Simple Hoop Houses for Raised Beds

I was looking for a way to grow lettuce and spinach over the winter so made these hoop houses to fit over my raised beds. These will double as a holder for bird netting next season to protect strawberries. I was very pleased with how they turned out and they only took a couple hours to make. Also, they are very economical compared to a lot of other options I was considering. Total cost for my 3 hoop houses in these pictures was under $35 and I have enough leftovers to make another 3 for only $12.

Material List (prices are for a 4 hoop house)
1/2" diameter dowel. A single four foot piece can make 12 "hoops" which enough for most beds. $1.68
1 1/2" corner brackets. You need two per hoop. $5.80 for 8 brackets.
1/2" garden irrigation hose. 50 ft should be more than enough with plenty left over. $8.41
Clear Plastic Sheeting. I used 4 mil in a 10' x 25' roll. $11.47


Tool List
Saw (miter saw is fastest, but a hand saw would work too)
Drill w/ 1/8" bit
Phillips head screw driver
Razor / knife

Step 1: Make Dowel Anchor Pins

• Cut the 1/2" dowel rod into 4" segment.
• Drill a hole in the end of the dowel using a 1/8" drill bit.
• Mount the dowel segment on the outside hole of one of the corner

Step 2: Mount Dowel Anchors Onto the Outside of the Raised Bed

I placed one approximately every 2-3 feet

Step 3: Run Irrigation Hose Between Dowel Anchors

For my raised beds, I ran hose in parallel for the longer narrower bed and then ran intersecting hose for the shorter/wider beds. I think if your bed is 6 feet or longer, there is enough room to run at least 3 hose in parallel. With shorter beds, you only need 2 hose segments and you get more support using the intersecting method.

Step 4: Cut Clear Plastic Cover to Fit Over the Hose

I used 4mm thick plastic for mine.

Step 5: Make Clips to Hold the Plastic to the Hose

Cut 2" pieces of irrigation hose and then cut a slit completely down one side of them. These will clip over the plastic and hose frame to secure the plastic in place. I only clipped them on one side of the hose so that I can easily fold the plastic back in warmer weather.

Comments

[llmadigan]

Hey - how did this design hold up? Specifically, I'm curious about the "clips". They look too good to be true. Did they hold during snow and heavy winds?

Thanks for the 'ible! It was just what I was looking for!

[urbanoaks]

Please tell me how to attach the dowels to corner brackets. I could not see what you were using in the Stanley Product picture. What can you use, size the type of screw? I guess this is stupid but I not smart just curious. A curious gardener. Thanks

[dkrall]

I like the idea but is the dowel and single screw able to support the pipe and tension/weight from the plastic. what about snow weight?

[demilio]

I'm pretty sure the dowels will hold up to just about anything they could see. I can put a fair amount of stress on it with my hands with no signs of it giving. One concern I do have is whether untreated poplar dowels will hold up over the long run though but they are cheap enough to replace that I dont worry too much.

If there is a weak link to this, I think it will be if the irrigation hose bends under a lot of weight. I considered PVC pipe instead but already had this and it feels much stronger than I would have guessed.

[neo71665]

The dowels and abs pipe will hold up much more than the plastic sheet will. If you live in a high snowfall area clearing the snow off before it builds is always part of the regular maintained schedule. The same as checking temps to make sure the plants aren't getting too hot/cold or checking moisture inside.

[neo71665]

if ya can come across them cheap enough old adult sized bike rims cut in half work pretty well.

[bmaxwell5]

Very smart