Although I plan to WS in containers, I'm curious about wintersowing in a a hoophouse. I don't know which plants should do well in a hoophouse v. those that need the extra protection of a container.

I read Token's references to his hoophouse, but I don't know how well it worked. Token and others: did you plant all seeds in your HH? Did you plant seeds in containers, then put the containers in the HH? Did you provide any heat (we use a light bulb in the pump house to keep the pump from freezing)

Which plants did well? Which struggled or failed? Any advice or tips you all can pass along?

I'm have two 4' x 8' raised beds - I'm using reebar and PVC pipe to make them into hoophouses. I don't know how thick the plastic covering should be (i.e., 4 mil, 6 mil). I live in southeastern VA so my climate is pretty mild but we have high winds at times. Record low is 6 degrees.

I welcome advice from anyone with experiences to share.

Pam

You need to have the door open and check the flats often to adjust soil moisture. In a hoop house there is no rain or snow to moisten the soil in the containers.

The plastic I use/d is 6mil, clear. I buy mine 10' x 25'. I have two 4'x8' beds I'll probably use this year. I spaced my hoops every 2'. I survived snow and ice last year, but I had to rebuilt it in March. The winds were a lot stronger than normal.

Like Trudi says, be careful of moisture. Heat can kill things quickly in the spring. I never left mine closed during the day after March 15 or so. I always had to leave it partially open or it got too hot inside.

I think this year, I'll sow annuals in one, perennials in the other, and maybe make a third one for cuttings, etc. I also plan to sow fewer seeds, but more, smaller containers than last year. I'd like nursery type starts to set out in my garden rather than fumbling with HOSs. I'll be sowing perennials this way. I like having chunks of annuals like petunias and marigolds scattered around.

Wintersowing entries.

Hoophouse entries.

Not all of the plants you'll see were wintersown. Some were purchased, some from the year before. But if you read through those and still want to know more about the whats and whens, let me know. I'll see what I can dig up.

I love my hoophouse. I would nearly kill a plant on purpose if I could find a spot for a real greenhouse, with wood siding, and shingles. More like a solar powered potting shed. I'd still keep the hoophouse.

DH and I left home on Wednesday, just as the nor-easter was cranking up. We got home this afternoon - no serious damage, but a missing sailboat that we found in the woods across the cove. It is very hard to be away from your home during a "weather event."

The jury is also out re: the fall-winter garden. We got 9-12" of rain so the vegetable seedlings were well-hydrated before waves of salt or brackish water rolled over them for 2 days. Given the wave action, I'm not optimistic about the lettuce, but the kale, spinach, mizuna, and tatsoi look fine today. Swiss chard is a toss up.

Thanks again for the link to your site. It looks like you went into WS full bore!

I started out with same set up as you Pam but found even the thickest clear painters plastic would rip in our winter and spring winds so I bit the bullet and bought greenhouse film. It runs the same as painters plastic you just have to by a larger roll but you can get mils that have different longivity from 4-10 yrs so you save lots of money just by the fact you don't have to replace it bi-yearly or yearly.I save the remnants after covering the GH and use that for low polytunnels over veggie crops

Also I lost my HH 2 yrs in a row due to uncommonly heavy snowfalls for our area.

Peggy

Two questions:
1. Greenhouse film - what thickness/strength do you recommend? We don't get really cold temps here, nor much snow anymore. But we sure get high winds!

2. What are the dimensions of your low polytunnels? I don't think I need a tall HH for winter vegetables I grow from seed.

Pam