I didn't know Sanfrancisco was cold in the summer. Your greenhouse is cool. I found a large wigwam teepee tent about 12x12, white and am thinking of getting it to make a greenhouse with. Wonder if that would work too?

Yours looks great and if you want to attract heat, put black rings or black mulch around each plant. Black attracts heat and white repels it. There's also those wall of water type things to put around your plants to absorb sun and heat the plants with. Maybe you can make some cheap ones out of gallon sized ziplock bags, painted black on the bottom?

It looks nice! I'm jealous! Anything looks good compared to mine right now because it's been a few weeks before I could really work in it.

toms do very well in a hoophouse. so do peppers , cukes, zukes.

Not much to growing, vent on sunny days , calm cool rainy days /weeks watch for fungus.

Here is a link that might be useful: my hightunnel vids

I don't have any advice, since my little hoops have only ever been covered in tulle to keep the cabbage moths at bay, but I wanted to tell you that the hoop house looks really nice, dg. I like the binder clips over the PVC. ;)

Those who have lived nearby like to claim that Mark Twain once said that "The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco."

Whether he said it or not, San Francisco has a cool growing season.

I use a 9' by 20' hoophouse during the spring months to grow Asian greens and lettuce in raised beds. Beginning in April, I can move some of these plants into the open garden and have plenty for the table, directly from the hoophouse.

There is a door at one end and a window at the other for ventilation. The center path has been excavated so that I can almost stand completely upright in there. Access is by way of an excavated entry with steps down. The height of the hoops is only about 5'.

It is in my backyard, protected on 3 sides by buildings and a board fence. Still, it gets full sun thru almost the entire day. I'm afraid that it would become airborne on windy days without the protection even tho' it has ropes stretched over the top, from corner to corner.

It is up now and giving some cucurbit vines a good start in a cool May & early June. Good Luck with Your Hoophouse!

digitSteve

can't do a mark Twain quote, but I will quote my Coz from the UK who holidayed (sorry vacation) in San fran with his Girlfriend soon to be wife :) and he said how cold it was, and they hadn't prepared thinking it would be hot. he said it was a kind of good British summer weather only colder :)

It's always a hoot to drive through Chinatown in the middle of summer when it's 54 degrees out, just to see the tourists wearing shorts and tank tops. If I had one of those little shops that sold "I

Ha ha,
I know, people are in disbelief about our california summers, but it is true, especially where I am, close to the ocean.

And I have tried everything, really. Cold weather protection of other sorts, special varieties of toms, starting at different times, earth-tainers, always with a sense of hope. only to be crushed later. And I always say, next year, I won't dedicate so much space to something that won't produce for me....yet I try, try again.

This year, I took most of the space to try potatoes for the first time, which are just about ready to harvest. And I am quite pleased.

But now that i have the hoop, I am hopeful again.
I went out this morning for my first early morning thermometer read (since I have been doing them in the afternoon in the sun)
It was 66 in there! Yippee!

Those who have hoops, do you think the slight opening that i have (about 2 feet raised) on each side is enough ventilation on days that hover around 70?
At 80, I would raise one side completely.
Keep in mind, the hoop is about 4 x 6.

Heather38, I used to refer to my garden as an "english garden" good for giving me great peas and carrots!

I had a lot of success last year (which was a very "cold" and wet summer for us in this region) with Sub-Arctic Plenty (available from heirloomseeds.com). All my other tomatoes had a terrible season, because they didn't get the heat they normally need.

I would suggest trying that one, inside your hoop house. It's a determinate variety, so it shouldn't outgrow your house (always a concern with tomatoes).

I did a hoop house for the first time this year for my lettuces, onions, etc. this late winter/early spring. The main thing it did for me was keep the frost off the plants. I removed it before putting in my tomatoes, because we are already getting temps in the mid-90's this spring. My tomatoes would probably be fried (and the other crops would definitely have bolted long before they did!).

Posted by dgbeig SanFran . . . Those who have hoops, do you think the slight opening that i have (about 2 feet raised) on each side is enough ventilation on days that hover around 70?
At 80, I would raise one side completely.
Keep in mind, the hoop is about 4 x 6. . .

Yes, I think that should do it.

digitS'

I don't know about hoop houses, But what a fun looking yard to play in.

Curt#

Well, I have a 12x16' hoop house around 8' tall and my plants are going nuts! Been picking tomatoes since end of May when most people are just planting theres around here. Summer squash is setting fruit, cukes are not flowering yet but are surely the best I've ever grown. Peppers are flowering and melons are coming along nicely.

The main advantage to a hoop house is starting early, contolled temp, frost protection, hail and thunderstorms too! I started everything in pots and planted out in the garden or in the hh itself. Very impressed so far!

Now being a serious gardener with well over 50 varieties of veggies a 12x16 hh is too small but better than nothing for sure. Always think bigger.

Dbieg, you should make that thing more solid with wood framing and use roll up side walls to vent. Much easier to control heat while still protecting plants.

Hi
Thanks for sharing in my excitement.
I have been measuring temps in the morning and at night. Except when it's really hot, it has maintained a temperature of about 72 degrees.
Question: do the veggies like it to be consistent like that, or do they fair better with cooler temps at night? (just not as cool as our 48 degree SF weather)

Erlyberd, i wish i did it earlier and got my toms in the ground earlier, but alas, it is what it is. Your hoop sounds like a winner, and once i have my own place or a bigger place, I intend to make one of wood, that is sturdy in all the right places. I am happy to report mine has not blown over or knocked around in any of our strong winds.

Curt, thanks for the compliments on the yard. it is a wild place, pretty big for an urban garden, and full of funky things. my neighbor and i have put in a lot of odds and ends but it does keep it like a fantasy world, and my three year old boy loves it. Here it is looking from our top flat.

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I built my hoop house on the frame of a raised bed. Since hot air rises, I would recommend having your vent holes at the top rather than at the bottom of the frame

Love the hoop house! I'm up in Sonoma County and feel your pain. My parents have been coming down here from Oregon for YEARS and are always borrowing our coats because they think they're coming to "California" LOL.

I'm afraid I can't answer your questions, but I'm VERY interested in knowing how it works out for you. I had been on the greenhouse forum for a while trying to find out if I could use an unheated greenhouse to grow tomatoes in those summers when we don't get the heat for good production. I was never able to get a solid answer. Like hoop houses, most people think of them as a winter/spring thing, not summer for us fog bathers.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Please come back and let us know how it works out.

To say I love hoop houses or high tunnels, is an understatement. I believe that we need to produce as much of our own food locally, when we can. No you can't grow tomatoes in January (without lots of heat and other stuff) but why not grow what you can.

I have 6 high tunnels. 4 stationary ones and 2 movable ones. In a single year we will have over 5,000 square feet under plastic. If I have my way (I hope I do) I will put up one more this late summer/fall and replace my smallest one.

Three years ago and $200 I built my first two tunnels. They were 12 by 18 and 8 by 12. I still have the 12 by 18. I took down the other one to make room for my 18.5 by 45.

I build my own tunnels. They cost around $600 to build.

I can't say enough about them. I think everyone should have one. At least on on every block. Yes, a 12 by 18 is enough space to feed a family.

In addition to this, we have about another 3/4 of an acre we "Farm". Our produce feeds our family of 6 and I sell at 3-4 Farmers Markets a week.

By the way in our zone 5, we are harvesting, zucchini, cucumbers, Pickling cucumbers, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, beets, chard, bok choy, carrots and onions from our tunnels. Pretty unbelievable with the spring we have had. Cool and wet.

Check out our blog, I added the link below. Click on High tunnels on the right and page down. You will see all our tunnels.

Jay

Here is a link that might be useful: High Farming Blog