Constructing a Hoop House Greenhouse

For the month of December
I have a greenhouse business that sells bedding plants, veggie plants,  hanging baskets, and small planters.
I have to construct a new hoop house  that has a germination chamber.  The hoop house will only be 12ft X 40ft.
The height in the center is only 6 1/2 ft high.  This hoop house is called the  Seedling House. The germination chamber is a long mini greenhouse inside the hoop house  with heating mats and electric heaters.  After the seeds have germinated and had a chance to grow a few weeks,  they are moved out of the germination chamber  into the bigger portion of the hoop house and grown there until it is time to transplant  in the large greenhouse. (20x96)
Construction starts this week.  At first it is slow going cause we have to prepare the area and lay out commercial ground cover,  measure and set up ground stakes for the hoops to be attached to.  Then set the hoops and set the perlin.  The perlin is just a galvanized chain link fence top railing that is attached to the top of the hoops with galvanized U brackets  which keeps all the hoops in place.  There is actually a lot of hardware detail to constructing the hoop house and there will be a lot of photos posted.
I don't think I can complete the hoop house exactly the way I want it done  right now, but I can work on it and get it operational enough to get my germination chamber up and running.  I would like for the hoop house to have  manual  side curtains that can be raised when temps rise high in the early spring but I might have to wait on those details.   I have to sow seeds the last week of December.  Income is always limited between December and March.  It takes a lot to get the main greenhouse up and running.  My brain is scrambled.
So hang tight,  construction and pics start soon.


I made the hoop house shorter.....but wider 16x24
with a mini hoop inside for germinating seeds early.
double protection.

These little pvc clamps hold my poly onto the   Mini pvc hoops.
The  mini pvc hoops are just slid over a iron rod driven into the ground..
Since it is inside a larger hoop house,  there was no need to anchor it down.

ARBORS or ARCHED TRELLIS

I /  We,   want to make several Arched Trellises to grow small watermelons, cantaloupes, and Asparagus yard long green beans on.----I guess the vine veggie list can get pretty long and the possibilities are endless.  Our first Arched Trellis is made of  landscape timbers and 2x4s and will be covered with  concrete re-enforcement wire with  6" mesh squares.  The main post are concreted into the raised bed block holes.
the total width and length is   43" x 56"
This trellis is built for melons.

Tomatoes Years Past

Tomato plants grown in the past years.
Brandywine tomato plant grown in  a  5 gallon pot.  All this on two vines.
Big Red one is one tomato that weighed 3 1/4 pounds. his name was Hulk.

More Brandywine  grown in the ground.  So heavy with fruit the vines insisted on dragging the ground.

More Brandywine Tomatoes

Sweet Million Cherry Tomato

tomatoes grown in 5 gallon grow bags.   1st crop I ever grew for produce sales.   If I can
do this in a 5 gallon grow bag------YOU can do this in the ground soil.

Those same plants were lowered twice---and they grew out the top of the greenhouse frame
that was 8 feet tall.

tomato plants-------Big Beef  in 5 gallon pots.

more toms in 5 gallon grow bags

The green house   Ghost (orb)

One single  Sweet Million Cherry tomato cluster.

 25 gallon pot----One plant---pruned to have one vine every 6 inches around the pot/cage

2010

2

2011

Big Beef

B

2011

Brandywine

2011  Sweet Million Cherry

2011   Tommy Toe cherry=   my least favorite flavor......  but is a.beautiful plant!

Big Beef