If you’re looking for a way to extend crop production in the spring and fall, or to grow some plants in the winter, a greenhouse is the answer! The retractable cover protects plants from the sun and keeps the soil warmer in the colder months.
The greenhouse structure is ideal for plants such as spinach, lettuce, beets, carrots and coriander. Be sure to choose plants and vegetables that will grow well without protection after about two months in the hoop structure, for best results, recommends Growing for Market.
How to Build the Hoop House in 6 Easy Steps
1. Build the framework
After you have measured and marked the hoop house site, you will need to build your frame. Choose rot resistant wood for the base. You will need four 2-of-6 boards on the edge; if your hoop is less than 14 feet, choose 2 x 4 boards. Screw the frame in place using corner joints and wood screws. Mother Earth News recommends using 10 x 3-inch hot-dip galvanized wood screws.
You may want to place stakes in the corner of the boxes so that everything stays in place while you work on the rest of the structure.
2. Define your basic pipes
Your PVC pipe should be between 18 and 36 inches tall. Harder soil will require shorter pipes. Use a pestle hammer to hammer a pipe at each corner and then every 3 feet on the sides. Make sure your pipes are close to the inside edges of the frame. Pound the pipes until they are equal at the top of the frame.
3. Hoops
The size of the hoop pipe that creates the main structure of your blanket is determined by the size of the arch you will need. For example, an 18-foot-wide hoop requires two 1-meter-long pipes and one 20-foot-long pipe for each hoop. When purchasing your pipe, have one pipe in each pair have a flared end so that the pipes connect.
To install the hoops, lay your pipes on the floor. Slide the end of a pipe into the base pipe, bend the pipes so that the other end fits the base on the other side and use a drill to drill the pipes and the ground frame from only one side for now. Push the hoop all the way down, then add a carriage bolt through the holes.
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