A Hoophouse on the Horizon, Part 4: Learning Curve

Reader Contribution by Sherry Leverich Tucker
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During this summer growing season I have had my first experience growing plants in my hoophouse. It has been exciting to see veggies flourish in that environment. Some things have been surprising, and other things I expected. There is a lot to learn about how to grow in the hoophouse and also what to grow, when to grow, and how to manage.

Peppers do not like heat?

When the hoophouse went up, the floor of it was still in grass. I quickly started covering all the grass with remnant pieces of plastic sheeting that covered the hoophouse. I was amazed at how quickly the grass died from the heat and being covered with the clear plastic. Killing the grass so that the sod could decompose over the rest of the summer was important as I am hoping to disc the soil up this fall. I soon bought a roll of clear 4mil plastic and covered a section and planted 30 pepper plants. These pepper plants suffered through the heat all summer and are only now recovering and producing. I was surprised that they couldn’t take the heat. But, the heat we endured this summer was remarkable, and it stayed even hotter in the hoophouse. The endwalls and side curtains of the hoophouse were always completely opened up and it was still sweltering in its interior! After peppers I planted tomatoes, which I lost nearly half. That, too, was due to the high heat.

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