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Vegetable Gardening Greenhouses & Garden Structures

will white tarps work for a greenhouse hoop house?

jeanwedding. zone 6

4 years ago

I bought quite a few for summer use ordered them over the phone. Nice tarps. But will they transmit enough light for growing some cold crops etc?

already got tarp and hoop house skeleton. You know the 2 cattle panels curved over and attached to a wooden 2 by 6's "sled"

what yall think?

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

4 years ago

What are the tarps made of? Most garden tarps I am familiar with are closely woven plastic fibers that prevent any light penetration, regardless of color.

If you can actually see through them however obscurely - like just shapes - or are very loosely woven, they might work........something like THIS.

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Comments (9)

randy41_1
4 years ago
if you mean to grow stuff through the winter you need all the sun you can get which means you're better off with 6mil greenhouse film.
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Rick I just built a new hoop house and the dimensions for the plastic are pretty easy to figure. The only difference for me is I am siding the north end wall with plywood. it will add a bit more insulation and block the wind. The top piece is the length of the hoops(18') x the length of the house(14'). When I ordered my top piece I added 2 feet for each side of the arch and 1 foot for each end of the length. The web has many different ways to attach the plastic. I am going to sandwich it between the base frame and a 1x4 over it. some people use a channel and wiggle wire that you can get at most all greenhouse supply sites. You will want to skin the ends first then the hoop so that the top overlap will give you some waterproofing. For the ends Im planning to just get the big box store plastic versus the UV treated I got for the top. The reason I decided this is because come spring I will most likely remove the south end to let more air flow and I dont want to destroy an expensive piece of UV plastic. The link below is where I just ordered my plastic. I ordered is last monday and got it by that friday. You could order the 20' piece x 15' or 16' and have plenty of extra for attaching. I cant vouch for how good the plastic of theirs is yet but as far as customer service and shipping Im happy. Mike Here is a link that might be useful: ACF greenhouse
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daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
4 years ago
If it looks white (like a sheet of paper, or a fabric sheet), it means it's reflecting lots of light, and if it's reflecting lots of light, not enough is getting through. It's that simple. You need something transparent.
shp123
4 years ago
We just built a hoop house. Instead of cattle panels, we used the metal frame of a portable garage. We looked into the 6 mil greenhouse plastic, it would cost $200-250 to wrap. And it would only last 2-3 years before you have to redo it. We decided to use the plastic sheet from Harborfreight. It’s 4 mil but the cost is a fraction of the 6 mil. We figures it’s worth a try. It survived a fierce wind storm a few week ago. We will see how it would hold up to the snow.
jeanwedding. zone 6 thanked shp123
PRO
Advance Greenhouses
4 years ago
If they are solid tarps they will not work for growing cold crops. Most glazing materials are in the 60% to 80% light transmission range with clear glass giving 90% light transmission.

There are different grades of the polyfilm available. There is a film called overwinter, and that is what is expected from it - one year. The 6 year, 4 mil polyfilm has a 4 year warranty on the UV protection. The film that we have seen last the longest is the reinforced polyfilm with rip stop. We have had reports back that it lasts up to 12 years from a commercial greenhouse manufacturer.
jeanwedding. zone 6
Original Author
4 years ago
shep123. did you add more "purlins" cause the "Toolshed unit" only has 3 uppers one each end and one middle it is 8 wide by 10 long.. I havent measured lately the height of the sides lately before they "roof up"

Have any of yall ever been on inside of the Shelter Logics greenhouse????. Ive only seen pictures Just wondering folks. it must be more expensive to do clear than white. cause when i priced clear tarps over web seems they were a lot more. I hate to spend so much. If i could get a local worker guy to help I could use the temp glass etc I have
shp123
4 years ago
No, we did not add anything to the roof because of the weight. We added lumber support vertically and all around the base. I will post a picture...
shp123
4 years ago
jeanwedding. zone 6 thanked shp123
jeanwedding. zone 6
Original Author
4 years ago
shp123

Do you you have a pic of the skeleton before you covered the unit? so I can see where you added the vertical bds? and what tape did you use.? You said HF plastic you used? please explain type model number, etc. Is the plastic white? it looks so. thanks you and everyone

oh is that T posts in corners outside "tent'?

Blessings to all Bad weather on its way

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