Get creative with cheap PVC pipe. However, watch what happens really carefully inside because the daytime temps will go out of control fast.

I build a couple of hoophouses in my greenhouse using 10 ft lengths of pipe. The bows are 20ft and at a width of about 11ft they are about 7ft and a bit high.

I used 3/4 in pipe as I had it. As my "hoophouse" does not have to be built to withstand winds, snow or rain it could be made of much thinner pipe.

A word of caution, when attempting this trick make sure you have at least two adults in there, and don't let go of the end of the pipe when you are bending it!!!!!

I like the solar pool cover, but in my high wind location areas of the cover are getting shredded. Mine will go inside next year. I plan on cutting it into strips that will fit between the I-beams of the GH frame. I'm still working out in my mind some sort of simple wood/metal spring clip that will go up and come down easily. I might resort to a long T-bolt mechanism, but hopefully not.

SB

Chris,
I have considered your idea to start off the season but I need something that will keep the heat during our cooler fall nights too. I plan on using my bubble wrap enclosure from my smaller 8x10' inside my 12x16 for my transplants. I will just hang it using some chain that I have in place for stringing up my tomatoes. If it gets hot I can just pull it back over the shelving units.
SB, Thanks for you response. I had read about your trials and tribulations off attaching your solar blanket. If you figure out how you are going to attach it, I truly hope you will post again about it. Your idea sounds exactly what I need so that I don't interfere with the way I string up my tomatoes.
Jeff

Hi Jeff
As I mentioned in our private emails, my location is also VERY windy...I'm surrounded by empty farm fields in the winter and as I live quite close to Lake Huron, we get very intense storms from the North. Thus far, I haven't had my pool cover budge an inch. We attached it with tarp clips to the bottom edge of the greenhouse (which is wood), screwing the tarpclips directly to the wood using large washers. The vertical edges of the cover were screwed to the greenhouse, using 1"x1/2" strips of wood. We cut a square hole in the roof section, just large enough to accomodate my automatic venting window. We had intended to use allweather duct tape to seal around the edges of the window, in case of flapping from the wind, but never got around to it and the wind hasn't seemed to catch it all. I'm going to try to send you some pictures. My computer won't allow me to post photos to a photo hosting website (gggrrrr) but I can email you some privately.

I have a heater in my greenhouse now but last year I didn't and I built a little hoophouse inside to keep my seedlings and cuttings warm at night. The hoops were built of flexible conduit from Home Depot which were covered with plastic sheeting. I had heat mats inside under the trays, which were sitting on a sheet of extruded foam insulation and that was enough to keep things from from getting too cold. I pulled the plastic sheet over at night and opened it during the day when the sun naturally heated the glass building to 80*. If it was extra cold at night, I also threw a blanket over the whole thing.

I received my pool cover a few weeks back and I am still not sure how to get the most of it either so I'm interested in these comments. But it seems as if you cut strips to fit between between frame (arches in my case) then a more reasonable option would be to sandwich the liner between two layers of plastic film and leave it as a permanent feature. I think that is the way I will proceed. If a jumper inflation hose were used so that both sides of the pool cover were slightly inflated then the end result would be equivalent to triple air as insulation. Does anyone see a problem with this concept.

Bmoser, it sounds like a good idea to me. Keep us posted. SB

I got my solar pool cover over a month ago and still haven't decided how I'll use it. We live in the second most windy state in the union, and since I live on top of a hill with nothing to block the wind, I fear the cover won't last long on my greenhouse. I use shade cloth year round on my greenhouse, so that's another reason I'm not sure how to use the solar cover. My DH thinks by putting it on the inside of the greenhouse that I'll be defeating its purpose (because of the shade cloth). But I just don't think it will hold up outside because of our extremely high winds. I've considered using bird flight netting to hold it in place, thinking that might be strong enough to keep it from blowing away... :) I'll be watching this thread for ideas. Thankfully our weather this winter has been incredibly warm and so far I have not really needed the solar cover.

If your site is so windy, why not put in a large wind turbine? They're worth about $2000/mo, so I've heard.