making a low tunnel out of pvc pipe....any tips?

[JayPoc]

I want to build a little mini hoop house about 10 foot by 5 foot, and maybe 2 foot high in the center. Any reason I can't build the frame entirely out of pvc? I figured I'd use the ell and tee shaped connectors and the same cement the plumbers use. Would this be sturdy enough? Any other tips?

[PaulF]

I built a hoop house last year much like what you are envisioning. The only difference is that I used an established 4'X8' existing raised bed garden as a base. The raised bed was 2 X 8s. I used 1/2 inch PVC electrical conduit as the hoops secured by metal strapping (it comes in rolls and has holes every 1/4 inch and is very pliable) nailed to the wood. Eight foot lengths of PVC made the height perfect. The covering is clear heavy duty plastic anchored on the sides by sandwiching the plastic edge between two 8 foot 1 X 2s on each side. That way the sides can be rolled up for ventilation if necessary. The plastic at the ends of the tunnel should be long enough to fold over to be weather tight.

I put thermometers inside to monitor temps. I have four hoops for the eight foot tunnel, but if it snows, be sure to sweep off the snow or it may bend waay over. With the strapping as hoop holders, in the spring it can be rolled up and stored for next year.

[Gary350]

The best suggestion I can give you is, don't build it with PVC pipe.

I built a sun shade house with 3/4" PVC pipe after about 2 weeks it was all bent out of shape. I tried several ways to get the pipe straight again with no luck. So I threw all the PVC pipe in a pile then went to Lowe's and bought larger 1" PVC pipe. I spend a month screwing around with the larger pipe it bends all out of shape too. The pipe along has no strength to hold its shape so gravity and the weight of the sun shade house covering takes over. PVC is a total waste of my time so I threw all the pipe along the fence.

A few days ago I laid the bent PVC pipe out so the ends are touching the soil and the center is bowed up 8" hoping in a few weeks it will straighten itself out so I can use it for irrigation water lines.

EMT electrical conduit is about the same price as PVC, you will need a hand conduit bender to put several bends in it to get a 180 degree radius. Metal pipe is ridged and will hold its shape.

[Meatburner]

JayPoc, here is one I built a couple of years ago using 1/2" pvc. It is extremely sturdy and easy to make. Adding the joints made it much stronger. They are not clued but stay together with no problem. Go for it.
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[JayPoc]

Well....I better get on it. Tonight and tomorrow its supposed to be around 30. I think the lettuce will be fine, and I know the Cole crops will be fine, but Friday night its supposed to be 22. I've got to get this thing built, and soon....lol...

[Meatburner]

JayPoc, you will still need to put a row cover of some sort over the vegs even with the hoop covered with plastic. I use tulle from a fabric store and put a single or double layer over the vegs under the plastic hoop. We are supposed to get to around 26 degrees tomorrow night so I will be covering mine. Good luck and keep us posted.

[JayPoc]

So its all done. Well, not done-done, but done for now. I can tweak the ends into something more permanent this weekend or next week after the cold snap passes. Its 10 feet long by approximately 6 feet wide. Its about 3.5 to 4 feet tall in the middle. It ended up taller than I had envisioned, but I didn't have the time to cut the pipe down. There's a heck of a lot of room in there. I suspended a remote thermometer sender a few inches off the ground, right in the middle. Interested in how the inside temps relate to the outside temps. I used "clear" 4 mil film from the home store...wish it was closer to actual clear. I might invest in something actually intended for this purpose in the spring. In addition to the thermal angle, I'm assuming this will be deer proof as well. Anyway...a couple of pics are included down below (click to enlarge). Let me know what you think...recommendations, etc. Thanks!

[JayPoc]

Performance update: it got up to 71 inside yesterday, and the high outside was 45 and it was mostly cloudy. Last night it got down to 21 outside but the inside bottomed out at 29 (with two light bulbs going). Right now, its 45 outside and sunny and its 75 inside with one end partially opened up. In short, it seems to work...

[valley]

That looks pretty good. I'm guessing you don't get much wind or snow. Like to see how long this will work for you. Good luck with it.

Richard

[JayPoc]

That looks pretty good. I'm guessing you don't get much wind or snow. Like to see how long this will work for you. Good luck with it.

Richard

yeah....we get plenty of both. This thing is surprisingly sturdy though. We'll see how it goes...