Earlier last week I shared an easy no cost way to build mini greenhouses for starting your seeds for your spring and summer garden. I told you guys that I had since made my own DIY hoop houses and I was going to share those with you guys so today that’s what I’m doing.
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These DIY hoop houses are straightforward to build and pretty inexpensive compared to a greenhouse making them an affordable option for almost any budget.
This was my first year making any kind of cover or greenhouse structure for my garden and I was pleasantly surprised by the results.
Not only do they protect my seedlings from our roaming farm animals, they also allow me to water far less frequently, and seem to germinate my seeds much quicker due to the retained humidity.
In addition, I could have started my seeds this year a good time before the last frost date in my area had I thought to make these earlier, but I’ll just have to keep that in mind for this upcoming winter and next spring.
While these are fairly easy to build, not requiring any heavy duty power tools there are just a few materials you’ll need.
The materials listed below will make 1 4’ x 8’ hoop house, with the exception of the plastic tarp which will provide you with enough for several beds depending on the roll size you purchase.
Hoop House Materials
- 3~4 – 8’ ½” 40 schedule PVC poles
- 1 box of wood or decking screws
- Roll painters plastic tarp (see below for details)
- 1 20 pack ½” two hole straps
- 2 10 packs – ½” snap clamps (optional)
- 1 roll of waterproof clear duct tape
Arguably the most important item listed in the materials is the plastic painters tarp.
When you’re shopping options you’ll notice a range of price points and sizes. Assuming your garden bed is a standard 4’x8’ size I recommend you buy the tarp that is at least 10’ in height.
Hoop House Plastic Sheeting Explained
The most important aspect of the tarp you buy though will be the thickness. Greenhouse plastic is specifically designed so your plastic is thick enough to provide your plants protection from the elements but thin enough to allow visibility through the fabric.
Greenhouse plastics are measured in millimeters and range in thickness. The most common sizes I’ve seen being used for greenhouse plastic ranges from 3 mil to 12 mil, with 6 mil. thickness being the most commonly used.
This is the thickness I chose, however if you’re in an area with warmer temperatures or a place that doesn’t snow, you could probably get away with a thinner plastic.
While there is plastic sheeting made specifically for greenhouses I didn’t want to have to order mine online and wait for it in the mail to arrive so I went to my local Home Depot and in the paint section found plastic painters tarp with a 6mil. thickness and it has worked great.
If your garden beds are 4ft. X 8ft. like mine are then I recommend you buy a roll that is at least 10ft. tall.
That way it will completely cover your beds when placing over your arched pvc.
Building Your Hoop House
There is nothing terribly complicated about building these DIY hoop houses. So I’m not going to get terribly detailed in my instructions.
The photos I provide should be enough for you to easily build your own.
However, if you do have any questions please feel free to ask me in the comments below. Or DM me on any of my social media accounts.
First things first, you’ll obviously need to have your garden beds built first before starting your DIY hoop houses.
Then each bed will have three pvc poles arched and secured to your beds. One pole on each side and one in the middle.
A Note on Stability
Also you might consider adding at least one stability pole to help keep your hoop house secure and sturdy.
I originally hadn’t added a stability pole. I noticed quickly how much my hoop house was wavering at times and added a 8ft. Board across the top because that’s all I had and it helped a lot.
We get REALLY bad winds out here on the farm. Sometimes we can feel the house shaving. If your winds aren’t too bad you could probably get away without this as well.
You’ll secure your poles to the inside of your garden beds using your metal two hole straps. I used two straps per each end of a pole.
Next, you’re going to cover your hoops with your plastic sheeting, starting with the two ends.
You’re going to cut a square so that it’s slightly wider and taller than the sides of your secured hoops.
With at least a couple inches of plastic overlapping the bottom of your garden bed, staple your plastic to your bed all the way across. Make sure it’s nice and secure.
Now take the middle top end of your plastic and wrap it around the top end of one of your side hoops so that the end is together with the inside of the plastic and tape the two together.
Make sure it’s tight enough and that there are minimal wrinkles.
Continue this process working your way outwards and alternating between the left and right as you go until one side is completely taped and secured with plastic.
Repeat this for the other side.
Making the Middle
After both ends of your hoop house are complete, take a new sheet of plastic and secure the edge of it with staples like you did with the sides.
The side you staple will stay shut so keep this in mind if you have a preference to which side you want to water from.
Drape your plastic over the middle of your hoop, make sure the plastic also covers the side hoops with at least a few inches of excess plastic hanging off the ends.
When you get to the other end of your garden bed cut your plastic off your roll.
DO NOT secure this side with staples.
Finishing Your Hoop House
At this point you’re almost done.
Secure both ends of your hoop house with your plastic snap clamps. This is what seals your hoop house shut keeping the moisture in nicely.
After your snap clamps are secured you can snip off any extra plastic overhang from the sides. This gives your DIY hoop house a cleaner finish.
For the end of the garden bed that did not get stapled with plastic I attached a heavier metal pole to the plastic.
This weighs down the side so that the plastic would not fly up in the wind and release all the moisture from the inside. I also add bricks and other rocks on top for extra secureness.
Watering inside my hoop house is easy. All I have to do is remove the snap clamps, roll my plastic up and I can water easily. Then shut it back up again.
Quick Note Before Starting
These hoop houses really do work wonders. You might notice my seedlings looking sad in some of my photos. However, earlier this week while I was prepping for this post I was playing around with the plastic I accidentally left an opening in the plastic hoop house and didn’t notice.
When I went to take photos for this post I realized what I had done but it was too late. The moisture had gotten through and I sadly killed a large number of my thriving seedlings.
I’m super sad about it. But if you secure these properly following the directions below you’ll be happy with the results. You can see the captured humidity from some of the photos as proof.
I hope you found this post helpful, and give it a try.
If you have any questions about the build process please don’t hesitate to leave it in the comments below.
I’d also love to see how your DIY hoop house turns out if you make your own!
Thank you so much for stopping by and your support means a lot 🙂
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