Raised bed mini hoop house

[Davezone5]

Building another one of these today, I built one early spring and it worked really well for growing lettuce/greens in, I have it packed with peppers at the moment with the plastic off.

The cedar for the raised bed, the boards to hold the plastic and the pvc for the frame cost me about $80 at Lowes... It's 4x8'.






I've since replaced that 10ft board that was holding the plastic with an 8ft one.

Here's where I took the idea from, I'll try to get a list together of everything needed to build one of these if anyone's interested. I'm no carpenter or handyman and I can throw one together pretty easily.



I put down a layer of cardboard at the bottom, a layer of sticks and then a layer of half composted leaf compost, then about a 6" layer of cheap bagged topsoil and topsoil/manure.

Lettuce seemed to grow twice as fast as it did in the ground.

Lettuce/Kale/Tomato and Pepper starts


10 days later...

[kath]

Nice job! Great idea for an instant garden that has the possibility to extend the growing season on both ends. I might see if DH would make the frame part for one of my cinder block beds.

[dpurdy]

Davezone5,
I do a similar set up. I used irrigation tubing for the frame and attached them to the raised bed with screw nails. Pretty simple. It's helpful during the early spring rains and cold weather. Once the temps stabilize, I remove the plastic and grow them normally. Here's a couple of pics of my set up.
dpurdy

[Davezone5]

Originally Posted by dpurdy

Davezone5,
I do a similar set up. I used irrigation tubing for the frame and attached them to the raised bed with screw nails. Pretty simple. It's helpful during the early spring rains and cold weather. Once the temps stabilize, I remove the plastic and grow them normally. Here's a couple of pics of my set up.
dpurdy

I like yours too Dpurdy, your frame looks sturdier than mine! And your lettuce looks great too. I'm going to use the new one for mainly lettuce and try shading it during the hottest parts of the day with an old white sheet over the frame.

I have it built and positioned in the yard, the second one went really fast.

[Cole_Robbie]

I like the design and the idea of both beds.

For what it's worth, if that is painter's plastic, you will want to get it out of the sun before the summer sets in, or else by the end of the summer it will disintegrate into a million pieces everywhere.

[Davezone5]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I like the design and the idea of both beds.

For what it's worth, if that is painter's plastic, you will want to get it out of the sun before the summer sets in, or else by the end of the summer it will disintegrate into a million pieces everywhere.

Hi Cole Robbie, thanks! It's 4 mil poly sheeting I bought at the farm store. I have it rolled up on the ground next to it right now. What would you recommend for plastic? I bought what was easily available and cheap.

[Cole_Robbie]

I use painter's plastic, too, to seal off part of the greenhouse when I am heating it. It's cheap and convenient. But when I am done with it, I store it in a place that does not get direct sun. One of the reasons that it is so cheap is that it does not contain UV inhibitors. 6-mil greenhouse plastic with the UV inhibitors will last 5-10 years in the sun. That's what you want to use if your plastic is going to get constant sun over the summer. The painter's plastic is fine if you are just going to use it for a few weeks in the spring and the fall, and then store it inside when not in use. Otherwise, it is more cost-efficient to buy the good stuff. You can browse at farmtek.com and greenhousemegastore.com - I order my plastic from Hummert, but they typically require large minimum orders.

I'm not very far away from you to the south. If this weather doesn't change, the sun will never shine, and your painter's plastic might last forever

[Davezone5]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I use painter's plastic, too, to seal off part of the greenhouse when I am heating it. It's cheap and convenient. But when I am done with it, I store it in a place that does not get direct sun. One of the reasons that it is so cheap is that it does not contain UV inhibitors. 6-mil greenhouse plastic with the UV inhibitors will last 5-10 years in the sun. That's what you want to use if your plastic is going to get constant sun over the summer. The painter's plastic is fine if you are just going to use it for a few weeks in the spring and the fall, and then store it inside when not in use. Otherwise, it is more cost-efficient to buy the good stuff. You can browse at farmtek.com and greenhousemegastore.com - I order my plastic from Hummert, but they typically require large minimum orders.

I'm not very far away from you to the south. If this weather doesn't change, the sun will never shine, and your painter's plastic might last forever

Cole Robbie, thanks very much for all of the info and tips on the plastic. I'll be moving it inside for the summer. Looks like the real greenhouse type plastic is the way to go and where I should be headed. A little more expensive but should last a lot longer.

Looks like another cloudy day up here, hope you're getting some sunshine. I've had enough of the rain for awhile.

[Brandon558]

Great looking hoop house.....I may build me one for next year.

[Davezone5]

Originally Posted by Brandon558

Great looking hoop house.....I may build me one for next year.

Thanks Brandon. I only made this one (the one covered in plastic) 6" high instead of 12" since I'm mainly just using it for greens.




Basically I just get 3 - 6"x8' pieces of cedar and have Lowes cut them in half. Then I drill some pilot holes in the long pieces and screw it together with some galvanized screws.

The pvc frame is made out of 6 pieces of 1/2" pvc is held together by the metal fasteners for conduit that fasten it to the insides of the box. I ended up using plastic ones on half of this one since the farm store was out of metal ones but they seem to work just as well, maybe better. The frame is held together by 7" plastic zip ties. I also fasten a couple lightweight 8ft furring strips to the frame with zip ties also.

One of the major costs (for me anyways) is filling them. The first one I stuck my compost pile from last year into the bottom of and bought some cheap bagged top soil and compost to add a layer to the top. The second one I threw in my big pile of leaf compost at the bottom and only needed 8 bags of topsoil to top it off. The compost in the first bed appears to be composting and sinking quickly though. I'll probably add some more soil to it next year.

I moved the plastic to the new bed, I think taking Cole Robbie's advice and getting some greenhouse UV protected plastic would be more economical in the long run.