Hoophouse greenhouse? Good idea or not?

[farmerlor]

Here's mine, we use it in the winter for raising meat chickens and in the summer it protects my precious tomatoes from the hurricane force winds I have here at 6800 feet in Colorado as well as being warm enough to start my seedlings earlier and keep things that have a longer grow time from getting frozen in the fall. I LOVE my hoophouse greenhouse and the wondrous man who put it up for me.

 

[BeccaOH]

Here's mine, we use it in the winter for raising meat chickens and in the summer it protects my precious tomatoes from the hurricane force winds I have here at 6800 feet in Colorado as well as being warm enough to start my seedlings earlier and keep things that have a longer grow time from getting frozen in the fall. I LOVE my hoophouse greenhouse and the wondrous man who put it up for me.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/albertihome/kidstuff049.jpg

Oh, like that very much. I'd love to have one (and someone to build it for me).

I do have one of the cattle panel ones that Free mentioned. I've only used it for chickens. You say you put chickens in there during winter and then plant your veggies in spring. What about the poo? How long does it need to age so that it doesn't burn the plants?

 

[farmerlor]

Here's mine, we use it in the winter for raising meat chickens and in the summer it protects my precious tomatoes from the hurricane force winds I have here at 6800 feet in Colorado as well as being warm enough to start my seedlings earlier and keep things that have a longer grow time from getting frozen in the fall. I LOVE my hoophouse greenhouse and the wondrous man who put it up for me.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b375/albertihome/kidstuff049.jpg

Oh, like that very much. I'd love to have one (and someone to build it for me).

I do have one of the cattle panel ones that Free mentioned. I've only used it for chickens. You say you put chickens in there during winter and then plant your veggies in spring. What about the poo? How long does it need to age so that it doesn't burn the plants?

Well, we're talking about 9 weeks of meaties in the late fall after harvest-they kinda clean up the joint. During the winter I have just a few girls who go in there just because it's warmer and there's no wind and they sort of graze during the day in there and then back to the coop at night. So come spring we just till up the whole area, turning the chicken poo under and we have no problems at all with burning. In fact I have enormous yields of tomatoes coming out of that house in the last couple of years thanks to the greenhouse atmosphere, the great fertilizer and finally finding the right tomatoes to grow for my area.

 

[farmerlor]

The hanging buckets you see at the end there are my upside down peppers with herbs growing out of the tops and a drip system above. This man is some kinda handy to have around I'm here to tell ya.

 

[TanksHill]

My neighbor has a tiny little green house she and her husband built from recycled windows. It's wonderful.. Think vertical when your growing. She goes up tall with lots of stuff and plants other things down low underneath. More bang for your buck that way!!

g

 

[farmerlor]

My neighbor has a tiny little green house she and her husband built from recycled windows. It's wonderful.. Think vertical when your growing. She goes up tall with lots of stuff and plants other things down low underneath. More bang for your buck that way!!

g

That's exactly what we were doing with the hanging buckets. I was VERY disappointed with the results of hanging tomatoes but the yield from hanging peppers was quite satisfactory and of course the herbs growing from the tops doubled my output from the buckets. We have the tomatoes caged and big walls of fencing for them to climb too. Everything is growing UP.

 

[baymule]

I love your hoophouse idea. I built a PVC frame and covered it with clear plastic leftover from Hurricane Ike. I ran an outdoor heavyduty extension cord to the greenhouse and put in a small electric heater. We have enjoyed tomatoes all winter. They are about done, so I will pull up the tomatoes and plant for spring in peat pots. We live in southeast Texas, a very warm climate, but have had unusual freezing weather and ice storms this year.

 

[colowyo0809]

So, would the pvc pipe work for an actual hoop house chicken coop? I was planning on doing the cattle panels, but I'm thinking the pvc might be more cost effective? However, it might post problems with predators if not using hardware cloth or something to cover it, I assume?
Thoughts?