A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

PVC Hoophouse in Florida

I plan on building a Hoop style shade house in the rear of my yard. In an effort to keep the cost down I am considering sch 40 PVC for the hoops, covered in aluminum screening. I have two questions for the group

1. Has anyone had any experience with PVC hoop houses in the Florida sun? It is said to stand up very well in the sun, even better if it is painted a lite color with latex paint.

My back yard get only a few hours of direct sun.

2. Should I cut down some very tall trees in an effort to get more sun or stay shaded and use electric lights as needed?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on April 5, 2012 at 10:24am

Why build a shade house if you don't get that much sun?

Permalink Reply by juan loaiza on April 5, 2012 at 12:09pm

yea they hold up good :) i made 1 for my aquaponics

Permalink Reply by Ron Thompson on April 5, 2012 at 12:59pm

Depending on the size you need, I found a 11x20x10 fully enclosed car canopy at Sam's Club for $250. It is translucent and seems well made. It should make an excellent shade house.

I was going to put up a hoop house, but after pricing everything, the savings were that great compared to this canopy.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod3470022...

Permalink Reply by Patrick McKee on April 5, 2012 at 2:06pm

Can you post a pic of the trees and area? I would probably opt to cut down the trees so you can be more productive. Why aluminum screen vs shade cloth or fiberglass screen? For your hoop house have you looked into pvc conduit vs schedule 40 to see if the conduit has any UV inhibitors so it wont get brittle?

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on April 5, 2012 at 2:12pm

But why put up a shade house if you have shade already? Only cut down enough trees blocking the morning sun that you can grow what you want. (leave the ones giving afternoon shade or dappled minimal shade or any that give light shade for summer but let the sun through in winter.)

A screen house doesn't fix most bug problems. It might deter some moths and thus caterpillars but they are the easiest of pests to combat in AP. The screen house won't stop aphids, spider mites, thrips, white fly, ants or any of the other common indoor/greenhouse pests though it will tend to reduce air flow and access by beneficial insects.

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on April 5, 2012 at 3:22pm

Mainly for the bugs. I have tried non-chemical sprays and they do not work. In the past all my tomatoes, Basil and greens are eaten by bugs.

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on April 5, 2012 at 3:30pm

I have a picture of the area I want to use on my profile page. I need something that will keep bugs out. I am in gainesville by UF and it is wet and the trees are thick. The call the stadium "The Swamp" for a good reason. I am thinking aluminum because of falling limbs and such.

You would think screening would help with bugs.... gives me something to think about.

Patrick McKee said:

Can you post a pic of the trees and area? I would probably opt to cut down the trees so you can be more productive. Why aluminum screen vs shade cloth or fiberglass screen? For your hoop house have you looked into pvc conduit vs schedule 40 to see if the conduit has any UV inhibitors so it wont get brittle?

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on April 5, 2012 at 3:32pm

I am thinking of using the gray pipe bacause it is cheaper and paint it white.

juan loaiza said:

yea they hold up good i made 1 for my aquaponics

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on April 5, 2012 at 3:47pm

Ron,

Thanks for this link. It looks like it may do the trick.

Ron Thompson said:

Depending on the size you need, I found a 11x20x10 fully enclosed car canopy at Sam's Club for $250. It is translucent and seems well made. It should make an excellent shade house.

I was going to put up a hoop house, but after pricing everything, the savings were that great compared to this canopy.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod3470022...

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on April 5, 2012 at 3:49pm

What do you do about bugs. I do not want to use chemicals?

TCLynx said:

But why put up a shade house if you have shade already? Only cut down enough trees blocking the morning sun that you can grow what you want. (leave the ones giving afternoon shade or dappled minimal shade or any that give light shade for summer but let the sun through in winter.)

A screen house doesn't fix most bug problems. It might deter some moths and thus caterpillars but they are the easiest of pests to combat in AP. The screen house won't stop aphids, spider mites, thrips, white fly, ants or any of the other common indoor/greenhouse pests though it will tend to reduce air flow and access by beneficial insects.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on April 5, 2012 at 4:00pm

I don't think screening will be very effective unless you can do pretty extensive bio-control for the entrance. I mean really really sealed probably triple entry and putting on protective suit as you enter so as not to bring any pests in with you. And you would probably need to never bring in any plant matter not grown in there too.

I don't use any chemical control. I use some bio-control against caterpillars (the bacillus thurgensis products like dipel dust or thuricide) but I'm pretty lazy and only do it when I notice damage and don't find the culprit to feed to the fish right away.

Otherwise most of the pests I've been ignoring or if something gets too infested with aphids I'll just pull it out.

At least those things have worked fairly well for me so far. Squirrels are a different problem and I think bird netting may do better to control those than screen will. Either that or we need to start eating squirrel.

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on April 5, 2012 at 5:28pm

I'm all for eating squirrel, but I don't think my wife will eat it. She doesn't eat my pigs feet soap when I make it. Birds and squirrel are a problem for me. I just planted two apple trees and I may have to buy a pellet gun.

Dan Ponton said:

What do you do about bugs. I do not want to use chemicals?

TCLynx said:

But why put up a shade house if you have shade already? Only cut down enough trees blocking the morning sun that you can grow what you want. (leave the ones giving afternoon shade or dappled minimal shade or any that give light shade for summer but let the sun through in winter.)

A screen house doesn't fix most bug problems. It might deter some moths and thus caterpillars but they are the easiest of pests to combat in AP. The screen house won't stop aphids, spider mites, thrips, white fly, ants or any of the other common indoor/greenhouse pests though it will tend to reduce air flow and access by beneficial insects.