Started a 20x36' hoop house few months back....trying to get the "hoops" built now and get the plastic on before frost. Think we'll make it, but it will be close. Purpose is to extend our gardening season on each end...up until around mid December on the fall side, and start again mid February on the spring side. Won't have any form of heat, so we'll only be growing cooler weather crops like broccoli, lettuces, spinach, carrots, peas, cabbage. Built the outside up with 8" block, then 8" block raised beds around the inside, giving a 32" deep bed (front to back) about waist high (no bending to work the bed). Filled the beds with topsoil, peat, vermiculite, chicken manure mixture. Wife started plants almost before I even got the beds filled... On top the block walls, we built 3' high wood walls. These will eventually have windows that swing out to ventilate the house. There will also be a 4'x4' fan in the back wall to draw air thru. (Salvaged from a commercial greenhouse). Ran 3/4" PVC water line around the bed walls with quick disconnect points to plug in a water hose. Pipe slopes about around to the entry point for drainage in freezing weather.
Continued: Started building the hoops today. Building them out of 1/2" x 3" strips of dead green white oak, sawed on my Woodmizer mill. Had to build a table out of lumber/plywood for a temporary work space to built the hoops. Struck an arc on the table, then laid out the 'form' for the hoops. (Neighbor kid helping). Once we had the outer form done, started using the 1/2" strips, laminating them together, using glue (Titebond III), screws and staples. Finished hoop. Two laminations on top.....2" block in center.....2 laminations on bottom. Total of 4" thick. First hoop put on the far end of the house walls. 7 more to build and get up. Then frame in the end walls, and get the plastic on !
Really epic green house, would really love to see how the end of the hoop are secured to the side walls. Also, using manure to heat your greenhouse may pay dividends for next spring, when the composted manure will be ready to mix into the soil for next years plants. Thanks for taking the time to post the photos!
Kellory, I'm thinking some hydroponics down the road...either strawberries for us, or lettuce type crops for taking to the farmer's market ( we already go with eggs and few other things, so might as well add some greens ) Company in Florida makes these cool "Hydrostacker" units. (Pic below) You can put 20 plants per "cone", and harvest standing up. The cone turns like a postcard rack. I figure I can get 2 rows of 10 cones down the center, or 400 plants. That would be WAY more strawberries than we would eat in a year. ( Already have 200 plants in the raised bed section that fronts the garden area below the hoop house ). The advantage of growing them in the hoop house I think would be much earlier fruit than most local grown.
DKR, It's in a pretty sunny location.....I'm thinking heat buildup is gonna be more of a problem than heating.....there will be a 4'x4' fan mounted in that end wall with the first hoop. I'm planning on framing it out tomorrow and stabilizing it well before I put more hoops up. Attaching the hoops to the wall, simply used a big long "log cabin" screw.....6" with a broad head, star driver. I'll try to post more details as I go along before we cover it with plastic.
Nah....we don't get much at all in the way of wind.....we're tucked in against the south/east side of a mountain, and the prevailing west/north wind blow right on over the top of us. You can hear it howl at the top as it goes on over, and we'll be just getting a little breeze.
SWEET! When I saw hoop house I thought, maybe a little PVC cold frame or one of those cheap ones from Amazon. That is going to be awesome when it's all finished! So jealous!
I would suggest the back wall be framed in and braced before more hoops are done. this will give more stability to the structure as you add hoops. tying each hoop to the back wall as you go. (same way we set roof trusses)
I love it anyone else looking to build one look into using the oldframes from trampolines just cut the circle in half ... they are on craigslist all the time fot nothing ... u can also make quanza huts out of them
Knee been bothering me quite a bit (tore something), so we slowed up some on stuff around here. Going in for surgery next Friday, so thought we would try to get the hoop house to the point of covered. Got the rest of the hoops done and one end wall framed in....plan to get the plastic on in the next couple days, and probably just drape it over the front wall until I have time and mobility back to frame it in. Supposed to be in the low 20's later this week, so we need to get a cover on it.
What a great suggestion! We just took out tramp apart and were going to scrap the metal. This is may be another option.
Several neighbors came up this afternoon after church and helped us slide it over the top, and hold it in the breeze we had while I got it fastened down. So the end wall ( with the fan ) is covered and the top is covered. Tomorrow, I plan to frame the front wall, and get it covered as well as the knee walls. So, hopefully by nightfall, it will be pretty much enclosed. Tuesday is supposed to be pretty cold, high in the upper 30's, with rain/snow mix, and falling into the low 20's that night. Even colder Wed night before a warming trend. Guess we'll see how it performs. Going to pick up some 1/4" cable, clamps and turnbuckles in the morning to 'tension' the bows about 1/4 of the way up the curve from one side to the other on 3 of them ( spaced out ). That should take any tendency for the side walls to push out of plumb, and I can remove temporary bracing and get the plastic on the knee walls .