An Ikea Greenhouse With The Fabrikor Cabinet
Fabrikor cabinets are perfect for converting to greenhouse cabinets, as it doesn’t require much in the way of materials and time, and you can customize them to your needs as much as you like.
Firstly, you’ll need to put together your cabinet as per the instructions. This shouldn’t take too long, but it’s often the way that there’s a large difference between how simple something seems to how difficult it can be to line the different parts up!
Lay everything out, so you don’t have to scramble for the right parts later and make sure you have what the instructions say you should have before you start.
It’s also a good idea to set it up in its final place, so you don’t have to move it about later. Adjust the height of the shelves to suit the plants you want to put into the greenhouse.
You can always adjust them again later.
Install Grow Lights For Your Greenhouse Cabinet
There are many different grow lights to choose from, but by far the simplest option is to go for strip grow lights rather than ones with large heads, as it means more room for plants!
They are also easier to fix into place as they are light and don’t take up a lot of room. Double-sided mounting tape should do the trick just fine.
Make sure your grow lights are full spectrum ones, preferably with an integrated timer, so you don’t have to worry about remembering to switch it on or off.
Different intensity settings also come in handy for different plants, especially if you have your Ikea greenhouse near a window.
Get The Best Out Of Your Ikea Greenhouse Cabinet
Use A Humidity And Thermometer Gauge
It’s a good idea to buy a thermometer and humidity gauge, so you know what’s going on inside the greenhouse cabinet.
It’s also interesting to see the average humidity and temperatures in your home in general, giving you a good picture of what plants will thrive outside the cabinet.
Pop it in your greenhouse cabinet for at least a day with no plants at all, and take a look.
Once you’ve put some plants in, you should see a steady increase in the humidity range, as plants naturally lose some moisture through their leaves, increasing the surrounding humidity levels.
You’ll also notice that humidity will rise when you water your plants, too. It’s a good idea to see what kind of humidity the ‘baseline’ is at, and what kind of levels the humidity stays at for most of the time.
This will give you a good idea of what plants will thrive best in your greenhouse cabinet.
Consider Some Changes
While the above are the basics for a greenhouse cabinet, there are other things you can do to turn that Fabrikor into the greenhouse cabinet of your dreams.
Drill Some Holes For The Leads
One of the best things you can do is to drill some holes in the bottom of the cabinet to feed the leads for the grow lights, and anything else you might need.
Use a regular drill bit to do this, and then simply pop your cords through the holes.
This saves you from having to thread the leads through the door, preventing you from closing it fully.
Should You Replace The Glass Shelves With Wire Ones?
If you want humidity to flow freely through your greenhouse cabinet, it’s a good idea to replace the glass shelves with wire ones.
This will help the air to circulate freely, helping to get that lovely humidity all around the plants and to stop any fungal issues.
For the most part, it will also allow light to pass through.
Just make sure that the wire shelves are coated in a sealant, so they cannot rust in higher humidity.
Should You Seal Your Greenhouse Cabinet?
For the most part, sealing your greenhouse cabinet is overkill. The drawbacks vastly outweigh the benefits. While it’s helpful for bog plants, it’s not great for anything else.
Sealing your greenhouse cabinet would push the humidity to roughly 80% or 90%, at which point, fungus gnats, root rot, and mold are going to attack your precious plants!
It’s better to leave your Ikea greenhouse cabinet unsealed to prevent these problems, rather than having to fight to prevent them.
Use A Humidifier
If the humidity isn’t at the level you’re after, especially for the rarer, more sensitive plant species, it’s worth using a humidifier within your greenhouse cabinet.
As you increase humidity rather dramatically with a humidifier, you will need to make sure you open the cabinet regularly to help keep things fresh or consider investing in a fan to do that for you.
Plants That Thrive In Indoor Greenhouses
Pretty much any plant species you can imagine will thrive in an enclosed environment, but there are a couple of things to think about.
If you love growing succulent plants, make sure that humidity levels are about average, and do not use a humidifier, as higher humidity will cause your desert-loving plants to rot.
Plants that do better in enclosed environments are most Philodendron species, such as Philodendron Pink Princess, and Philodendron Birkin.
Calatheas and Caladiums are great options too, as these plants love the humidity and warmth that a cabinet provides.
Alocasia and Colocasia plants are also easy to care for inside a cabinet as long as you have enough room for them!
Final Thoughts
It’s surprising the difference an enclosed environment such as a greenhouse cabinet can make to your plants.
As long as you don’t seal the cabinet, and you avoid keeping the humidity too high for your plants while keeping some steady air circulation and plenty of light, your plants will thrive!
