Building a hoop house

Well, I broke down and bought the stuff needed to build a hoop house.  There are several diy type things you can do to build yourself a hoop bender, and some of them are pretty cool.  I however decided to buy an Offset Bending Guide which I found at lowes for about $30.  I bought the 1/2" one, there is a 3/4" one that is $40 that you should use if you want a stronger hoop house.

I also bought about 10 1/2" electrical conduit pipes.  They're about $2 a piece.  I didn't need 10, you need about 1 every 3 feet.

And I bought 10' x 100' of clear 6 mil plastic for about $50.  That's enough to do 5 4ft x 20ft growbeds.  I only need 3, but this gives me 2 replacements.

So.  Total price: $100.  However if you live near me you can save $30 :).  And that gives you enough to do several grow beds (though you'll need more than 10 pipes

To bend the pipes: (finding these measurements took me several pipes.

1) Measure 29" from the end, and 57" from the end (near the middle)

2) do the same measurements from the other end.  so in the middle you should see 2 notches about 6" apart.
3) Bend by placing the bender right on the right spot :) see the picture.

Zoom in on the picture if needed.
4) Bend til it hits the 60 degree mark.

5) Bend all 3 spots.  Remember though that you want to bend the same way on both sides, and then only once in the middle.

Bend all the pipes that you need.

I happen to have a few 3/4" electronic conduit around.  Cutting this in 2' increments allows me to hammer these into the sides of the grow bed, and slide the 1/2" conduit into them so that I can add/remove them easily.

After doing that, putting the hoops into place is easy, my kids helped me and loved it.  You then unrole the plastic the length of your hoophouse, giving an extra 4 to 6 ft on the ends so that the ends can be closed as well.  And here's the final pictures:

When to use a hoop house
There are several reasons to use a hoop house, and several times.  The main point though is that you offer your plants another month or so on each side of their growing window.  This allows for earlier spring plantings, and later fall plants.  Which could allow you to grow plants that may not otherwise be possible.

What does that mean?  Well, if the 1 month thing is right (i'l be testing it over the next few years).  Let's look at tomatoes (since that's what we all like anyway).  This would allow tomatos to grow an extra 2 months.  Rather than being planted on may 15th, you can plant on april 15th, and rather than it dying in october on first frost, it would die in november.  Or, you could plant more spring/fall plants by having it on for february, but taking it off in march or april as it starts to warm up.  So depending on what type of food you like, use your hoop house accordingly :). And, if nothing else you can add a radish planting for free on both ends :) if you like tons of radishes.


UPDATE
I've come up with a new way to work on the plastic, this way was annoying :).
Improving on the hoop house 2013.html