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Ohio

For the growers that get no help and do everything by there selves,How do you guys manage this task if you left for work say 2 hours before the sun come up and then didn't get home until 2-5 pm? Ony thing I can think of is that you have to open the hoop houses before you went to work. But what happens if its still to cold outside to do this? I guess if its not below freezing out you would be ok to do it? But this would have to slow your plants down tremendously right?
Brooks

5/5/2008 8:03:47 AM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

I check the forecast before work and if I have any doubts I leave it open. I lost one last year that got roasted during the first week in May.

5/5/2008 8:30:15 AM

Little-TON - Colorado

I left mine out last night in the hooper....covered the hooper with a wool blanket for night temps. So I left it on till I go home at noon to provide some partital shade...and I opened the hooper end at the top to vent. Time was 0550AM. Good Luck Glenn....

5/5/2008 9:07:24 AM

Saegertown Pa.

I punch out at my 9:00 Am 10 minute break, it takes around 45 minutes to go home and do every thing. If anyone ask's were I have bin I tell them I had a doctors appointment, I sure do get sick alot this time of year.

5/5/2008 9:13:26 AM

[email protected]

I'm going to leave mine open during the day, open them up before I leave for the office in the morning as I have to be in at 8 am. Boss knows I'm a pumpkin grower, so if I come in late, I just make up the difference at lunch time.

Do you put a fence around the opened part to keep critters out, ie bunnies, etc.?

5/5/2008 9:30:35 AM

Ohio

depends on the temp. outside at 4 am. if its above 50, i open them, or i'll have the wife open them before she goes in at 7 am. usually she opens the door half way, then i'll open it up completely when i get home at 4. it gets warm in there, but the plants seem to be doing good, no problems so far!

5/5/2008 10:18:25 AM

Colorado

you have to leave it open cause youll have baked pumpkin plant if the sun comes out.if its freezing out then do like wizzie and cover with a blanket or tarp to keep a lot of the sunlight out till you can get back to it

5/5/2008 1:04:53 PM

ordinary,VA

Brooks i work early hours as well.
what works best for me, I call the ole lady around 8:30 before she goes to work.. please honey uncover my babies for me but-stay on the boards.
this way i can see how the weather is looking that day..

5/5/2008 1:14:41 PM

[email protected]

Being a mailman, my 2 10 minutes breaks, followed by my half hour lunch come in handy, specially around pollenating time! This time of year I come home around 10 AM to set the plants outside to get some "hardening off" time. Last night it was 32 with heavy frost, glad I didnt set them out yesterday as my urge had me thinking! Tomorrow is my transplant into the garden day, so after that I will be nervous as everyone else! Blankets on top of the hoops at night, with aluminum doned lights inside for warmth. Follow that up with plenty of trips home to check on the babies after that. Just like raisin a kid again!

5/5/2008 1:24:48 PM

Dummer Twp - Ontario

I used automatic openers that work on temperature to open the top or side. I got them at Lee Valley tools, they are a little pricey but will last for years.

5/5/2008 1:47:09 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

Brooks, no matter what I open mine in the morning cause it is days like today (62 degrees outside - 90 degrees plus inside hoophouse) that could give you grief if you left it closed.

Christine, I have both ends of mine lined with remay (floating row cover) to let the airflow in and out but will keep the critters (including my $%#@ cat) out!! At the end of the day, I close up the poly on the ends and let the heater keep it warmish overnight.

5/5/2008 2:49:43 PM

Deer Park WA

LOL at quinn! I had to call in sick the other day too! We use hoop houses with plastic doors on both ends held in place with spring loaded clamps we just open the ends about 1/4 of the way down on both ends and head off to work.

5/5/2008 3:24:13 PM

Southeast

Any chance the sun will come out I open them. Burned once is all I needed, but I use green house material and it really heats up quickly.

5/5/2008 3:58:24 PM

Minnesota([email protected])

I open them up some on the end/s of the hoophouse, if I feel there's any chance of it getting too hot in there, when I'm gone. If it results in a little slower growing plant early on, that's O.K. It's better than having no plant in that spot.

5/5/2008 6:06:41 PM

Santa Rosa, CA.

I'm a mailman too, but unlike Rock my house is not on my route. I have to open the ends of my hoop houses at 7:00am and off to work I go. By then the sun is starting to just hit my patch.
Hey Rock, what are you doing on the computer at 1:30. No wonder the postage is going up :0)

5/5/2008 7:37:35 PM

Rhode Island

brooks

we have a completely automated system.

each greenhouse cover is hingeded on one side and at the center of the other a wire is connected from a support line running across the patch and drop wires attached to each window.

the wires are all hooked into a thermostaticly controled electric cattle prod.

once the temp reaches 90 degrees inside the houses an electrical shock is sent back to the rear end of my sleeping bassette hound walter.

walter then lunges forward opening the doors a few inches, then goes back to sleep. ditto if the temp again reaches 90.
works well and the gets the dog some exercize to.

pap

5/5/2008 8:20:12 PM

[email protected]

Lol pap, you've trained Walter well. Must be a very lean bassette hound this time of year, LOL!

5/5/2008 9:13:31 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

I have heaters in the greenhouses, so if it is still cold in the morning when I leave, the heaters still run, which ensures it stays warm in there. When the sun is out enough and it warms up, the heaters have thermostats and they click off automatically. Might waste a little power heating with the vents open, but it works and in my opinion is well worth it.

5/5/2008 9:48:15 PM

Niagara County, NY

i open them up before work (about 530am) no matter what the temperature is... the sun is up within the hour and warming things up.

5/5/2008 10:50:16 PM

[email protected]

Dan's got the right idea for normal folks. LOL

But here's a fancy way:

http://www.growerssupply.com/farm/supplies/prod1;gs1_greenhouse_accessories-gs1_vent_openers_1;pg106119.html

I bought a smaller one a couple years ago that was only $40 so you might keep googling.

5/5/2008 11:42:15 PM

[email protected]

Here's the one I have. The price went up though.

http://homeharvest.com/hobbygreenhousesunshineacc.htm

5/5/2008 11:44:08 PM

Ohio

Thanks men/women !! I needed the ideas, I dont have a hoop house opener anymore when Im at work.
Two days ago I come home from work to a empty house, no furniture, towels, dishes, and empty bank account, yunno, all the normal stuff you need to live your everyday normal life with,lol.
She did however leave me a tv to watch, the kind you can only watch if you sit about 1 ft away from , and god bless her little heart, she did however leave me a lazy boy chair that I had in the basement that I was planning on burning someday that is broke, you cant lean back and kick your feet up in, and when ya sit in it it feels like your going to tip to one side. My dog now claims the only piece of furniture in the house, the chair. But I can look on the bright side I guess, at least she wasn't callous enough to take my dog or or my seedlings.LOL

5/6/2008 4:22:04 AM

Rhode Island

brooks

i never trusted her ever since she dropped that greenhouse door on your first 1068 plant.

its her loss brooks.your a good guy who works hard and enjoys his home. someday she may realize this.

pap

5/6/2008 5:12:32 AM

Johnston, R.I.

I open them, my honey closes them..........She is a keeper..

5/6/2008 8:13:14 AM

Minnesota([email protected])

I hope you're joking Brooks. Otherwise, I'm sorry to hear that.

5/6/2008 1:53:54 PM

Ohio

yea its true, but life goes on I guess.

Pap!, your exactly right! I should have seen this coming along time ago when she did that! hahaha! That's one of the first signs that they are scheming to get you.LOL!! WHY DIDNT I SEE THE SIGN!,,LOL!!

I Just wish I could have traded her in a long time ago, but no one wanted to trade me, its obvious they seen what was coming also,lol

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/msgboard/ViewThread.asp?b=2&p=225458

5/6/2008 2:40:38 PM

Little-TON - Colorado

Paps....GeeZZ....Guess your dog is a pullWalter...(PoeVaulter)....R R

5/6/2008 3:31:58 PM

[email protected]

There is no more loyal friend than a good old dog.

5/6/2008 11:39:57 PM