Very interesting, Jay. The price seems very attractive for the sq. footage of space. I will only say that you will be better off growing determinate tomato varieties and staking, rather than using the structure for support. The weight of tons of developing fruit will be too much for the PVC. I even ran extra rows of perlins and set an independent high tensile wire support within a lighter weight metal arch (1.66") structure in order to support the plant weight. If you can't do a chin-up on the frame then don't count on it for supporting plant weight.

Do you plan to rollup the row cover sides for the summer or are you going to totally remove the cover as warmer weather arrives? Why are you planning rows that close? For an 18' wide structure you should be able to get 4 rows easily on 2' centers to allow you room to work and get better ventilation between plants. The 18-20" spacing within rows is about what I shoot for with stringline supported, suckered to one stem, Indt.plants.

Another point is regarding mixing of peppers with the others. It just hasn't worked for me because the taller growing tomatoes and cucs will block light to the peppers. Why not devote one structure just to peppers, eggplants and lower growing crops?

Thanks for the kind words, To clarify, I am going to use a Florida weave on the tomatoes, I am not going to use the structure to hang them from. I have seen that and the structure will not support that. Last year I did the weave in the hoop building and it worked great. I am going to pull up the sides during the spring and open the vents and doors during the spring. During the summer I will remove the end wall coverings and keep the sides up all the time. I didn't plan on removing the plastic, but I guess that is always an option. We will just have to see how the summer goes.

I guess I wasn't clear about my plant spacing the rows are going to be 4 to 4.5 feet apart and the space between plants is going to be 18 inches.

About the peppers and cucs, I am going to grow the cucs and cherry Tomatoes in the center rows and the peppers on the outsides rows. I hope it works, but time will tell how successful I am.

Jay

Thanks for clearing things up. Just a little confusion about the distance between rows- at 4 ft you will need to have side rows closer to sides since you basically have 5 spaces to consider: side (space 1)row 1, (space 2)row 2, (space 3) row 3, (space 4) row 4, (space 5) opposite side. With that in mind and the height at your sides to consider you may need to widen spaces 1 & 5 to allow "headspace", thereby dividing the interior spaces to much less than 4'.

Just having peppers in end rows won't really help unless you limit to one side- that single side which is the south facing side to get the full sun throughout the day. You'll need to look at your layout orientation. Otherwise you'll end up with many 5' tall pepper plants with little fruit.

as far as the cucs, I grow them on the north side of my tunnels but I grow them vertically using the arches to support the plastic mesh that they grow onto. Just keep in mind that cucs will attach feelers onto anything, including nearby tomato plants.

Bmoser,
The four foot spacing is just an estimate. Some will be more and some will be less. Just like you said. I am growing determinates on the outsides and indeterminates on the inside rows, this will allow them to grow taller. In regards to head space, last year I was able to pick all my outside rows of tomatoes from the inside. I figure since I have the side walls open, I could pick from the outside of the building if I need to.

To also clarify, the buildings are orientated North to South. Due to the lie of the land, this is the only way it will work. Last year I did a few experiments with plant groupings, I grew peppers on the east side of a row of tomatoes and they did great. I also had the cucs on the east side of indeterminate Tomatoes. I did not see any dramatic reduction in production. I live on top of a hill, we have no trees. We have to things that are abundant, sun and wind. I figure some shading is ok, since everything on our place gets sun from sunrise to sunset minus any shading from other plants.

bump

WOW very cool.
I'm jealous

Very nice!

You will love it.

If I left the plastic on something like that around here all winter, the snowfall would ruin it for sure.

The advice bill gave you is right on.

Next thing you'll be doing is hooking up a wood stove in there!

Tim

Wow!! Very nice. Before looking at the photos I was wondering if I'd need permits to build something like that in my suburban yard. After looking at the pics I doubt I could even fit such a building into the yard....but it would be fun to try :)

jrslick, I too am jealous, I think next year that will be my project.

Dale

Jay - I really like your setup! I might have to construct something similar, myself. I have a question...I'm not familiar with the covering you named. Can a person get by with the heaviest mil plastic sheeting from Lowes? Also, how are you going to pull it tight, then fasten it onto the frame? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

EG

Tim- I have an old woodstove in my walk-out basement. I thought about it, but not this year! Last years garden paid for the new stove in my home.

Dale- Start small, after you learn alittle, ramp it up. The future will always have hoop building in it for me now.

EG-You can use a 6 mil plastic from Lowes, however I wouldn't. That is what I did last year. I got about 5 months out of it and it was totally destroyed. It was so brittle because it didn't have any UV inhibitors.

Spend the money and by greenhouse film. The K-50 is Klerks' K-50 greenhouse film. Find a supplier in your area. I picked mine up 2.5 hours away when we took our child to a Doctor Visit to a Specialist. It really saved on the shipping. The 32 by 100 piece was $275 and it should last 2-4 years, I hope.

The plastic is going to be attached by pulling it over the building and attaching it to the 2 by 4's that are 4 feet high. I will run a 1 by 2 over the plastic and screw it to the 2 by 4. It will be sandwiched and screwed. You could use wiggle wire, but it costs money. 1 by 2's are a $1 for 8 feet. Maybe next year wiggle wire.

On the ends, I will pull the plastic around and attach it in the same manner. I am waiting for that day!

Thanks for the comments, I will be posting more pics as they are taken.

I'll second your reply on the untreated plastic. You would be lucky to even get 3 mo. before it begins to break apart. Treated regular 6 mil greenhouse film could last much longer than the suggested 4 yr, I had a double layer on a small greenhouse that lasted 14 yr.

Get electric in there with a woodstove. Today I don't know what I'd do with a few hundred tomato plants in my greenhouse and the sun making it 100F inside with outside air temp at 28F. By leaving the exhaust fan off and circ fan running with a door cracked I can keep plants right around 80F. But I better go check on them again soon.

By the way,Jrslick, had anyone told you that you need to paint the PVC? Bare PVC supposedly gives off gases that will breakdown the film in contact with it. Reading the post on the Lowes plastic made me think of that.

I use the wirelock, probably even more than I should. I installed it on the 2nd arch from the ends as a means of extending roll-up side useful life and also installed it on the inside of my smallest GH on one side so I could drape a film curtain to the ground on an area that doesn't have a bubblewrap inner film layer. I just think you will like the wirelock onece you try it.

But even with the wirelock on the end arches it still helps to keep the film extending over the edges from flapping in the wind. I've tried screwed firring strips, batten tape and yesterday I attached a section just by stapling through a section of used driptape over the film edge. Much depends on what type of material you are using for your endwalls.

Wow, this thread almost belongs in the GH&Struc group. But there is little doubt that other than flowers, tomatoes are the most profitable crop for greenhouses.

HaHa bill,

I'm always using T-Tape and a staple gun too!

In fact, the other day I used a roll of 5 foot wide clear plastic and some T-Tape (both I bought from Rainflo) to seal any leaks on the inside of a roll up greenhouse. When you don't need it anymore, you just yank the tape and the staples pull right out.

I started this 10 years ago with windows on an old 1800's farm house. I thought I was the only one.

Thanks for the info, Jay!

EG

Bill,

I have heard that about PVC and plastic. I didn't notice a problem with my hoop last year. I have also ask others about it and one couple said they have had their plastic on unpainted pvc for 4 plus years and never had a problem with it.

I have some paint and I guess I could run a a brush over them. I am just wondering how important this is. I have heard it both ways.

Thanks for the info!

I've had it turn black from the sun like it was burnt.

The grey electrical PVC is sunlight resistant.

Tim