A Beginners How-To Guide for Building the Most Cost and Time Efficient Year Round Greenhouse with 600 Square Feet of Space!
Have you ever been intimidated by the complexity and cost of building a greenhouse? I used to be. I first started researching greenhouse designs and costs to begin a hydroponic farm-to-table business. I had no idea what I was doing, so I had no clue where to start. I didn’t have any experience building or working in a greenhouse and had very little money to spend.
I spent many months researching greenhouse designs that could fit my budget. Most of information available included large structures with electric ventilation, gas heating and high priced monitoring systems. Knowing that I would have to start my farm with a very limited budget, I became really discouraged.
It wasn’t until I read The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman that I finally took a deep sign of relief. In his book Eliot Coleman talked about building a greenhouse using a ‘Quick Hoop’ design where you can cover a large area at a fraction of the cost.
After a few more months of further research and planning, I came up with a design that fit my hydroponic approach. Since that time, I have built the greenhouse myself and now present to you the final version. In my opinion, this is the most time and cost efficient greenhouse which supports these crucial components:
I could not afford to hire anyone to help me. I had to keep in mind that my wife, who had a full-time job, was the only one that could give me hand in a pinch. I am still relatively young and spry, so I took this as a challenge to see how fast I could actually get it done.
The greenhouse is built one piece at a time, so there is no heavy lifting. Most of the work is merely bending and cutting posts, then drilling it all into place. The only part where I needed a hand was with the polyethylene plastic cover. We used a single 100 ft long piece of plastic so even just a bit of wind can make the application too risky to do alone.
If you are interested in reading further, please keep a few things in mind:
More Hoop House & High Tunnel Building Guides:
Prequel to Starting a Build - Ground Posts - Bending Hoops - Hip & Base Boards, Ridge Poles & Purlins - Endwall Construction - Lock Channel, Spring Wire - Greenhouse Plastic Attachment - Inflating Double Layer Poly