Extend Your Gardening Season Up To 4 Months Longer
Would you believe me if I told you that you could extend your gardening season to be 4 months longer? Think of how much more you could grow with 4 extra months!
You might believe that this can be done but when I tell you that you can do this for less than $10, you might be a bit skeptical. I am here to show you how easy it is!
This project will take you 10 minutes to put up, requires little to no watering and will cost you less than $10. Sound good? I sure think it does!
A Little Thing Called A Hoop House
So just what is this? I call it a hoop house. Not sure if that is the correct name or not….but it sounds good. My neighbor and I did this project yesterday in less than 10 minutes. She was nice enough to allow me to shoot some photos while she put hers up! Thanks Tracy! 🙂
We live in Wisconsin and we have brutal winters (with exception of this year). I usually start planting early May and my garden comes to an end in late September. By putting this hoop house up, we were able to plant in March and will extend our season though November! That is 4 extra months!
You will be amazed how easy it is to put up and also how easy it is to maintain. Once up, the hoop house creates its own moisture (humidity) and keeps the soil warm creating a perfect environment for the plants to flourish. The plants are protected from frost and hard freezes in this self made hoop house.
Building A Hoop House In 4 Easy Steps
So lets build this hoop house shall we? Here is what you will need to get started.
- 1/2-inch PVC pipe (they are sold in 10 foot pieces). Depending on the size of your garden/raised bed, you will need one of these for every 3-4 feet. These cost roughly 1.50 a piece.
- cement pavers – you will need about one every 3-4 feet. These will cost you about $.30 cents a piece.
- 1 piece of 3 mil clear plastic sheeting, make sure it is large enough to cover your bed. This will cost you about $3.00
- handheld saw to cut the pipes. You can also have your home improvement center cut them for free.
Step 1 ~ The first thing you want to do is saw the PVC pipes to 7 feet long.
Step 2 ~ Next put the PVC pipe into the soil and bend it to the other side. PVC piping is very flexible. This will make a dome like shape.
Step 3 ~ Drape your plastic over the PVC creating a dome like structure.
Step 4 ~ Place cement pavers or bricks around the perimeter of the bed securely holding the plastic down. You should place enough bricks around the hoop house so that cool air stays out and the air in the hoop house stays in to create the proper humidity.
The Finished Product
Once you are done, this is what your hoop house should look like. I know, how simple was that, right?
Look at these two photos. The plants were grown in the hoop house here in Wisconsin. The average temperature has been around 45-50ºF and the evenings have been in the low 30’s.
These were planted last month and are ready for harvest already. Pretty amazing how these hoop houses create such beautiful healthy plants that thrive in this environment.
Pin It For Later
Like this post? Be sure to pin it for later!
Wendy Zeimantz says
April 15, 2012 at 11:36 pmWonderful idea! I think I will use that in my gardens here in OR!
loves2spin says
April 16, 2012 at 6:41 amVery Nice Tutorial! Thank you so much. I have a walk-into-it hoop house and actually grow things in such a way that we have fresh greens all winter. With your idea, if I need more space, we’ll be all set and I’m going to share this with my gardening daughter too.
hallecottis says
April 18, 2012 at 10:43 am@loves2spin I am glad this post is helpful to you! It really is quite simple to do this.
TheRedeemedGardener says
April 17, 2012 at 8:11 amGreat Post! I hop over from the hop! I will be building a couple of these this fall! I hope to visit often here! Anyone interested can come garden at: http://www.theredeemedgardener.blogspot.com
hallecottis says
April 18, 2012 at 10:43 am@TheRedeemedGardener Welcome!
thats_sew_jenni says
April 18, 2012 at 10:31 amHow do you water your garden if its got that cover on it?
hallecottis says
April 18, 2012 at 10:42 am@thats_sew_jenni a few things here…you won’t need to water very often because it is so humid in there and it creates its own moisture. If you do need to water, look at the last pictures in this post…you simple undo the bricks on one side and lift the plastic off, water, and then cover it back up.
Karen Jackson Simmons says
April 19, 2012 at 12:51 pm@thats_sew_jenni I use soaker hoses in my raised beds…just hook up the garden hose to the soaker hose and there you have it!
hallecottis says
April 19, 2012 at 7:35 pm@Karen Jackson Simmons @thats_sew_jenni Great idea Karen!
Karen Jackson Simmons says
April 19, 2012 at 12:52 pmThanks for sharing…too easy!!!
Adrienne Whole New Mom says
April 19, 2012 at 6:50 pmLove this. Thanks! I was hoping we’d be able to do this but I didn’t know it was so easy. Thanks so much for sharing!!! I’m going to share on FB!
lom8nance says
April 20, 2012 at 4:20 amThat’s a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing this!
OurNaturalJourn says
April 20, 2012 at 7:22 amThanks for this tutorial! I pinned it: http://pinterest.com/pin/91690542383722488/
hallecottis says
April 20, 2012 at 12:47 pm@OurNaturalJourn Your welcome, thanks so much for pinning!
Chandelle says
April 20, 2012 at 12:28 pmThis is basically a floating row cover. A hoop house is more like a free-standing greenhouse. I’m hoping to do this myself this year. Great idea!
hallecottis says
April 20, 2012 at 12:46 pm@Chandelle Ahhhh the right name 🙂 Thank you so much!
BeyondThePeel says
April 20, 2012 at 7:11 pmI see a lot of this in my area and thought it was a great idea. Thank you for your inspiration and thanks for coming by and sharing it at Whole Food Wednesdays.
The21stCenturyHousewife says
April 23, 2012 at 3:41 amThis is an excellent idea, and a wonderful way to extend the growing season frugally!
airynd says
May 4, 2012 at 6:01 pmI went out and bought the supplies for this setup a couple of days after Adrienne from Whole New Mom shared it with me. Great idea! I wish I’d seen it last month, when I really needed it. As soon as I got them built, our temperatures rocketed up into the 70’s and 80’s. [sigh] However, it’ll be super handy in the fall, and going forward! Important safety tip: .3 mil painter’s plastic is NOT the same as 3 mil – DERP. I bought the wrong stuff on the first try, and it pretty much shredded if I looked at it funny. Oy.
hallecottis says
May 4, 2012 at 6:10 pm@airynd good safety notice 🙂 Glad it is working out now and it will be super beneficial in the fall to carry your harvest all the way up to the first snow fall. Thanks for sharing your progress with us 🙂
amprotec says
August 17, 2012 at 3:40 amExcellent posting
I am sure that you have got good water tank to water these plants
cheers
amprotec says
August 17, 2012 at 3:45 amExcellent use of home made resources
I will be more happy to see plants that require good <a href=”http://pinterest.com/amprotec/”>water tanks</a> to water
cheers
amprotec says
August 17, 2012 at 3:45 amExcellent use of home made resources
I will be more happy to see plants that require good water tanks to water
cheers
plastic hats says
October 5, 2012 at 12:13 amWow..It’s awesome and really interesting. Now it has become easy to grow plants even without any season.. Brilliant idea..
John1942 says
February 26, 2013 at 6:03 amWow. a cheaper hoop greenhouse. I use 6mil plastic for my small greenhouse, never thought about making one that I could not walk into. have to try this one this year.
Nora Weston says
April 10, 2013 at 6:34 pmStorming here all day in Joplin, MO
Whole Lifestyle Nutrition says
April 10, 2013 at 6:41 pmRain or snow Nora?
Jennifer Fera says
April 10, 2013 at 6:45 pmGearhead Gh we should do this!
Rhonda Harader Cain says
April 10, 2013 at 6:45 pmNora, I know Joplin! I am in KC, grew up in Cassville.
Rhonda Harader Cain says
April 10, 2013 at 6:47 pmHalle, rain……Nora is a couple hours south of me.
Tracy Carver says
April 10, 2013 at 6:48 pmWe hit a high of 2 degrees and still have at least a foot of snow on my garden. I’ll live through your posts!
Jan Martin Whitlinger says
April 10, 2013 at 7:58 pmIt was 86 here today… unseasonably warm!
Tina Walker McCullom says
April 10, 2013 at 8:02 pmJan you know us Cali folk go from crazy cold windy rain right into summer, I was dying today it was 88 here but the sun makes it feel like high 90’s
Jan Martin Whitlinger says
April 10, 2013 at 8:03 pmTina, still really windy here from the weekend… Allergies are crazy!
Tina Walker McCullom says
April 11, 2013 at 12:49 amOur wind died down last night & I’m just east from you, next time I come to the bay area we need to connect 🙂
Jan Martin Whitlinger says
April 11, 2013 at 12:51 amHope it’s soon, Tina! That you come to the Bay Area… AND that the wind dies down! 😉
Tina Walker McCullom says
April 11, 2013 at 12:55 amYou know it’s only a 2 hour drive
The_Leslie1 says
April 14, 2013 at 12:26 pmWhere do you buy the sheeting??
shelly says
January 27, 2014 at 11:39 pmDo you take the plastic off in warm weather?
Jerry says
March 6, 2015 at 11:10 pmCan seeds be started in this in April in Pa.?
Halle Cottis says
March 9, 2015 at 3:11 pmAbsolutely! Warm the soil first, then plant the seeds and cover.
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Feibe Huang says
November 9, 2014 at 10:11 pmI was wondering if the temperature drop in 30s, will the plants survive by only covered with plastic? Or should i covered with something else to make it warmer?
Halle Cottis says
November 11, 2014 at 8:56 amYep they will survive. My temps dropped below 0F and they did great under the plastic.
akhila says
March 8, 2016 at 1:02 pmPlease let me know why you specified the pipes need to be cut at 7 feet? Was it to make the hoops higher or is that the minimum required for flexibility? Many thanks!
Halle Cottis says
March 25, 2016 at 10:05 amHi akhila! 7′ was just the height that I prefer to make a hoop house that is high enough for the plants to grow and thrive in. You certainly can make them smaller a bit if you’d like, but I wouldn’t go too much smaller.
Barbara says
March 24, 2016 at 12:52 pmI have the same question as akhila. I live in southern OR
Meg says
August 2, 2016 at 8:04 pmHi! I have a question were these planted directly into the beds as seeds? Or were they grown indoors and transplanted? If so when did you move them into the beds?
Halle Cottis says
August 3, 2016 at 8:19 amHi Meg!
These were planted directly in the soil as seeds. Look to plant cool weather crops when you are extending your seasons. Hope this helps!
Meg says
August 3, 2016 at 4:31 pmThanks so much! I live in NJ and have a similar growing season
LeeAnn says
September 22, 2016 at 11:06 amI am doing this with peas this fall. What about pollination?
Halle Cottis says
September 22, 2016 at 2:55 pmJust tap the vine and the peas will pollinate on their own. Peas are a perfect crop for an extended season!
Desiree says
October 23, 2017 at 1:10 amWhat type of snow load can the pvc and plastic withstand?
Halle Cottis says
October 25, 2017 at 8:59 amA LOT! I lived in Wisconsin, so you can only imagine the amount of snow that we got!
Ellen says
March 6, 2018 at 3:59 pmGreat idea! Do the hoops stay up in the wind?
Halle Cottis says
March 9, 2018 at 6:02 pmYep, they sure do!