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Gardening In Western Washington
Presented by WSU Cooperative Extension



Poor Man's Greenhouse
A Simple, Plastic-Covered Hoop House

I built a simple, plastic-covered hoop house to give tomatoes an early start and to extend their growing season through the earliest fall frosts. However, it can be used for many other garden purposes, such as starting bedding plants, protecting plants that have been moved outside, and rooting cuttings of shrubs and vines.

The hoop house design is flexible. It can be made to almost any length or height. My particular hoop house was designed to:

  1. allow one person to move it easily;
  2. require little stooping when working inside it;
  3. allow easy assembly and disassembly;
  4. withstand strong winds.

Construction materials include 2 x 4's, PVC pipe, galvanized pipe, plated screws, galvanized nails and lag bolts, and the plastic cover. If you use ordinary 4 mil polyethylene, expect no more than two seasons' use. A UV-stabilized polyethylene, however, should last for several years.

For more details and plans for building a plastic-covered hoop house, send a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) to: 

			"Hoop House"
			Master Gardener Program
			7612 Pioneer Way East
			Puyallup, WA 98371-4998

For further information contact your local WSU Extension Office.

From The Gardener, Vol 6 No. 3, Autumn 1995.

Wally Howell, WSU Master Gardener, Benton County



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