does anybody here use them? i am espeicialy intrested mid atlantic or (zone 6) what do you grow in them? how long does it extend your growing season? can you get some cold wether greens to grow all year such as collards? anybody with ideas? tips? would be mutch appreiciated!!!
I don't use them here in the middle of Alabama. My growing season is almost too long. But I've known others who have used them with great success. Yes, they'll extend your growing season and I'd guess you'd be able to grow collards (we grow a LOT of collards here in the deep south). Here are a couple sites for more info: http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1825/eb1825.html http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/2003_Febuary_March/Hoop_Houses Another source of all kinds of good info is the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service which is managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT). Here's how they describe themselves: "Looking for the latest in sustainable agriculture and organic farming news, events and funding opportunities? We feature all that, plus in-depth publications on production practices, alternative crop and livestock enterprises, innovative marketing, organic certification, and highlights of local, regional, USDA and other federal sustainable ag activities." They are at: http://www.attra.org/ Peace, poor_old_dad
ya collards are pretty mutch a staple in the south huh im from newengland originaly east tn. now. thanks for the links dad!! hehe thats sounds funny calling someone i dont know dad !lol thanks peace!
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic_gardening/2004_Febuary_March/Earth_Sheltered_Greenhouse i ran accross this article,its a pretty good write up.i think im gonna try and biuld one this summer
About the same, I think the difference is that in a hoop house you plant in the ground, and a green house is a more permanent building where you plant in pots on tables (or hydroponics). Like I always say, "Call me anything except late for supper." Yea, in that article they talk about 55 gallon drums of water. I know folks who use those to help regulate the temperature too. Peace, poor_old_dad
pod how do folks regulate temp with barrles of watter,do they put them in the cold sink?i have sevral old windows that will be left over from our grow shed so i thought i would biuld this underground green house/cold frame/root celler.i have a good side hill (part of a dike)that faces east should work well. frog
Their greenhouses faced south. They made sure sunlight was hitting the barrels as much as possible. The combination of the sunlight and the greenhouse being warmer during the day, the barrels of water got pretty warm, then at night gave off the heat. One of the farmers had his barrels in the middle isle of the greenhouse, the other one had his as part of the north wall. Another thing - neither of them were in as cold an area as you are. Does that make sense? Peace, poor_old_dad
you can also put fish in the barrel and use the waste to fertilize talapia work well but you need to keep at approx. 80 deg. google nearing (i think thats their name)
OK, I built a green house using trampoline hoops. It worked great, and I have made seasonal hoop houses using bamboo covered with plastic. Heat management is a problem with both in direct sunshine even on the coldest days. I used the water barrel thing with the greenhouse and was less pleased with it. I finally just added an exhaust fan that was set up on a thermostat. The water doesn't heat up as fast as the air does therfore the air temp still got hot fast. I am presently working on a radiator/pump/fan set up to blow the hot air through the radiator/heat exchanger to help cool the air more quickly and increase the speed that the water soaks up the heat.
thanks p.o.d. yes i see now,great idea.well i think im gona make it a cold frame.the one im useing now is horible and not big enoph annymore.would be a cool project. frog
Wow this forum OK, some good ideals. I'm going to check out the barrel thing. I ask a local nursey owner what the difference was betweel a greenhouse, he sid there is really no difference. But POD is correct I think, because hoop houses were first used for covering in ground plants at least that is what I read. The nursery guy said when you add heater, fans, floor, tables it pertty much becomes a greenhouse. Thanks for the ideals I'll be back.
So excided to join I forgot to tell you that there's a really low cost way to build hoophouses with steel tubing, Our new 10x20 cost about $350.00 cover and all. go to ebay and type in (greenhouse tubing bender) in search window, we got the 10 hoop bender on the auction for 39.00 and boy does it work. Check it out before you do anything.
Man, that's a GREAT tip. Those benders are from these good folks: http://www.lostcreek.net/ What size tubing did you use and what are you using for a cover? And BTW, domostofit, Welcome Home, it's good to have you here. Peace, poor_old_dad
Hi POD They recommend the same tubing used for chainlink fence toprail. We got ous at home depot for $6.99 a pc. takes two for each hoop Gary says it 18 gageby 1 3/8" and it is 10 feet 6 inches long. you don't even cut it just bend it and put it together. I got my greenhouse plastic covering from a local nursery here but they sell it on ebay, same people have the bender tools.I think they have it on their web site too.
We used 1 3/8 inch tubes from home depot, , Gary says they are 18 gage by 10 foot 6 inches long, that is what is recommended in the instructions. Got our plastic covering from a local nursery, some they had left over, but same folk sell the plastic on ebay.
We decided to go ahead and build another 10x10 hoophouse just for the mushrooms this first winter. Fixing both ends so we can remove them if necessary for more air. We are just starting the mushrooms so this will be a trial run for us.
POD Do you get your saw dust spawn from Fungi Perfect or Field and Forest. They seem to have the best prices. My second batch (Plugs) was already ordered last week. But I am changing to saw dust after them. I figure if we can get it going we can sell off what we don't eat. I grew up on a farm then moved to the big city to work. After 27 years I'm back on the farm and love it, I wonder why I ever left. We grow our own vegies, started raising chickens (open range), goats. It's just great being back on the farm.
