[Augie]

Hailstorm here a few weeks back punched a bunch of holes in my greenhouse. I thought I was being smart using the corrugated poly panels, but that turned out not to be the case. I was warned by another poster here, I’ve forgotten who, that the stuff was brittle and wouldn’t hold up. It looked nice while it lasted but I won’t use that type of panel again.

I haven’t yet decided whether to use hoop house film or barn metal on the roof when I replace it. Considering the angle of the sun during the winter I wouldn’t be losing much light if I put metal on the roof, and it will certainly be less work during warm weather putting up/taking down shade cloth. Hoop house film for sure will be used on the sides.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Someone once told me that Glass was better than polycarbonate, but I do not know! I have wondered if it would be worth it to suspend a 1" chicken wire cocoon roof frame out 10 inches from the roof to catch or slow down anything 1" or larger? That is me imagining since I don't have a greenhouse or high tunnel. (I do have a little potting cover that has some of those translucent wavey panels but I have not had any major hail that I have been told my an insurance adjuster WILL destroy them.)

Diana managed a garden center and she might have some thoughts on the issue of greenhouse materials. I am sure that this is something she had to deal with. (Including Pollard on this post since he is constructing a high tunnel.)

Right now I have Beet and Turnip seedlings coming up in the garden and I am using garden fabric low tunnels right now to avoid a heavy rain washing away the new plants. That has happened in the past with about a 90% plant loss. I will remove them once they are big enough to handle a heavy rain! (I will also use the low tunnels for a while once I put my other transplants in the garden. )

(Have a great day over there in Central MO!)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Our ‘hoop house’ at Jung’s was made of a thick semi-clear plastic and we had two layers on it.

I worked there for 10 years and we replaced it twice - once because it hadn’t been done in the DECADE prior and was a mess; the second was due to a bad wind storm and it pretty much shredded all our hard work from the first time around. Bent some pretty sturdy steel poles, too. We were all surprised it was still standing!

My greenhouse here is made with the poly panels. If we need replacements, we’ll go back to FarmTek in Iowa, just across the Mississippi from us. That place is ‘Candyland’ for me, so I am not allowed to go there unsupervised, LOL! :)

Overstock sale on Greenhouses, right now! *SQUEAL* (Just for ideas, of course!)

It’s really impressive. They have all of the big barns they build set up and running for cattle and dairy and chickens. They’re big into hydroponics, too.

And, you can see the ‘Field of Dreams’ house and movie set, not too far from there, too. It was a fun Day Trip for us, a few years ago.

https://www.farmtek.com/home