Hoop Greenhouse

Since I live in a neighborhood with an Home Owner's Association, I can't really build a full size greenhouse.  It has been cold this week and the cold is probably keeping my system from cycling.  A freeze won't do my plants any good either.  I looked at options and decided to build a greenhouse that I can disassemble when I don't need it.


I went to Home Depot and bought 4 10' sections of 1/2" flex pipe and 8 45 deg 3/4" T threaded fittings.  The idea is that I would bend the tubing over the growbed.  I did a test fit and determined that the hoop was too tall, so I trimmed the 4 tubes to 9'.

I drilled some holes in the ends of the 1' of left over tubing to add a center support between the tops of the ribs of the greenhouse.  The 4 ribs can't get closer together now but the whole thing can take the wind.

The mount for each rib has a 45 deg T fitting mounted to the growbed with a zip tie to the vertical supports on side of the growbed, with the T pointing up.  The rib tubes push into the T with a force and hold well.  Once all 4 ribs are mounted, I added zip ties to the top support of the growbed to keep the poles vertical.

Once I opened up the translucent drop cloth, I figured out which way the tarp would cover the ribs.  Currently, I am pulling the plastic tight and using a large clamp to hold it together on 2 sides.

I put a treble light (on a timer) inside with a 75 watt bulb for heat.

Update: After watching it sway in the 20 mph wind that we had yesterday, I decided to add a bungee cord around the bottom to seal it better.