Hoop Houses (High Tunnels)

The Specialty Crops Program erected a hoop house at the Horticulture Research Center during the summer of 2004 for demonstration and use as a shade structure. Hoop house research is in demand by growers and is a high priority for the Specialty Crops Program. We will be conducting experiments and variety trials under hoop houses during the summer of 2006.

Driving ground stakes	Checking to see if it is level	Laying out the arches
Putting arches together	Attaching the purlin
Securing the purlin		Securing the base with wood

Other Sources of Information About Hoop Houses

See Hightunnels.org for more information about high tunnel systems in the Central Great Plains. The website is a USDA sponsored project exhibiting research done in cooperation with growers, professors, students, and Kansas State Research and Extension, University of Missouri Extension, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cooperative Extension. There is information about purchasing and constructing hoop houses, educational materials and research data, and a long list of resources available on this website. Other organizations involved in hoop house research include the Noble Foundation, Penn State University, and Rutgers University.

Below are links to CSU Specialty Crops Program Grower Research and Education Grants which focus on hoop houses:

• Winter Vegetable Crop Production and Marketing
• Winter Greenhouse Production of Specialty Greens: Profiting From Solar Heating
• Research Trial of Heirloom and Hybrid Tomato Varieties in High Tunnel Production