Building a DIY Hoop House

[newport100s]

thought some folks might like to see the process,
ill be making a 20 x 50 hoop house
made from 1 1/2 inch conduit PVC, some lumber, a few pieces o' rebar and of course poly sheeting
if anyones ever done this please feel free to throw me some tips of things one might normally look over on the first build of this sort.
i plan on putting ~40 plants in here, ranging from 65 gallon smarties to 300 gal

all in all i think itll cost about 5-600 (for the GH itself) based on what research and buying ive done so far. which is a hell of a deal for a GH this size. regardless if it breaks one month after harvest.... lol

so if all goes to plan and i do build a solid GH, i will definitely be doing this.. and idk if anyones talked about this here.. but i just stumbled across it and i do believe its fantastic.

stay classy

 

[OrganicGanja]

Killer post bro the difference in trich production between plants inside the hoop house and plants outside is like night and day. Almost as tho them cold rain storms nearing the end of season gives the ladies an un wanted extraction. Letting mother nature make out with half your bubble. I grew the same strain inside and out of the hoop house one year and trich production was nearly double on the ones inside compared to out. Cheap efficient way to produce mass meds.

 

[Seamaiden]

Do you have a bender for the conduit? I really want to do a high tunnel, couple of them actually, but siting on our slope means we've got a bit more grading to do. I love the idea of harvesting any rainwater that falls on the high tunnel.

You can get a grant from SARE for building a high tunnel, IIRC. Of course, that's for actual ag producers.

Look at all that fuckin' flat land they're working on! Lordy!

The overflow valve system? Brilliant.

 

[Sailfishdan]

hoopbenders.net

 

[Sailfishdan]

DIY hoop house https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/outdoor-site-inspection.63756/#post-1259637

 

[Sailfishdan]

all in all i think itll cost about 5-600 (for the GH itself) based on what research and buying ive done so far. which is a hell of a deal for a GH this size. regardless if it breaks one month after harvest.... lol

what happens if it breaks a month before harvest???

I used 1 3/8" galvanized Top Rail Post they come in 10'6'' sectioms

 

[newport100s]

Killer post bro the difference in trich production between plants inside the hoop house and plants outside is like night and day. Almost as tho them cold rain storms nearing the end of season gives the ladies an un wanted extraction. Letting mother nature make out with half your bubble. I grew the same strain inside and out of the hoop house one year and trich production was nearly double on the ones inside compared to out. Cheap efficient way to produce mass meds.

sweet! good to hear

Do you have a bender for the conduit? I really want to do a high tunnel, couple of them actually, but siting on our slope means we've got a bit more grading to do. I love the idea of harvesting any rainwater that falls on the high tunnel.

You can get a grant from SARE for building a high tunnel, IIRC. Of course, that's for actual ag producers.

Look at all that fuckin' flat land they're working on! Lordy!

The overflow valve system? Brilliant.

i was originally going to use PVC, simply just using the tension to keep them up, giving each hoop an "anchor" on each side, aka rebar drove into the ground. almost like a coleman tent just bigger. lol

i couldnt agree more on that whole system being fantastic, and yes the overflow system is quite the mcgeiver solution

hoopbenders.net

thank you for that. im not doing PVC anymore, if it doesnt work tho im hunting you down. lol jp

what happens if it breaks a month before harvest???

I used 1 3/8" galvanized Top Rail Post they come in 10'6'' sectioms

yeah thats why im using what you do now.. ill be using the 20 ft wide bender.. ill prolly make it 20 x 60 or so



UPDATE

i have a few plants up potted and into a "temporary" greenhouse, a few of them went from constant 24/7 light cycles straight to outisde.. kinda worried they might get temperamental on me... but thats only a few.

can i ask what most peeps yield with 2-300 gallon plants? ik its all guesstimation but ive seen peeps claiming anything from a LB to 10 LB's per plant. lets say i have a solid producer, with a good soil mix. what should one expect?

 

[OrganicGanja]

I would estimate one could almost bank on 3-5 lbs with a decent producing strain, good sun exposure and half decent growing conditions in 200-300 gallon smarties or raised beds. That being said it is very possible one could yield as much 10 lbs in this very same situation. Genetics will be a huge underlining factor as well as nutrients and seasonal conditions but some times when everything all just falls into place beautifully, and mother nature cuts you a break you just might end up with a big old 10 lbs monster on your hands. Get em out as early as ya can the earlier they get established the better your results will be. My biggest plants were started early in December so they were basically mother plants before transplanting outdoors for the season around now ha ha lol May 24th long weekend I started planting outdoors here in Canada, sunny southern Ontario to be exact. Best regard with your hoop house I'm sure you will be more then happy with your results. Have a happy and healthy safe season.

 

[Seamaiden]

If you do very little, then I think you can easily expect that 3-5lbs. If you take care of the insides and trim out all the poor bud sites, as well as pay a little more attention and maybe give some top-dressings and foliar feeds here and there, I think you can expect to exceed that.

 

[newport100s]

I would estimate one could almost bank on 3-5 lbs with a decent producing strain, good sun exposure and half decent growing conditions in 200-300 gallon smarties or raised beds. That being said it is very possible one could yield as much 10 lbs in this very same situation. Genetics will be a huge underlining factor as well as nutrients and seasonal conditions but some times when everything all just falls into place beautifully, and mother nature cuts you a break you just might end up with a big old 10 lbs monster on your hands. Get em out as early as ya can the earlier they get established the better your results will be. My biggest plants were started early in December so they were basically mother plants before transplanting outdoors for the season around now ha ha lol May 24th long weekend I started planting outdoors here in Canada, sunny southern Ontario to be exact. Best regard with your hoop house I'm sure you will be more then happy with your results. Have a happy and healthy safe season.

eeeeeeek. lol. dont tell me that bro, im so damn excited.

so i have about 10 plants that are already 3-5 feet tall, and then ill have about 20 that are just now being cloned..

i also have a lot of seeds i could pop.. but im not sure if a seed could outgrow a clone? ik they have more vigor but they also take longer to get going..

thoughts?

If you do very little, then I think you can easily expect that 3-5lbs. If you take care of the insides and trim out all the poor bud sites, as well as pay a little more attention and maybe give some top-dressings and foliar feeds here and there, I think you can expect to exceed that.

and thats with starting with mom sized plants in june.. or even that much with just simple june clone/seed starts?

these girls are going to be over pampered.. in every way possible.. pretty excited for the two skunk plants i have.. theyre both already 5 feet tall bushes right now :D i think those are gonna be my babies.. i also have a really large leather haze pheno thats about 5-6 feet tall right now..

has anyone ever grew in the 4x4x1 smartpot beds? im not sure how much soil they hold.. but itd fit perfectly over a pallet to help with drainage and i can get em for about 15 bucks vs 30-50 for the 2-300 gals... imma look up how much soil it holds

ill update with some pics soon :) show off my newly acquired property :P

 

[OrganicGanja]

I have seen and used the bed style smart pots and they work just fine. Seed plant have tap roots and clones do not, so in theory seed plants yield about 30% more then clones when started at the same time. Seedlings really don't take that much longer if any at all. Two to three weeks to get clones up and running and 3 to 4 weeks maybe max to get seedlings cracked and off to the races. The tap root can do wonders for an outdoor plant. Especially in raised beds the tap root will often pierce the bottom of a smart pot in search of water and go straight into the ground below making it un moveable. I clone often but always prefer starting form seed. More exciting looking thru phenos. Often helps knowing what your gonna get with a clone from momma tho.

 

[Seamaiden]

and thats with starting with mom sized plants in june.. or even that much with just simple june clone/seed starts?

these girls are going to be over pampered.. in every way possible.. pretty excited for the two skunk plants i have.. theyre both already 5 feet tall bushes right now :D i think those are gonna be my babies.. i also have a really large leather haze pheno thats about 5-6 feet tall right now..

has anyone ever grew in the 4x4x1 smartpot beds? im not sure how much soil they hold.. but itd fit perfectly over a pallet to help with drainage and i can get em for about 15 bucks vs 30-50 for the 2-300 gals... imma look up how much soil it holds

ill update with some pics soon :) show off my newly acquired property :p

I do seed starts every year, they're my preferred because of how they grow compared to a clone. I don't know that you could start seeds now and expect 10lbs, but 3-5lbs is fairly doable as long as they're given optimal growing conditions now, and up-potted as soon as their roots hit the walls of the pot they're in. Blaze demonstrated a couple of years ago how important up-potting in a timely manner is, and while my back and hips and knees are screaming at me for it, I'm doing my best to incorporate that into my cultural practices, too. Why? Cuz dude grows some fuckin' MONSTERS and they smoke among the best weed I've smoked.

I personally would find a 1' depth too shallow, btw. If there's a way you can raise the sides and give another foot of depth, seems the beds would work out great. You could line the inside with more landscaping cloth to raise the sides, for example.

 

[OrganicGanja]

Good call on the landscaping fabric sea, I was gonna suggest building a burm style bowl up a foot or so in the middle of the pot and plant into that. I also agree 1 foot depth may be a lil bit shallow, I aim for a 2×2×2 as my smallest hole closer to a 3 or 4×4×4 hole. Your absolutely heading in the right direction my friend I would wish you the best of luck but it really doesn't seem like you will need any. So just keep trucking in the direction you are and your hard work will pay off.

 

[newport100s]

I do seed starts every year, they're my preferred because of how they grow compared to a clone. I don't know that you could start seeds now and expect 10lbs, but 3-5lbs is fairly doable as long as they're given optimal growing conditions now, and up-potted as soon as their roots hit the walls of the pot they're in. Blaze demonstrated a couple of years ago how important up-potting in a timely manner is, and while my back and hips and knees are screaming at me for it, I'm doing my best to incorporate that into my cultural practices, too. Why? Cuz dude grows some fuckin' MONSTERS and they smoke among the best weed I've smoked.

I personally would find a 1' depth too shallow, btw. If there's a way you can raise the sides and give another foot of depth, seems the beds would work out great. You could line the inside with more landscaping cloth to raise the sides, for example.

hmm.. might as well. ill have to sex them and i wont dedicate quite as much soil to each one as idk what they're going to do but ill definitely pop some seeds... now its just figuring out what

im thinking about popping some bio diesel from 303 seeds original release.. i dont have many large yielders as far as seed stock. i also might pop some casper OG from archive or yeti F3's from loompa.. but i dont think either of those will yield to great, however i have heard OG's tend to be more squat and kushy n hardy outdoors.

to be honest my goal is 1 per plant.. anything above that is just fantastic

i think i may just build my own.. use a pallet as the base and build up from there, maybe 2x4x4. ill probably just ramshackle a bunch of wood together whatever the case. lol

Good call on the landscaping fabric sea, I was gonna suggest building a burm style bowl up a foot or so in the middle of the pot and plant into that. I also agree 1 foot depth may be a lil bit shallow, I aim for a 2×2×2 as my smallest hole closer to a 3 or 4×4×4 hole. Your absolutely heading in the right direction my friend I would wish you the best of luck but it really doesn't seem like you will need any. So just keep trucking in the direction you are and your hard work will pay off.

i will try the burm idea on the one i do try out.. as i already bought the liner. ill do almost like a melon burm

oh im going to need all the luck i can get. so thank you for that and all the help (also @Seamaiden )

 

[Seamaiden]

You can easily pull a unit per plant. :)

 

[newport100s]

You can easily pull a unit per plant. :)

OK SO... this is fucking expensive

30 yards of screened good PH topsoil... cheap

1800 pounds of wormcastings... not cheap

to do a proper amendment mix its going to cost me about 2500-3000 dollars (just amendments not soil)

im really close to just buying a 25lb box of VEG + BLOOM for 250$...

but id only want to use it for VEG, so would i have to run a product like drip clean if i were to go the semi organic route come flower?


also, do you guys think the RAW molasses extract would be better for OD use? im trying to avoid ants here.. i bought a bag, im going to put some molasses on a stick, near an ant hill, and some of the powder on a stick, and see which one the ants attract to more . i shall post results! lol

 

[Seamaiden]

Wow... I've spent several hundred dollars each season for amendments that are lasting me several seasons, and that's including my IPM.

If you feed them directly they will come. I've never attracted ants when using molasses for teas (as they're consumed by bacteria), or as light direct feeds, emphasis on light. ;)

IMO there's something wrong when you're talking thousands like that.

 

[newport100s]

Wow... I've spent several hundred dollars each season for amendments that are lasting me several seasons, and that's including my IPM.

If you feed them directly they will come. I've never attracted ants when using molasses for teas (as they're consumed by bacteria), or as light direct feeds, emphasis on light. ;)

IMO there's something wrong when you're talking thousands like that.

yeah i was going with a company that i think may be upcharging me a good bit.. however in the future i will be using them as they just seem like a good company, and once money isnt a HUGE issue it wont hurt to make sure that im getting sustainably gathered/harvested organic materials with a lot of care in what they are supporting

im thinking about just doing this


Neem Cake @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot


Kelp Meal @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot


Alfalfa Meal @ 1/4 Cup Per Cubic Foot


Crab Meal @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot


Fish Bone Meal @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot


Mineral Mix @ 4 Cups Per Cubic Foot (Basalt x 2, Gypsum x 1, Oyster x 1)



thats the companies mix..

idk how much exactly its going to be.. i was quoted a lot more but i think i can find it locally for cheaper.


in other news.. just up potted some more plants and took more clones..

also germinated

20x - Loompa Farms, Yeti F3
10x - Archive Seeds, Hell Raiser

as soon as theyre big enough to transplant out of cups theyll be going into 150 gallons

about ready to start getting the GH built.. its taken a while to get to here but boy am i happy ive made it.. and its only the beginning

cant wait to get some build n property pics up

 

[newport100s]

as soon as theyre big enough to transplant out of cups theyll be going into 150 gallons

and sexed of course

 

[Seamaiden]

yeah i was going with a company that i think may be upcharging me a good bit.. however in the future i will be using them as they just seem like a good company, and once money isnt a HUGE issue it wont hurt to make sure that im getting sustainably gathered/harvested organic materials with a lot of care in what they are supporting

im thinking about just doing this


Neem Cake @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot

Kelp Meal @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot

Alfalfa Meal @ 1/4 Cup Per Cubic Foot

Crab Meal @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot

Fish Bone Meal @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot

Mineral Mix @ 4 Cups Per Cubic Foot (Basalt x 2, Gypsum x 1, Oyster x 1)



thats the companies mix..

idk how much exactly its going to be.. i was quoted a lot more but i think i can find it locally for cheaper.


in other news.. just up potted some more plants and took more clones..

also germinated

20x - Loompa Farms, Yeti F3
10x - Archive Seeds, Hell Raiser

as soon as theyre big enough to transplant out of cups theyll be going into 150 gallons

about ready to start getting the GH built.. its taken a while to get to here but boy am i happy ive made it.. and its only the beginning

cant wait to get some build n property pics up

I think that DIYing is better and far more cost effective. I like your base, but I would add some Azomite and a bit more P for both immediate use and long term. A bit more fishbone meal and maybe something like Cal-Phos would work well there.