Hoop house

You need clamps, such as those sold by Territorial Seeds. They fit perfectly with the given PVC diameter.

I followed the directions at

bought the Territorial seed clamps-- and they are fine. But I was in a rush and had some 1" black plastic pipe lying around so while I was waiting for the commercial version I made some temporary ones. [note that the clips just minimize billowing-- the 2x4s are what really hold the plastic down.]

The temporary ones were a little harder to put on, had a tendency to rip the plastic in high wind. . . but they were dirt cheap-- and I think with a little care like cutting with a hot knife and rounding the sharp points on each end they would work fine. They seem to hold as well or better than the commercial ones.

Jim

I have built several of them over my "Square Foot Garden" (search google) beds. But they might be smaller than what you have in mind. My garden boxes are 4' x 4'. I have three sets of two pvc conduit clamps attatched to each of two opposing sides. I just take 3 ten foot sections of 1/2" pvc pipe and insert one end into a set of clamps on one side, bend them over and insert them into the clamps on the other side. I don't use plastic. I use black landscape screen but I guess I could do the same thing with plastic. I lay it over the hoop and staple it to the wood frame on both sides. I leave enough on the ends to wrap around the pipe and sew it with monofiliment fishing line.

I built this one and have used it for the past 4 years. The last of the tomatoes are ripening now, along with peppers and eggplant.

green house plastic (UV resitant) is just stretched over the PVC frame and stapled to the base frame with what I call a wack-a-do. Sorry I don't know the real name, but it resembles a staple gun head with a hammer type handle and you can pick one up with the staples at any big box store. The plastic also overlaps on the ground about a foot or so, and I covered it with chicken wire and dirt to help keep out critters (I garden in the woods and feed lots of wild life -LOL). You might also look into getting a shade cloth if you plan to use the hoop house all summer long and not just to start up plants. Note if anyone plans to build this hoop house, I found their estimate on lumber for the ends to be half of that required, unless the artical has been updated, take a close look at the materials list.

HTH

Rick

I followed the directions at

bought the Territorial seed clamps-- and they are fine. But I was in a rush and had some 1" black plastic pipe lying around so while I was waiting for the commercial version I made some temporary ones. [note that the clips just minimize billowing-- the 2x4s are what really hold the plastic down.]

The temporary ones were a little harder to put on, had a tendency to rip the plastic in high wind. . . but they were dirt cheap-- and I think with a little care like cutting with a hot knife and rounding the sharp points on each end they would work fine. They seem to hold as well or better than the commercial ones. ____________________-

Thanks to all that responded with suggestions.

These are the directions I am trying to follow. Until today I was unable to find "Polypipe" in less than 100 foot rolls. Black polyvinylcloride tubing just does not hold. Binder clips were a waste of money.

I found Territorial Seed on the net and called them and ordered 20 clamps this morning. There was one Hardware store across town that I had not tried. I went over this afternoon and got 10 feet at 39 cents/foot. Yes, that is dirt cheap compared to the commercial clamps.

I have never worked with Polypipe before. The man at the store knew that Weller made a hotknife blade for the soldering gun, but he did not have one.

I managed to get the tubing cut with a hacksaw blade in my sawzall. By this time it was dark. I can see that I will have a time figuring out how to get them installed. But, they certainly should hold against any wind around here if the plastic does not tear.

Thanks again. Ben Lurkin