Hoop House

16 years ago

Hello;

I am in Wisconsin, on the border of zone 4/5. I am thinking about building a little hoop house style green house.

I'd like to use it to overwinter stuff I have growing in pots, would like to start seeds in it in the spring, and would like to use it as an area to root cuttings next summer.

The biggest problem I have is the only places I could put it are fairly shaded. The best location I have gets morning / noonish sun, but by the warmest part of the afternoon it is going to be under the shade of a large maple tree.

I'm trying to decide if it would still be worth building the hoop house for what I want to use it for with the limited amount of sun it will get.

Thanks

Jamie

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Comments (3)

User
16 years ago
When does the maple lose its leaves? Winter use should be unimpaired.

And afternoon shade is not bad for greenhouses in the summer.
jamiedolan
Original Author
16 years ago
Late October'ish. It was really late last year because it stayed quite warm all though November and even a little protection for tender plants last year would have got us a number of extra weeks.
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DrHorticulture_
16 years ago
I would suggest not to use it for overwintering, especially potted plants. Winter and early spring temperatures can fluctuate wildly in an unheated hoophouse, and plants don't like such freeze-thaw cycles. Besides, the roots of even hardy plants don't tolerate much cold (due to reliable snow cover in northern zones), and can get very cold in a pot, hoophouse or not. Better would be to bury the pot outside deep in soil in fall.
But it would be very useful for late fall and early spring season extension, despite the shade.