My New Hoop House!
 

Finished putting up our hoop house recently! I'm proud, can you tell? :D Thought I'd share, I have big plans for this 16' x 24' hoop house.

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Nice, you will have a lot of fun....James

Congrats! You will find lots of fun things to do in it! I would love to have a hoop house, but here in SE NM I am afraid the wind would rip it to shreds. Weather man is warning of 60 to 70 mph gusts by tomorrow evening. Have fun with yours!!!!

Looks like something to be excited about to me!

Oh wow! That is super nice!

Looks real good, What did you do----built it in front of the shop then move it as one piece to where it is now?? Yours Looks very similiar to mine I built a few weeks back, but I used white PVC. Your looks like steel pipe or grey electrial pipe/pvc. I will show you a couple pics. Also looks like you got yours where you can roll up the sides---Neat. What you going to grow??

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PD-Riverman, thanks for sharing your pics, nice! To answer your questions, the hoop house has a steel pipe frame. The two pics just show it at different angles, it had to be built in place as the hoop pipes are slotted in shorter pipes hammered into the ground. As it is not cooled or heated, the roll up sides will allow me to cool it down in the late spring/summer, and seal it up easily at night and through the rest of the year. I got this fine set/kit from Growers Solution, highly recommend them, they stand behind their kits and have the best prices I have ever been able to find!

I'm going to have one in-ground bed along the South wall for onions & carrots (to cut down on the weeding) and then I will have tables inside for a large variety of vegtable, flower & herb starts - for my use as well as to sell. In Northern IL, by the time there is no longer a risk of frost in the spring, it's pratically to late to plant a lot of different things if you want a good healthy harvest before the fall frosts. Grow lights are also part of my plan, I'll start the seedlings under them, and then move them to the hoop house. By Mother's Day, I should have good sized strong plants when I otherwise would only just be getting started.

@Chief Cook, this plasic is 6mm thick, very strong, 40 mph wind didn't bother it a bit last week, with steel pipes every 4 ft. it helps support the plasic from flapping. You could probably do it with extra wind bracing...

That was my first thought. It's beautiful, but I didn't think it would ever take the wind. Was that a sustained 40mph or gusts? I had a little rubbermaid garden house that blew all over the place one day in the wind. It's hard to imagine that plastic holding up.

Greenhouse poly isn't your everyday discount store variety. It is typically ripstop heavy mil poly made for such use and has UV light protection to keep it from deteriorating.

How much money did you both have in your GHs

i want one!!

Mine is 11ft x 41ft I have around $150 in the pipe and treated wood. I bought the roll of plastic at a auction for $5 already had the storm door and window for years so around $150.

Mother Earth news had plans for a diy hoop house like this in ether last months issue or the month before.

Nice. I wish I could use one too.

I just wonder what the orientation is? as well your ventilation?

What are the black strips made of, and how are they attached to the frame and plastic?

Looks Great! I can see the condensation inside already. I had planned to put one up this fall, but other things just took over. Our weather went from a nice fall to 6 inches of snow over night,I suspect we micht have another year where the ground never freezes. So I might get one up for the spring. Have fun, it's a great place to hang out in,in the dreary days.

That's interesting. But, will it stand up to 40-50 mph sustained wind? (Not being snippy, wondering whether or not it would be practical here.)

I was thinking the same, I want one but the wind gust here have snap many mature trees.

Those mature trees stood 50ft in the air too. Winds force is stronger, theh igher up an object is.

Assumeing you had veggies in there in the wintertime, How did you heat it??

Congratulations - you are going to love it. I need to get a new cover on mine. And get it re-weeded, and... and... LOL

Mary

Wow! Thats great!

Tell me how to make one lol but not 41 feet long, maybe 20 feet. How much of what kind of pipe and wood did you use?


Also, what happens in the snow and with snow on it?

My brother has 3, they have the rigid corrugated plastic ends but the rest is greenhouse plastic. We get a lot of wind here. His are protected a little by where they are, not just out in an open field. Only problems is keeping everything else that blows around from making holes. His plastic lasts 3 years....James

Thanks for the pics! I've had the metal pipe frames from a portable garage sitting and waiting for ends so I can put plastic on. Now, by looking at both of yours, I can maybe figure out how to build the frames for the door and get the plastic on! Both look great. We did the hoop thing for a house for our sheep using PVC pipe and over that, bent cattle panels. Plastic and tarps over that. VERY windy here, also. Thanks for sharing.

lots of questions! :)
 

@ Shygal -
Snow is much more of a concern here too, (plastic can only hold so much weight), so if I have sticky snow that builds up on top I'll need to keep it pushed off.

@ Farmboybill -
I won't be growing anything in it in the winter, it's just to cold here to try and fight it without propane, and that was not in the budget :)
I have just under $1,000 in it, (entire kit cost plus shipping), plus some cheap 2nd hand doors and some wood for base boards and the end walls.


@ Windy in Kansas -
you're right. My plastic is 6mm, and much tougher then I thought it would be. It's got a 4 year warranty, and will only cost $200 to fully replace. :)

@ Mary, tx -
The hoop house is located inside my windbreak in a much more sheltered spot from the wind, location makes a huge difference. Put one out in a big open field and you might have problems. With shorter hoop houses wind isn't as much a problem, but if it's over 50 ft long...

@ idigbeets -
The black strapping is nylon, it keeps the roll-up sides from flapping out away from the secured sides. Because they are loose so they can roll-up, they would otherwise blow flap and blow around. The strapping is screwed through the plastic into a wood board, the wood board is bolted to the hoops, (like a purlin along the side). It came with the kit, great idea.

@ downhome -
I think with the roll-up sides that are adjustable I will have adaquate ventilation.

Looks great!!

Great hoop houses! You did a great job happychick & PD Riverman. I bet they make wonderful greenhouses.

We have a hoop house, and at least here it dosen't hold up to high winds. We take the plastic off from Oct.-April. We do use Greenhouse Poly, which does last along time. But wind/snow not good, but wind is worse. We do love the hoop house, it is a hassel to take the plastic down. But living here in Oregon, it does extend our growing season. We start seeds in April and plant at the end of june in the garden. Hope, that helps.

That is so classy! You will get a lot of use out of it. Just curious how you fastened the plastic to the end hoops? I'm re-doing a small greenhouse and am having a hard time figuring out how to fasten the plastic on to metal pipe.

HappyChick and Farmboybill, you can "grow" things in the hoop house without supplemental heat but the growth will be slow. Basically, what has worked best for me is the program Eliot Coleman outlined in his book on four season harvests. I don't think supplemental heat would be advantageous at all and only raise the cost of your crops. I start the crops of cold tolerant veggies and herbs in late summer or fall in the raised beds, then they stay alive despite the cold. It's amazing to go into our hoop house while the temps are still below freezing to see plants coated with frost but as soon as the temps go above 32o, the plants thaw and show no ill effects. Because they are protected from wind and sun, they are just fine. You must wait until they are thawed to harvest or they will be wilted when they do thaw. As soon as the days begin to lengthen in the spring, the plants resume their actual growth.

An additional benefit is that it makes tolerating winter much easier. The soil smells like it does in spring and the warm temps in the hoop house during the day help tremendously.

While our hoop house is protected from west winds, we have had as much as 22" of snow in one storm. Ours is a quonset style with the hoops 8' apart. The snow usually slides off particularly once the sun starts to heat the interior. Occasionally, I do have to use an old push broom to pull snow from the flatter top portions. I think the sharp top and steep sides of the hoop house PD-Riverman built, plus the closer spacing of the hoops would go a long way to shedding snow and withstanding strong winds.

I used to grow enough salad greens in one hoop house 12' x 24' that I could supply a local natural foods store with a several pounds a week plus all that we could eat. I haven't tried to grow so intensively since the store closed its doors. The store did a good business in town but the owner had family issues that required her to move.

Thanks airotciv and MOgal, for your informative posts. Though I have a hoop house, this will be my very first time using it!

The plastic is secured in a 'wiggle wire channel'. the metal channel can bend, and is screwed into the top of the 2 end hoops, curved across the top. Then the plasic is layed on top, and then you push the wiggle wire into the channel which holds the plastic tight. There are also channels down the sides where the roll-up sides start, and along the base boards on the endwalls. hope this helps :)

That look great!! I would LOVE one of those!! but it seems the wind would have different plans..We have lost a barn, my ds trailer roof twice, a shed (brought straight up out of the ground and flipped on the roof) trees and basically anything not tied down. UGH! We keep talking about putting one up, but I would hate to go out and find my hoop house looking like the fringe on a kids tricycle handlebar, lol :(

Awesome looking hoop house. This is one thing that I've done some reading on... I can't wait to have the space to build one!

There are a TON of sites out there with great info on hoop houses... how to build, how to improve, how to insulate, what to grow in different seasons, how, and where...

Some things I'm considering...

Rocket stove with the beds sitting on the thermal mass. Don't try heating the air, just heat the soil, happy roots make for a happy plant. You could also put PEX through the beds and use hot water (solar or whatever) to keep the beds warm.

Now, that heat will escape, so make sure you insulate your hoophouse to help retain that heat. Use 2 layers of 6mil, using poly channel to make it air tight, then use a small blower to inflate the plastic, creating a pillow of air to help trap the heat. Low R value, but it helps and doesn't block that much more sunlight.

Would a rocket stove be the best choice for heating? From my experience and reading they are usually very good if there is someone attending to them just about full time.

I honestly don't know, but heating a hoophouse wouldn't be like heating a home. I don't think the plants will care much about the air temperature, as long as they have some heat and enough light.

With only a layer of plastic (or two with an air pocket for insulation), I certainly wouldn't want to dump the heat directly into the air. Wouldn't heating the soil directly make much more sense? Also, from what I've seen on the rocket stoves, it doesn't take much to keep your thermal mass warm, especially when that mass is insulated by a couple feet of soil.

Again... I have no experience with either hoop houses or rocket stoves, but from reading and researching and viewing gardening journals, it seems like it might be worth a shot to grow warm weather crops in the dead of winter.

It might not take much to keep your thermal mass hot once it warms but it takes much more to heat the thermal mass in the first place.

Notthereyet, I've seen hoop and greenhouses that utilize cheap toy balls about the size of a soccer ball placed between the layers of plastic to create a dead air space without having to use an air pump. The owners said it worked very well to help keep temps up.

With all the talk about thermal mass and heating a hoop house (which would change it then to a greenhouse by definition) for warm season crops, may I suggest that there might not be enough light to grow warm season crops? It depends on where you are, of course, but here in Missouri, we can go for days without seeing the sun. Last summer I bought a "patio tomato" that barely got taller than 12" in the summer sun. I have rooted several from suckers and am keeping them in an exposed south facing window. All are approaching 18"-24" for lack of light. That is a moot point for my purposes because as long as I remember to gently shake the plants throughout their bloom period, they are setting tomatoes. They aren't summer tomatoes but they taste better than the styrofoam tomatoes from the grocery this time of year.