One item I think most gardeners dream of having is a place to start plants and even over winter them. I think most of us have gone through that plastic tray with clear plastic lid to start seeds and the patio plastic wrapped ‘book’ shelf.  I enjoy taking the complete journey with a plant. There’s an intimacy in sowing the seed, watching as true leaves unfold, then moving it to the garden. This driving force makes us seek out better methods.

Another driving force for constructing a hoop house is quality food. People are becoming more and more conscience of what is in their food and where it came from. Growing one’s one food is essential to eating healthy and connecting to the environment. It’s also a great way of getting kids to eat right. Imagine a child that go to the garden instead of the cookie jar.  

In this post, we will learn how to build a hoop house step by step. I helped host a work shop with the Kerr Center for Sustainable Ag http://www.kerrcenter.com/publications/hoophouse/index.htm. Here is what we did.

First we acquired the materials on the ‘Materials/cost list’ PDF on the Kerr Center site. I did make some changes; I didn’t buy the earth anchor and I added eight 2x6” boards and four bags on ready mix concrete.

We graded the pad making sure it was as level as possible. This is important because if the pad isn’t level dips will allow air in and the wind to blow the plastic up. 

To begin making the perimeter of the hoop house drive rebar to establish the NW corner (may be a good idea to drive this stake past the house)

Drive rebar to establish SW corner (may be a good idea to drive this stake past the house), on you can now run a string line from these two rebar

Drive 18 rebar stakes along line at 5.5’ intervals (should make for a 99’ length), stakes should be 15 degrees towards the inside of the house, in the picture below you'll notice that we made a board to act has a pattern to drive the rebar. It was a useful tool but not necessary.

 before driving the rebar we mark it's placement with a flag (this also save people from tripping)

After you drive the west side, measure 17’ east from the NW rebar hoop stake to establish the SW corner. Be sure to use Pythagorean Theorem to make the house square. After the house is square you can drive the rebar in the same manner as the West side.

Bend all 18 of the 24’ x 1” square galvanized tubing. A Bender can be purchased through the Kerr Center. Drill a hole on the outside of the rib one inch from the bottom with a 3/16” bit, do this at both ends. The pre-drilled hole will help you fasten the rib to the rebar. The Kerr Center instructions also state to pre-drill for the wiggle wire channel, however, if you are using self-tapping screws, this is unnecessary.

Now this is where I deviate from the Kerr Center’s plan. They attach a washer then a snap-link to the rebar to hold a rope that has a loop tied in the middle. The ropes are used to sandwich the plastic over the rib. And in the picture below you’ll notice that we followed these steps. However, if I had to do it again, I would use 200 feet of 2” x 6” boards to run along the bottom of the east and west side (inside of the house) and a 200 feet of 2” x 4” to be u-bolted five feet from the bottom of the house at act as a purling and attachment place for two (two per 2x4) channel of wiggle wire. This would give you more stability and the option to make roll-up sides.

Now place your ribs on the rebar, using a 1/2" self-tapping screw to fasten the rib to the rebar by going through the pre-drilled hole may when bending the hoops.

The Kerr Center suggest drilling and attaching eye-bolts to the outside of the North hoop and the outside of the south hoop. The eye-bolts are used to tie the North and South hoops to earth anchors. By doing this the hoops will not pull in after you attach your plastic. However, our house was planned to be permanent. Therefore we used the 8 2x6 boards and made post set in concrete and fasten the hoop to the post.

 Find the center of you house and divide the width of your door to find the distance between the center of the house and the inside side of your hole. Dig three feet down.

Place the two 2x6 boards that have been bolted together in the hole and level the post. Mark the bottom and top of the square tubing. Then  draw an angled line from the top of the tubing mark. Making an angle cut will make sure that the plastic does not rub against the post, which will wear holes in it. 

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Next attach the wiggle wire channel to the top of the North and South hoop and the the outside of the four post.

 attaching wiggle wire to the wiggle wire channel on the top of the North hoop

 Wiggle wire on the outside of the post and the

underneath of the north and south hoops. The wiggle wire channel cut easily with a metal saw.

By using two garden forks and a pipe one can make a spool to pull out the glazing (plastic) for the hoop house.

 walk the plastic out and cover the house.

Before going much further it’s worth mentioning that temperature factors into attach glazing to a hoop house or greenhouse. When it is warm the plastic expands and when cold constricts. Therefore to ensure your plastic is tight and won’t rub too much against the ribs, the weather should warm (and not to windy).

 Pull the plastic tight and attach the wiggle wire into the channel.

 Hang your doors

   Burry your plastic

Now if you deviated with me and ran the two boards down the west and east side you would attach the plastic to the channel that was put on the 2x4 feet from the bottom of the house. Take a 100’ (or the length of your house) piece of pvc pipe and make two or so rotations of the end plastic (closest to the ground) around the pvc and attach a clip (which can be purchased from American Plant Product or Farm Tech). now to vent the house you can roll up the side walls.

This house cost just over $1,000.00 and is 17 x 100’. I stuck to the Kerr Center plans to keep the cost down. Now of coarse going the cheapest way possible did make for some problems i. e. stability. However, if this was your only hoop house a little bit of time and ingenuity would overcome any problems. Still, without the roll up side wall, venting in the heat of the summer would be the biggest issue.  

It’s November. With pansies, kale/cabbage and bulbs planted there is little to do in the ornamental garden but pull hen-bit. For the greenhouse grower, we are all worried about that red plant soon to grace everyone’s fireplace and/or table. Thats right, poinsettia.

The poinsettia was brought to America by the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett in 1828. And despite what most say, is not poisonous (unless you are eating salads of it).

With the poinsettia being the #1 potted plant in the U.S, every greenhouse grower is sure to have them on their benches. Most growers will buy rooted cuttings to be shipped in around August. Depending on the variety and the size of the plant needed the grower will pinch the plant in September. Pinching is done to destroy apical dominance. Once the tip is removed from the plant the concentration of auxin (the hormone responsible for phototropism, geotropism, apical dominance and promoting root formation) the lateral buds will begin to grow. See the pinched plant below that was pinched three weeks before the picture.

Some growers will apply a plant growth regulator such as Cycocel and/or Florel which are synthetic hormones to keep the plant short.

Poinsettia, like mums, are photo-sensitive plants. They require a day length shorter than 12 hours in order to bloom. Basically a chemical that is produced inside the plant that can be destroyed by light can sufficiently build up and trigger the plant to bloom. The dark must be uninterrupted. If the poinsettia sees more than 2 fc for even a moment, blooming can be delayed. High temperatures can also be a factor.

Sounds pretty simple…Right? Well there are a few more things to consider; nutrients (I send tissue, media, and water samples to a lab to be tested), space, watering, fungus and whitefly. And if you’re like me, six months more of work!!! Thats right I produce my crop myself from stock plants.

Here is how I do it.

Week 13 (middle of March) I receive around 1,000 rooted cuttings. The cutting come to me rooted in a oasis wedge that is very similar to florist foam. I plant the wedges into a 6.5” pot and place them pot to pot. They end up taking one bench (6’x40’). I grow them on and pinch them around the end of April. By the end of May they go from taking up one bench to six benches. In June I begin taking cuttings. The photo below is one of a group of cuttings produced by a "direct stick" method. I root them under mist and shade. Over two to four weeks I reduce the amount of mist and increase the amount of light.

When to take cutting depends on the rooting time, vegetative build-up (after pinching) time plus blooming time. Then you count that time back from your sales date and that is when you take the cutting.

You may notice the pinching and Auxin and most gardeners know that if they remove the tip of their plant the lateral branches will begin to grow. Consider doing the opposite of apical pinching and encourage apical dominance. You can remove the lateral buds and encourage one large flower as seen in my standard poinsettia below (three plants in a pot).

You can also take the idea of destroying apical dominance and combine it with encouraging apical dominance to produce a poinsettia tree. In March pull out some of your stock and do not pinch them. Grow the plants on. While they grow remove the lower 50 percent of lateral buds. In September (with the other plants) pinch the plant. Pinch again to get the poinsettia tree.

Now I may have made poinsettia production sound fairly simple. But before all the greenhouse growers out there grab their pitch-forks and torches, let me ensure you poinsettia production is very involved. I have lost many nights sleep worrying about flowering on time, flowering too soon, pest (whitefly in particular), nutrients, the plant growing too big, or the plant being too short, growing too many pink flowers, not growing enough red, are the heaters working, etc..

So as you enjoy that "decoration" on your fireplace or table. Take a moment to think of the jorney we took to this holiday season.

Hello Plant friends,

For this post , let’s keep it simple. We’ll start formally, with introductions…..

I moved in to my new house a few years ago. A nice house that I hope to retire in, but there was one problem; the backyard. The backyard was (as I would describe it to friends) “just fence and grass.” Unfortunately it was too hot to plant when we moved in.

My backyard began as it should have, on paper. I had a lot of sketches. Finally I drew the yard to scale. Because autumn was approaching I decided to get the hardscape done and plant my trees and shrubs. First I took the measurements from my plan/drawing and spray painted the gravel path and the patio, then I called Okie-Dig to locate power, gas and cable lines. Next, I rented a sod-cutter and cut the path and the patio.

Next I laid down landscape fabric and edging stone.

Next, I filled in the area with screening (which will later be compacted and receive flagstone).

Then I began working on the beds. But first let me share with you my war with Bermuda!! Two applications of glyphosate (Round-Up) and still there was grass. So like a 13 year-old cleaning his room, I did what most males would have in that situation…..I brushed it under the carpet. Using 6mill plastic, I stapled it down and covered it up with mulch. But let me warn you, if you are to cover a large area with plastic to kill grass, use black plastic, I’ve seen Bermuda growing under clear plastic. Also, and most importantly, if you are doing a large area, have mulch on hand! Late night in (windy) Oklahoma I would be awakened by the sound of plastic whipping against my bedroom window like some crazed bird seeking refuge.

Fall is the perfect time to plant trees and shrubs. It allows the plant time to get established before the stress of spring winds and summer heat. However, in hindsight, I would have bought and planted my three crapemyrtles (Lagerstroemia indica) in March, because we had such a cold winter (in February) that the plant died back to the ground, so right now the plant is about a foot shorter than when I bought it almost a year ago, such is gardening. I also planted a lacebark elm (Ulmus parvifolia). Lacebarks are wonderful trees with exfoliating bark providing winter intreast, arching braches provide shade later in life, and a muscling trunk. Lacebarks do flower and fruit in the fall adding to the leaf pick-up.

Now spring. Is there a better time? Dutch bulbs (planted in October) show early promises in the garden that color is on its way. But, not for me. You see this is my "investment year." We all know the saying with perennials "the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps the third year it leaps" (except for echinacea, which really looks its best after the second year and then declines). With that being said, my garden looks a bit like a specimen garden. But I promise you this, next year when those perennials are established; flat by flat the annuals with their continuous color will march into my garden.

So let’s met a few friends.

Dianthus: there are several All America Selection winners. In the picture on the left there is Chedder Pink and the picture on the right is ‘Bouquet Rose Magic’. I grew Bouquet Rose Magic for a cut flower grower, but fell in love with the variety and had to take it home.

Hellebore: Now Hellebores are one of those interesting flowers where the attractive part of the flowers are really the sepals and not true petals. Hellebore was named an Oklahoma Proven plant and is best used in full to part shade. So far this year it has been a little bit of a water commitment, but worth it. I’m a sucker for green flowers, but you can find shades of yellow, white and violet.

Physostegia virginiana ‘Crstyal Peak White’: This plant was planted later then I would have liked. But, has stood up well, it began blooming in June and hasn’t stopped. A great border or midgarden plant!

Columbine (Aquilegia sp): there is a native yellow columbine, but I adore the ‘Song bird’ varieties. There larger flowers are something to behold. This plant does have a bad rap. Columbine can go "summer dormant," therefore some people give up too early and dig it up.  Also allow it to seed, I’m not 100% certain that it is a perennial (I'm not convinced) but allow it to seed and it can naturalize. And on a greenhouse grower note, this crop takes approximately 23 weeks to produce. Columbine needs a vegetative build-up time and then a vernalization period (period of cold four weeks if the temp is 41 F, longer if the temp is higher). Then it will bloom in six weeks. So hats off to the growers that produce columbine.

Bird of paradise (Caesalpinia gilliesii): with bi-pinnate leaves, when I first saw this plant in the pot I thought it was a mimosa. Bird of paradise quickly grew 3 feet tall. It bloomed in late spring/early summer. Its flowers remind me of a giant cleome, but its red stamens really set it apart. It now has another round of buds on it!!

Cleome ‘Senorita Rosalita’; really an annual, but I have to share. This plant is a dwarf. Growing 2.5’ tall I grew this plant for my spring sale. 'Senorita Rosalita' began blooming early in production and hasn’t stopped. Watering has been easy, the plant seems to be pretty tough. I’m praying that it will re-seed (even though I may not get the same habit from its seed).

Cleome sp. Spider flower: two years ago a friend was showing me pictures of her vacation, being a fellow horticulturist none of the pictures were of people….all plants. One of the plants was the cleome, a forgotten plant, and yes also an annual. Last spring I grew cleome from seed and planted it in pots out front (western exposure) which they quickly outgrew. Becoming tried of watering small pots with big plants, I pulled them from the front to the back yard, where yes, they re-seeded. A pretty carefree plant that once planted you will always have.

Every time I met a new student going thru the Horticulture Program I always like to ask them about their "plant story." Every gardener has that beginning moment when they were at some garden and saw something that lit this gardening fire. For me it was visiting an arboretum in Virginia. They had an herb garden that you stepped down into, which made your waist about level with the ground. Father-Thyme, from a distance, I thought was moss; taking a closer look I noticed its tiny foliage, and I suppose right then it clicked "you can really LOOK at plants," so I will always have an herb garden.

(Nasturtium in early spring)                                     (Dill late summer)

(Chamomile in summer)                                                (Basil and Eucalyptus ‘Lemon Bush’ early spring)

Asclepias tuberosaor butterfly weed: A must have re-seeding native plant. It’s the primary food source for the monarch butterfly

Dill: since we a talking about butterflies, dill is an herb that I always plant (or let reseed) that is a great food source for the caterpillars, who never share.

Digitalis purpurea-  foxglove: there are a lot of varieties out there; the one shown is ‘Camelot White’. Typically known as a bi-annual, some are being marketed as perennial. They have a hard time here in Oklahoma and require close monitoring on watering. But I just can’t give up on this plant.

Well I hoped you’ve enjoy meeting some of my friends, till next time.